Mirror Body Issues

[Anonymous]

I have a 1x4 with a pattern of 3/4 inch diameter pins. 

The bins are flush with one side of the 1x4 and protrude out the other side by two inches.

I would like to mirror the 1x4 and its pins. 

My workflow is as follows.

Position all elements as bodies.

Select the 1x4 as a body along with the 13 pins.

Select the side of the 1x4 with the flush pins as the mirror plane.

Press ok everything mirrors as expected.

I would like to move the mirrored copy to a 1 1/2 inch space from the mirror original element.

I converted everything to components and then move the 1x4 and pins as a group.

Everything moves as you would expect if you move it toward the original copy of the mirror. However if you move it beyond its original position at the end of the mirror command the pins and the 1x4 shorten as it approaches the original posiion.

http://a360.co/1O5XsNd

Allan Steinkuhl

[jeff_strater]

Hi @Anonymous, I downloaded your file (thank you for providing that!), but I'm having a bit of a hard time following what the problem is.  Would it be possible to record a screencast of what you are seeing?

I kind of suspect that the problem at some level is that when you move things as bodies (in the Move command), after they have been converted to components.  This will almost always give a result that is not what you expected.  So, my first recommendation is to use the Move command, making sure that "Move Components" is selected as the type of move:

If that doesn't help, then a screencast showing what you see would help me figure out how to get the behavior you want here.

Thanks,

Jeff

[TrippyLighting]

In your design every discrete part should be a component. You hve already created many components, but there is a clear indication that you've been followingthe wrong workflow, based on teh large number of bodies and setches in the top level folders. My guess is that you forst created setches, then bodies from these sketches.

The correct workflow is what I call Fsuion 360 R.U.L.E #1:

Before doing aything, create a component and make sure it is activated!

Here is a quick tip that should help with explainig this.

Activating a component will ensure that all objects are created in that component.

Activating will filter the timeline to show only those items in the timeline that pertain to that component.

When exporting such a component this will export the complete parametric design history for that component. The screencast in this thread explains the benefifs of that as well.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

I think I found the issue but I do not know how to resolve it.

This model is of a stair rail on a deck with 3/4 inch diameter balusters.  I added additional depth to the top pockets to allow the balusters to go up and then drop into the pockets in the bottom rail.  I did this by doing Section Analysis and moving the 2x4 face back until the pockets were exposed.  I did a push/pull on the pocket bottoms and added my additional depth. To return to the original section I went back to Section Analysis and pulled the face forward until the 2x4 was complete again.

What I have discovered is that the Section Analysis is continuing to be in play and clipping anything that extends beyond it. Apparently when you select a face it is not that face that is trimmed but the plane of that face is a trimming surface.

My take from all of this is simply grabbing the section surface and pulling it forward until the part is complete is not sufficient to return a Section to its original state.

Allan Steinkuhl

[jeff_strater]

Hi @Anonymous, I think that there is some misunderstanding about what Section Analysis does.

First, you are correct:  Section Analysis does not associate with a face.  The face that is selected for a new Section Analysis is just used for initial plane placement.

However, what I think the more important point is that Section Analysis is just a visualization tool, it is not a modeling tool.  That is, Section Analysis does not modify the model at all, it just clips off the graphics.  It's primary purpose is to be able to temporarily see "inside" of a design.  If you are looking to actually modify the bodies in a design, you should use Split Body.  This command will create a feature in your timeline that will split the body along a plane or a surface.  This operation is definitely associative to the slicing object.

If that's not what you are looking for, please let me know, and preferably provide a screencast showing the problem you are seeing, and we'll dig in further.

Jeff

[Anonymous]

I would like to thank Martha Deans from Autodesk.  She won the carrot. 

When you do a Section Analysis, it is stored in the browser under Analysis.  So I thought I deactivated it by opening another Section Analysis and dragging that face back to the original position.

So I had two Section Analysis actions open. 

The solution is when one is finished with the Section Analysis action simply go into the Analysis Tab, in the browser and turn the light bulb off.

Allan Steinkuhl