Help with workflow for repeated line segments since no join available?

[LazyRiverLife]

I have read a number of posts that joining of line segments is not available in fusion 360 and that it is a workflow problem.   I am struggling to understand how to apply this workflow issue to the problem I have at hand.

I have created a parametric curve representing a portion of a pattern I want to create.

I then want to mirror this on the other side to replicate the pattern exactly

So far so good!   Now, I want to repeat this pattern in a circular fashion to produce the final pattern

This is what I am after, and I need these segments to all be joined so I can extrude this, but without line segment joining capability, what should my workflow be to accomplish this same thing and keep it parametric?

[jeff_strater]

You can extrude without having a single curve segment (these are not "lines").  But, the pieces that you are patterning must match geometrically.  I suspect that you have gaps in your pattern.  If you share the design here, we can look at it.

[LazyRiverLife]

Yes, I do have a very small overlap (not a gap), where I didn't calculate the width of the pattern based on the number of patterns within the circle (which is just the arclength/number of segments / 2) because I didn't know how many I wanted initially.    So what you see is this when zoomed all the way in:

Are you saying that if I get the formulas correct where this is precise, then these repeated spline segments will then join?    

(I will upload the file here shortly)

[jeff_strater]

"Are you saying that if I get the formulas correct where this is precise, then these repeated line segments will then join?" 

No, they will not "join", in that they will not become a single curve object.  But, they will define a closed profile which can be extruded.  Overlap is OK.  Gaps are not.

[jeff_strater]

as an example, I created this sketch.  I added the construction lines so that I know the pattern will be exact:

Because that angle is 30 degrees, I know that I need 12 instances to the pattern (12 * 30 = 360)

after creating the pattern, you can see the shaded profile area:

which can then be extruded:

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

and to illustrate the point about overlaps, if I change the curve so that it overshoots the points, it still defines a profile:

[LazyRiverLife]

Ok, then I am not sure why mine did not become a closed profile. I don't see where there are any gaps.

[LazyRiverLife]

*removed*

Yeah, not sure how to approach this in my case.

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

It was WAY more simple than that.  This sketch just seems to have "Show Profile" turned off.  If you turn it back on, it works.  I always forget to ask people to check that.

[LazyRiverLife]

DOH!      I totally spaced that out.

Thanks!!

[laughingcreek]

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@LazyRiverLife wrote:

I have read a number of posts that joining of line segments is not available in fusion 360 and that it is a workflow problem. ...

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There are a number of post about "joining" sketch elements, but none show how it is a workflow problem.  Mostly it is a user not understanding how to use the software to achieve their ends, and think that being able to "join" the segments is somehow the answer.

on a side note, mirroring and patterning fit point splines tends to lead to splines that aren't actually mirrors or perfect patterns (not sure if we're calling that a bug or limitation these days).  A control point spline will work.  better option is to draw it once, and do the mirroring and patterning in the solid environment, but I digress.. 

[LazyRiverLife]

I agree and thus my question, however, there are some basic operations that are fairly common in (non parametric) drawing apps which don't carry over to F360.   For example, converting a point on a spline to be a straight point, or a line segment to a spline, or as in this question, joining splines/lines etc.   

This is a very typical drawing operation that most people are familiar with and it can be frustrating when it is missing.   For the newcomer to F360 it is a big learning curve, and sometimes better if you didn't have prior vector drawing experience.

I am by no means an expert, but I have really enjoyed the F360 environment.   I love the parametric modeling.  It makes me think a little more clearly about what I am doing rather than just drawing something up.   I have caught so many of my design issues by modeling first; tweaking the parameters; and then finding out that it doesn't scale right.     You just can't do that in a vector drawing app.