Project complex sketch onto another sketch

[AagAag]

I am trying to project a relatively complex set of drawings from one sketch onto a second sketch that lies on an offset plane. but I seem unable to select multiple elements using a selection window or lasso. I can only click on individual items (of which however I need to project >100).

I assume that I am missing something basic and I feel very stupid...

[etfrench · Accepted solution]

The only way I know that has a slim possibility of making this easier is to put the sketch in a component, copy the component, then move the copy to the new plane. 

p.s. Why do you need to project the geometry to a new sketch?

[jeff_strater]

no, you are not missing anything.  Project only supports single item selection.  So, yes, you will have to select them one at a time, unfortunately.  Project is not really intended for this kind of mass projection.  Why do you need to project so many entities?

[AagAag]

Thanks. But would that update parametrically if the primary sketch geometry changes?

[AagAag]

I am trying to make these features appear on the opposite face of the rectangular extrudes. They will be needed for further extrudes. Alternatively I tried circular patterns, but they do not seem work for sketch elements in 3D. I am sure that there may be better ways to achieve the same result, but I am at loss. 

[davebYYPCU]

Complicated sketches are not recommended.  Move to features and bodies with patterns and mirrors, design dependant.

You have lots of symmetry in that picture.  Maybe you should be asking why the circular pattern did not assist you.

Share the file as it makes more sense to use your data, with explanations.

[AagAag]

Thank you Dave and everybody. Points extremely well-taken. Here is the link: https://a360.co/2EL9lHT

The idea is to make FDM/SLA-printable components of a large box. I am keen to get this done, but I am even more keen to use this as an exercise to explore how far I can go with dimensionality reduction by using patterning and mirroring (which I actually did extensively). 

Plugs and receptacles will help assembling the parts. In order to retain design flexibility, everything should be strictly parametric, with as few input parameters as possible. Because the plugs should face receptacles on the neighboring "tile", several symmetrical transformations are necessary, whereas simple mirroring will not cut it.  The challenge is to achieve the goal with the most limited number of steps, ideally without redrawing a single shape more than once!

[davebYYPCU]

I will not be getting back to the Desktop over the holidays, sorry, others will chime in.

I learnt a lot from this guy’s series, he developed a few versions, as he got more understanding of parameters.  You may find that adapting his procedure may get you going.

Search Fusion 360 automatically sized finger joints in YouTube.

[etfrench]

I think you'll need to start from scratch on this.  You've deleted a lot of components/bodies and one of the sketches depends on one of those components.  See Rule #1 when starting fresh.

Here is one way of creating a circular pattern with your existing model.  As you can see in the screencast, you need to create an axis first.  Since the sketches have dependencies, it's not possible to move them to the appropriate component, so they are not included in the pattern.

[AagAag]

Dear etfrench, a million thanks for taking the time to educate me (with a glorious screencast!) on Christmas - I am really appreciative. Now, there is still something that I do not understand, Take a look at the following design: https://a360.co/2CyV9Ak

The last item in the timeline is a circular pattern. What is patterned is a series of extrudes: cut-newbody-cut-newbody. The newbodies pattern nicely over the opposite body.

However, if you shift the timeline marker before/after the last item, you will notice that the "cuts" (negative extrusions) do not pattern at all. I suspect that this is a limitation of Fusion. Is there a workaround that performs a 180° circular pattern (essentially a mirror coupled with an inversion) of negative extrusions?

[GabeTL]

Although I am not sure if it is the most efficient method for what @AagAag is trying to do, I did figure out a way to project multiple elements at once by creating a Selection Set.  First, go into the sketch with the entities that you want to project, select all desired entities using your desired selection method, and then create a selection set.  Next go into the sketch you would like to project them to (or create a new sketch to project them to) and open the project feature.  Navigate to the Selection Sets folder in the Design Tree, hover over the selection set from the other sketch, and then click the "Select" button that pops up.  This will then add all the entities from the selection set into the project geometry.  This also works for selection sets using entities other than sketch entities, such as faces.  Just remember Rule #2 and name your selection set so you don't forget what's in it.