Grouping lines in a sketch prior to applying patterns/mirror

[heathVUT53]

I've learnt on this forum that there's no "group" function in Fusion 360, so I'm interested in what the best practice alternatives are.

How would you apply a mirror or pattern to a collection of lines? Using a selection set is easy but makes a mess from a simple design.

[jeff_strater]

Selection Set is the answer for how to create a "group" of items in a sketch.

Yes, mirroring in a sketch creates a mess in multiple ways - visually, and performance.  Instead, it is recommended to do the mirroring in the solid environment.  Make your solid out of the sketch you have, then mirror that solid.

[heathVUT53]

Good to know, thanks for the response. Sounds like a useful workaround, but a bit counter-intuitive to me since I typically sketch a cross-section and think of Push/Pull as an extrude operation. Push/Pulling first and then mirroring means I have to define my length before I have a complete cross section, which feels a bit backwards.

But it's a good tip and I appreciate it.

[hamid.sh. · Accepted solution]

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@heathVUT53 wrote:

Good to know, thanks for the response. Sounds like a useful workaround, but a bit counter-intuitive to me since I typically sketch a cross-section and think of Push/Pull as an extrude operation. Push/Pulling first and then mirroring means I have to define my length before I have a complete cross section, which feels a bit backwards.

But it's a good tip and I appreciate it.

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You can first make a surface using mirror and pattern and then use it for extrusion. This way you have cross-section first, from a simple sketch (pardon the arbitrary profile, I just made it as an example):

File is attached.

[heathVUT53]

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@hamid.sh. wrote:

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You can first make a surface using mirror and pattern and then use it for extrusion. This way you have cross-section first, from a simple sketch

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Oh, I wasn't familiar with "surface". That makes a lot more sense! Thanks for taking the time.

Specifically you need to add these steps right?

1. Close the sketch to form a face (that is, add one more line where the sketch mirror line would have been).
2. Create a Surface Patch.
3. Then go ahead and apply the mirror/pattern to the Surface.
4. Finally, Stitch the surfaces together, assumedly to remove the adjoining lines.

[hamid.sh.]

Right! You got it. Just don't forget to make your sketch fully-defined.