Origins

[rbenward]

Hi,

I am trying to generate several components in one drawing.  I find too much inadvertent interaction between components.  I move a body or fix a sketch in one component and then I find it screwed up the bodies and sketches in other component!  I spent a lot of time thinking about origins.  So I go to a sketch, and spend half an hour moving the entire sketch to the origin, only to find out the origin of the sketch (when I exit the sketch mode) is not the origin of the model!!!  I try and select sketch components to move to the origin, but NOTHING happens.  I though everything could be moved.  I just don't get it.  Some sketches show a lock, most don't.  How do I change that?

Questions:

• Can I lock a component and sketches so I cannot alter them once I have completed them?
• How can I be sure I am drawing sketches at the drawing origin and not the component origin?
• Is there workflow cadence that I am missing??

Thanks,

Bob

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

You are asking for basic Fusion 360 instruction but I think I caught most of your questions in my Screencast.  The main thing you should remember is to create your component early so all the sketches and bodies fall under the component.  Also try to do all your model sketches related to the origin and fully constrain them, you will be a lot happier.  By the way, start referring to your work as a "model".  A drawing is the 2D representation usually created after your model is finished.  I attached the simple assembly I used in the Screencast for your reference.

[jhackney1972]

Did my Screencast answer your question. If so, please mark those solutions by pressing the "Accept Solution" icon. This will do three things. It will remove the question from the active list, it will allow others to find the answer to a similar question and last it will acknowledge the effort and time of the poster(s) supplying an answer.

If you need further help, please ask giving further details of your needs.

[TrippyLighting]

I am going to refer you to Fusion 360 R.U.L.E #1 & 2

In general, keeping origins in mind is a very good thing, particularly when you start assembling components using joints. 

[rbenward · Accepted solution]

Hi John,

Thank you for the time you have taken to explain this.  This is not my first time using 3D CAD, and I've been using fusion on and off for over a year.  It is more a matter of understanding the idiosyncrasies of different programs.  I started on EasyCAD almost 30 years ago, and quickly went to FastCAD 3D.  Although I am electrical by trade, I generated the first 3D model in my company 25 years ago.  I've been using, and paying endlessly for a program (I won't mention the name) that never seemed to fix the problems in the program that plagued me.  I love the features in Fusion360, but I need to switch gears from one program to another.  Again thank you in advance for your reply.

I understand the origins, in my situation the sketch had become "dislocated" from the main origin.  I was just trying to move the sketch and the sketch's origin back to the main origin.  I just could not do it, it would end up moving both points, frustrating the heck out of me.  In the same case, trying an alternate approach, I tried to displace the sketch from a side view (depth), and tried to translate it to a 0 origin, and it moved, but I had a 0.014mm gap left.  In the translate to coordinates, it would not accept "0mm" as an input, and in the end I could not zero out that gap.

I finally gave up and redrew everything, making sure every sketch was starting at the origin.  This time I was more successful.  It seems you must draw it correctly from the beginning, because it is very difficult to fix it later.  Another user advised me of the importance of this workflow previously.

I now understand the "lock".  It's incremental, and adding unconstrained features can easily unlock the sketch.

Lastly, I am still not sure what I did, but after I finished, I think I was moving around the browser, and then all of a sudden a component disappeared!  I could not find it, but I could recover it by ctl-Z.  This has happened more than once.

It seems you can't post and accept at the same time.  I will go back and accept when this post goes through.

Regards,

Bob