Body Property in Shovel Handle example

[dcpercy]

When I build the shovel in the example, the handle body will not select for the stitch command nor the trim command. The Body Icon is white for this body, while the others are an orange color with a surface.

What is do these icons indicate, and how can I make the handle usable?

[jeff_strater]

the white icons indicate a solid body (fully closed, filled with material), while the orange ones indicate a surface body (infinitely thin, not closed).  Trim and Stitch are surfacing commands, so will only operate on surface bodies.

I'm not sure what you mean by "usable" here.  If your handle body is already a solid, it is certainly already "usable".  I think we need more info to help further.

[dcpercy · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

In the tutorial, after extruding the shovel handle and then creating the shovel body, you are to trim the handle to the body.  When you choose trim, then the shovel body, there is an unexpected error that the 'Cutting tool does not intersect any surface’ 

Later, when you are to stitch the surfaces, the handle shaft will not select.

When I say ‘usable’, I mean that it doesn’t seem to work as the example intended.

So, why did it become a solid body when it should have been a surface body?

I have tried this several times with the same result.

Can I change it back to a surface body?

I see now that there are more than 1 extrude commands (Lt blue, orange and dk blue).   Presumably one is for a solid and one for a surface, and the other..?.  

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

most likely, when you Extruded the handle, you used the Solid (blue icon) Extrude:

instead of the Surface Extrude (orange icon):

Yes, you can convert a solid to a surface.  Use the Unstitch command:

This will turn each face in the solid body into a separate surface body.  Not knowing the tutorial you are following, it's hard to say whether this will produce the same body as if you had used Surface Extrude, but you should at least be able to Trim the resulting body.