Join component to OpenBeam slot via boss

[CruftMeister]

Howdy Folks,

I've got an assembly that is using a length of OpenBeam as a structural element.  I have made an idler pulley bracket that has a boss on it that fits in the slot in the OpenBeam.  I'm trying to use F360 Joints to locate the pulley bracket such that the boss is centered in the slot, so its perpendicular face will bear against the OpenBeam face - like it would in the real world ( I've omitted the fasteners for the moment).

I've tried a handful of attempts using various combinations of Joints in F360, but have not been able to crack the code to get what I want.  Note, I have used Joints sucessfully in other F360 assemblies, just can't get this one.

In Solidworks I would simply use a width mate and then mate to the appropriate planes, surfaces and/or axes etc to get the depth, but as far as I can tell there is not an equivalent in Fusion360.

Using a slider I can get the bracket so it slides on the center of the OpenBeam slot, but I then have to manually offset the depth of the bracket from where the slider will naturaly position it -  I can't figure a way to cleanly have the face of the bracket mate to the face of the Beam.

File shared below, suggestions and/or edits appreciated, 

http://a360.co/1sJJs1z

PS:  A note of caution, the OpenBeam part was made in a somewhat scary fashion using a imported part file and then pulling the profile off of that, so it is a bit, well, crufty,  caveat emptor . . .

[James.Youmatz · Accepted solution]

Hi @CruftMeister,

Neat model! I tried by just editing the joint you had in place and adding another one, but that seemed to be a little cumbersome to get them to line up without conflict. What I ended up doing, and I'm sure there are many different ways to do this, was to delete the joint you had in place and then use the Align command from the Modify menu to move the Idler Block into the correct position. I did this by selecting the face of the beam and the idler block that I wanted flush together (please note that I did not select any particular nodes). Once it was perfectly in place, I used an As-Built Joint to create the sliding relationship. Check out this screencast below:

Thanks,

[CruftMeister]

Hi James,

Thanks for the speedy reply and the clever solution, this is much simpler and faster than anything I tried.  I have a follow up question or two for you if that is OK.

1)The advantage (to me) of the Solidworks width mate is it allows me to position the component in the center of the slot so even if I have left clearance tolerance between the width of the slot and the boss it is centered.  Absent that, my alternate assembly workflow would be to center the datum planes (or axes) (Origins in F360) on the part so I can use them for alignment in assemblies - but I can't seem to use Origins in F360 for Joints  (actually for anything for that matter).  Is there a way to modify the workflow you have demonstrated (align, then as-built joint) to align the center of the boss to the center of the slot rather than to the faces of the slot and boss?  No need for a screenshot, you can just describe if that is easier for you.

2) One other thought; the align process you demonstrated - picking planar surfaces and makign them co-planar -  is pretty much exactly how I would make "mates" in Solidworks - will it ever be possible to do this simple type of "joint" in Fusion360?

Thanks!