Sketches in components

[smallfavor]

Is there a best practice approach as to where one creates sketches in the browser tree?  So far I've kept all the sketches in the top level (original) sketches folder.   Is there an advantage to creating them within assembly folders lower down in the tree?

[zodiaceng]

If you've got multiple components and sketches are specifically for those individual components, always keep them within the components and name them always. You'll thank yourself later for naming. You're more often than not going to want to filter thru your components while working on things so being able to turn on/off a component and all of its respective bodies, sketches, etc is going to save you a lot of frustration.

Only time I ever leave sketches outside their respective components is if they're reference sketches or relative to the assembly as a whole, or I just forget to make a component active. I haven't really found a good reason to lump all the sketches together in the main sketches folder. It becomes a huge mess when you're trying to keep things organized and sort thru them during a build.

[smallfavor]

Okay, that's welcome advice.  But as you pointed out, "if they're reference sketches" sketches that are used to create multiple components.  And that's where some questions arise as to the most (least mess producing) efficient place for them to reside.   It's really quite easy to create major mess in the timeline.  I wonder if one could copy and paste sketch elements into a downstream sketch that would be updatable by alterations to the earlier one.

I'm finding the timeline more of a learning chore than the actual modeling so far.

[daniel_lyall]

If you think of components as buckets, you put the sketch in then you do it's body. then if you want to use that body somewhere else you just pick it up and move it.

if you want to edit the sketch somewhere else you just do that.

If that components does not have a sketch in it and you want to edit the sketch you can't,

unless it is still a linked component (has the chain symbol on it ), if it's not link you can not edit the sketch, as there is no sketch.

Using a sketch outside of a component if it has no body and it's just a guide it don't matter that much at all.

also if the component, you know that you will use it again right from the start make a component and keep anything to do with it in the same places.

If the sketch is from a projection use the components origin to make the plane for it to go on.

if it's going to be use somewhere else, this save's problems in the long run.

if it's stay put it's not so important.

If at anytime you are not sure just ask any question  

[Beyondforce]

Hi @smallfavor,

Please read this, it is VERY important: Fusion 360 R.U.L.E #1 and #2

Cheers / Ben
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[smallfavor]

Thanks for the help.  I've another question. Is it possible to go back and change the location of sketchs - that is place them into the component folder they were used to create?   I'd like to manage the browser tree but I keep getting errors and disappearing geometry.  Does geometry still exist if the sketch used to create it is deleted?

[TrippyLighting]

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@smallfavor wrote:

Thanks for the help.  I've another question. Is it possible to go back and change the location of sketchs - that is place them into the component folder they were used to create?   I'd like to manage the browser tree but I keep getting errors and disappearing geometry.  Does geometry still exist if the sketch used to create it is deleted?

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Is it possible to go back and change the location of sketchs

No, once a body hass been turned into a component it's too late. However, If you've created a sketch and created a body from the sketch it's not too late to put both into a compoenent.

You'd create a new anbd empty compoent and drag the sketch into the component. that will also pul be bodie(s) into the component that was(were) created from that sketch.

One relatioships have been established between bodies, e.g. you create another sketh on the face of a body, it's too late to gat that body into the compoents together with it's sketch.

Does geometry still exist if the sketch used to create it is deleted

That would be very easy to try out/ Create a rectangle, extrude a body from it andthen delete the sketch. What happens ?

Chances are that might result in a warning informing you that reference geometry is missing and that Fuson 360 is working with cached geometry.

[smallfavor]

Thanks.  Regarding cached geometry - can such be unlinked and saved?

[TrippyLighting]

No. You can only delete the timeline, but that would be a decision the:

1. applies to the entire design

2. cannot be reversed

Afterward you can only apply direct modeling changes.