Modular design? (or cutting into a component)

[Anonymous]

Before suggesting a feature, I would like to know how the follwing can be handled in Fusion 360:

I have a design of a part, and need a very similar part, with a hole cut in and some things added.

So firstly, it seems I cannot use a component for this, because I cannot cut into an inserted component.   I also have dependancies on previous sketches in the part, so its convenient to do it all in one design.

So I have a point in the timeline that I can roll back to to get the one part, then roll to end to get the second.  I also have to then mark some inserted designs as visible/invisible.

This is awkward to remember and counter-intuitive.

It would help to be able to group features into a folder, so that I can name the folder, and turn it on/off in one click.

[catot]

Regarding the last bit, you can select multiple components/bodies/faces etc. in your design, and right click to select Create Selection Set. This will create a new folder in the top of the browser called Selection Sets. Hovering over your created selection set in that folder, two buttons will appear, click on the one named Select. This will select all the things you had selected when creating the Selection Set, and you can now right click on a empty space to select Show/Hide.

You can rename the Selection Set you created to something more meaningful to you, so it's easier to remember what it contains later on.

[HughesTooling]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So firstly, it seems I cannot use a component for this, because I cannot cut into an inserted component.   

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There is a workaround for this, after inserting the external design as a linked component create a new empty component and  copy the body from the linked component into the new empty component. The copy can be modified and any modifications to the external part will also update. This is not going to work to well is you are inserting lots of components but it's not to bad for one or two.

Mark

[TrippyLighting]

I would probaly be helpful if you could create a screencast with what you are trying to do.

[Anonymous]

Interesting, thanks Mark, I will try that.