Workflow for mirrored components

[IanMantula]

I am creating a design that requires left and right mirrored components and I want to ensure that I'm following the correct workflow. I searched the archives for a similar question but found nothing like this.

The design is for some inlet adapters for mounting throttle bodies onto an existing engine manifold. This is all work-in-progress as I learn how to use F360.

This is what I did:

1. Created the left adapter as a new design.
2. In A360 created a copy of the design and renamed it as right adapter
3. Created a mirror of the original body then removed the original body which left me with the component I wanted.
4. Inserted the left adapter (blue item) as shown in the screenshot.
5. Tried to insert the right adapter, but it was not possible...

Fusion 360 did not allow me to insert the component as it was a clone of an existing part:

So my idea of the correct workflow does not match Fusion 360's expected workflow. 

So how should I do this?

Thanks for any answers,

Ian

[innovatenate · Accepted solution]

Check out the below discussion.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/design-and-documentation/insert-into-current-desing-clone-error/td-p/5...

This should help with the cloning issue. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

[venkitr]

Not sure it this helps, you can try the "Save Copy As" command from the browser context mane for the original component and insert the Saved copy file to the original assembly after modifications.

[IanMantula]

Thank you for the quick reply innovatenate.

Any comments on the rest of the workflow, apart from the need to use Save Copy As, am I on the right track for creating a mirrored component?

Regards

Ian

[venkitr]

Not sure if it will work for your case, you could use the same component without mirroring and apply a transformation while inserting in the assembly.

[IanMantula]

Thanks for the idea venkitr.

Unfortunately the part that needs to be mirrored is asymetric on all axes, so a rotation would not do the job. In my original image it's the blue inlet adapter that has to be mirrored.

Regards

Ian 

[innovatenate]

There is more than one way to create mirrored components.

Another suggestion, might be to use the Paste New command. 

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/ENU/Fusion-F...

The Paste New command will create an independent copy of the exisiting component within the design. You could then activate the new component and then use the mirror command to modify this to be the mirrored component. 

The downside of this method is there will not be any associativity between the Paste New component and the original. If you find yourself in a place where you need to make an update, you will have to update both right and left hand components individually in the design.

I suspect what you really want is to have one part that drives the mirrored component, left and right hand.

Using a distributed design has a few limitations for this purpose. However, it is possible to create an associative mirrored component using XREF's. Check out the below screencast for tips on creating mirrored components in Fusion 360.

http://autode.sk/1Lvx7Ff

I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

[IanMantula]

Nathan,

Thanks for the detailed and very helpful answer. The screencast showed exactly what I wanted to see. It's good to know that my general approach was going in the right direction. XREFs are the way to go.

However it would be interesting to know if there are plans for a more elegant worklow in the future. In my mind there are at least two ways that mirroring is used, the first is to ensure symmetry by duplicating the mirrored body. The second is for the creation of stand-alone components that are driven by the design of the source component. In this case the result should be just one mirrored component. Should I add this as a feature request in the IdeaStation?

Best regards

Ian

[AndyPandy64]

I had the same problem and solved it by converting anything that could be a sub assembly into a Component. Right-click on the top of the browser tree and select 'Create Components from Bodies'.

It seems to work for me