How do I copy then scale a sketch in one dimension?

[Anonymous]

I am trying to copy a spline curve onto a parallel plane, then scale it in the vertical dimension differently than in the horizontal.  Ideally I would have the control points, splines and curvature to manipulate in the new plane as well so I could tweak the geometry.  The sketch scale only allows me to scale the sketch proportionally in the vertical and horizontal, and no ability to manipulate the spline.  Should I create the sketch as a component, copy the component, and break the link to the original sketch?

I am trying to create formers for an airplane fuselage.  I'd like to use the same method to create wings by creating a root airfoil, then copy the root airfoil to the tip, scale it to the right chord, increase the tip thickness %, and add washout (rotate the tip airfoil relative to the root airfoil)

[davebYYPCU]

Scale in sketch does not offer that functionality.

I work from outside in, from 3 view or similar, add structure and slice the model for formers last, saves a lot of inaccuracy, involving lots of individual former sketches you maybe planning.

Yes you have to copy some things, to get to the main body.

Might help....

[mavigogun]

To-the-best-of-my-lack-of-knowladge, there is no purpose-built capacity to asymmetrically scale a Sketch.    What you can do is rotate the Sketch element relative to a Sketch Plane for Projection.   So, in the example provided, the curve might be Move-rotated around a Z Axis Line>Stop Sketch>Create Sketch on same Plane>Project>select curve; Link or No, no Spline handles will be available on the Projection- but the product can be used to guide creation of a new Spline.

[davebYYPCU]

@mavigogun he wants to make it bigger,

I think your suggestion will get smaller ones, but is worse than the problem, 

it is quicker to draw fresh ones each time.

[Anonymous]

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@davebYYPCU wrote:

Scale in sketch does not offer that functionality.

I work from outside in, from 3 view or similar, add structure and slice the model for formers last, saves a lot of inaccuracy, involving lots of individual former sketches you maybe planning.

Yes you have to copy some things, to get to the main body.

Might help....

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I am trying to create accurate surfaces based on the scale drawings of real airplanes.  I have cross sections of the fuselage. I find that if I don't put the control points for the splines in similar positions the loft tends to be pretty bad.

[etfrench]

Try Control Point Splines:

Putting the second sketch in its own component will allow you to use the component scaling method which has more options than the sketch scaling method.

[Anonymous]

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@etfrench wrote:

Try Control Point Splines:

Putting the second sketch in its own component will allow you to use the component scaling method which has more options than the sketch scaling method.

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Ok, now that is cool!  It gets me a bit closer to my goal, and I'll use it in certain situations.

Here's what I've arrived at so far:

1) Create the spline in Sketch mode and take a screenshot showing the control points and tangent lines. 

2) Save the screenshot. 

3) Import the screenshot as a canvas on the new sketch plane. 

4) Scale canvas in X, then Z and rotate the canvas if I need to add twist (washout).

5) Then I can recreate the original spline with a new one, putting the control points on top of the ones in the canvas, and

6) Adjust the tangents to get the spline curve to match the scaled and rotated canvas

In this example I have gotten to step 4 and am ready for step 5.  When done I'll have the root and tip airfoil and I can loft my wing.  I'll have to add a rail (usually trailing edge).  Note that the tip airfoil is proportionally thicker and twisted relative to the root airfoil. This is pretty common.   For fuselage cross sections (ala my first example) I'll only have to scale the canvas, no twisting required.

[etfrench]

Wow!  I thought I was the only one doing things the hard way

If you're modifying the spline, you'll need to break the links on the projected points.

[Anonymous]

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@etfrench wrote:

Wow!  I thought I was the only one doing things the hard way

 ...

If you're modifying the spline, you'll need to break the links on the projected points.

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I figured out how to project the spline points, but what I really want to do is scale the whole spline including the control points and tangent handles in one dimension at a time, not both.

[etfrench]

It seems I was wrong when I said you could scale sketch items using the modeling scale command.

[mavigogun]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I figured out how to project the spline points, but what I really want to do is scale the whole spline including the control points and tangent handles in one dimension at a time, not both.

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You can- there's a method -though you may not like it.    It's been outlined above.   I'll repeat it and break it down:

• Rotate the Sketch elements you want to asymmetrically scale across the axis
• Project the Rotated Sketch elements to a Sketch Plane parallel to the source Sketch Plane

The illustration depicts the stages separated for clarity-  A is the parent Sketch, B the same Sketch Rotated, C the Projected Sketch.    The Body to the right is the product of Lofting A and C.   The white and fuchsia lines are parallel, included only for clarity. 

[etfrench]

Another option is to project the control points, break the links, then dimension each control point using the scale factor.

[Anonymous]

This is exactly the problem I am having, while making wings from NACA foil curves. And I was looking for the stretch command or some way to scale in one dimension. 

But alas there is no Scale in one dimension, but there is another way just for NACA Airfoils that will work. 

When you import the NACA foils you can choose the dimensions it outputs. So I will be going back and importing the same Foil twice with different "scales" then lofting them together. And there is a bonus of having precisely the same curve and number of control points,  so it would be easier to line them all up. Lars Christensen does a good but basic youtube tutorial on importing NACA foils. You can look for "Lars Fusion360 Airfoil" on youtube.  here is the link: blob:https://www.youtube.com/6d148df8-9e0e-4210-bca3-b41a9037da5a

[rohit.bapat]

Hello All,

I'm pleased to let you know that we have been working on the feature to scale on first dimension. It is currently going through testing phase. It will be available soon if everything goes as expected.

Thank you,

Best regards

Rohit Bapat

(Product Owner, Fusion 360)

[OceanHydroAU]

If you are trying to make something functional rather than decorative, you do not want to do that - scaling airfoils changes Reynolds numbers which makes the resulting shape behave badly.

I've written an add-in that sorts all that out for you - pick the size and location you want, and my add-in works out the shape you need and orients it correctly:  https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-api-and-scripts/add-in-announcement-hydrofoil-and-airfoil-...

[Fritzinator]

all the computing power and money available to this software and it cant scale a 2d sketch in one axis. MSpaint from 1995 could handle this. And you want folks to pay real hard earned money for this???

[etfrench]

There are several solutions provided in this thread.  Instead of complaining, provide some images and explanations of why you need to scale a sketch in one dimension.

[mrector333]

It's not perfect, but you can scale two different axes to different values by calibrating the first axis the normal way using two-points-and-assign-a-dimension, and then right click the canvas on the directory tree on left and select "edit canvas", then manually scale the 2nd axis in the values boxes that appear on right of screen.

It takes a little trial and error, but it works.

[bernie_rihn]

I guess this feature has been in the "testing phase" for 5 years now.... 

to the guy who said "stop complaining": I also have an airfoil I need to scale only in the Y so that the core of the airfoil is large enough to fit a spar of a fixed diameter. there is no thicker cambered naca airfoil for me to chose, and i'm limited in my X dimension by a propeller. mind blowing they don't have this feature.  

[bernie_rihn]

this program is breaking my brain into thinking about how to solve problems in dumb ways. i can feel myself getting dumber and slower using it. can't scale a sketch in only one dimension? make some other dummy sketch, extrude it, scale the extrusion, project the new extrusion, copy the sketch. is this what hell is?