Using the PIPE tool in Fusion 360 - and tackling "anti-parallel" segment issues in a sketch profile.

[sehaque]

Hi, I am having difficulty in drawing a pipe (it's a circular section wire in my model) in the attached model. 

I'm going to try to make my first screencast .. how can I identify which segment has the anti-parallel direction? it's annoying and I am ripping out all of the segments and it is still there. How can i ensure anti-parallel segments don't show up, or how can I fix it? I did try to use SPLINE curves, but those are not suitable for the 'straight" lengths of wire I want to show, use, and calculate with. 

I had recorded audio, and it is on the screencast actual video, but during upload the audio went away. sorry. 

[TheCADWhisperer]

What component is this question related to?

Could you have deleted all extraneous stuff and Attach only the geometry in question?

Have you done any unnecessary Moves?  (Tip: Move is almost never necessary.)

Is your sketch fully defined?

Are there any unresolved issues indicated in the Timeline?

What is the purpose of this extraneous line?

Is the Spline supposed to be Tangent at both ends?

What are these circles?

Is there a line missing from the sketch?

Why all of these short little lines?

Are they all Colinear with the longer angled lines?

Why repeat the same sketch geometry over and over again?

Isn't that a lot of work?

Wouldn't it be easier to make a simple sketch and Pattern Feature for all that is repeated geometry?

[TheCADWhisperer]

@sehaque 

Is this the sketch you were attempting to use for Pipe?

(See Attached)

[sehaque]

@CadWhisperer I thank you for your questions which I will try to answer. The example .f3d file you have attached - I will look at it in a bit as I have one laptop computer that i am servicing at present  and that will take some time, after which I will get back to Cad.

In answer to your questions:

Generally, I thought of creating a component (set) out of various parts (this is the big object: NIR Frame) part. It is rectangular and has to have a pattern of screws with plastic bushings/washers to gently hold in place the Antenna wire. I didn't know how to use PIPE TOOL, so I finished the work on the frame part, assuming I would collect all of the work pieces that make up the frame (the connectors, the hangars, the screws, the washers) and eventually export it. I also wanted to have the wire modeled and put as a sub-component within the frame, so when i export it, the whole frame (frame outline, screws, washers, connectors, hangars, and wires) are saved together so I don't have to do this again.

1. Have you done any unnecessary Moves? (Tip: Move is almost never necessary.) -- WELL, I found out that creating a rectangular pattern of screw holes (for the guiding screws) did not allow me correctly to place the screws so that the wires would be vertical, and I found this problem when I went to draw out the original sketch NEDA-12-8-NIR-RR Antenna Wire. I had to resort to manually cut the lower section and move it by 0.2inches for the screws to line up in a staggered fashion. I used regular CUT TOOL to do that and the split body (lower part) was moved to appropiate location. 
2. Is your sketch fully defined? -I tried going back in the time line to edit the skecth  (which was started a long time earlier in the timeline) and the annoying thing is that it doesn't show (projection 3D components) the latest parts that I put in, so I have been modeling while developing the design. That's what CAD flow I used when I used SolidWorks, so here it is getting progressively difficult.
3. Are there any unresolved issues indicated in the Timeline? - NO
4. What is the purpose of this extraneous line? I didn't realize that -- have to check
5. Is the Spline supposed to be Tangent at both ends? SPLINE is very difficult for me to grok, despite it's purpose, what are the real ways to get a STRAIGHT line if you wanted to while extending the spline, or is it that all SPLINES are curves, and the only way you can get straight lines is to use the LINE tool. Then,could I not make a sections of straight llines (representing the tight curve around each guiding screw and then use (which?) tool to smooth them with respect to each other? 
6. What are these circles? Those are the outer edges of the washers and screws, the wire has to be away from them, but placed in the middle in order to be sandwiched gently to the base NIR-RR frame. If you turn on the shaded view, you will see that the washerse are not coincident with the frame, they are 0.06in away from the frame, which is where the wire will be snugly fit. it's important for this application to not have kinks in the entire wire of about 66ft, of which a fair portion is held by this frame. The remainder will be going to another antenna element in a straight line. 
7. Why all of these short little lines? Are they all Colinear with the longer angled lines? - YES
8. Why repeat the same sketch geometry over and over again? Isn't that a lot of work? Wouldn't it be easier to make a simple sketch and Pattern Feature for all that is repeated geometry? - YES< I would like to do that, but the wire has to avoid the screws, which I had to make decisions on where to place for a certain reason. I thought I could handle the wire modeling after all screws were where they were supposed to be. It's just that the original Wire path sketch profile (22AWG stranded antenna wire path profile in the component NEDA12-8-NIR-RR Antenna Wire)  created some earlier time ago and when i try to edit it, it goes back to that timeline (and fails to show all the later parts). Thus I tried to HIDE that (or should I use SUPRESS?) and create a new test sketch which ultimately at late night, caused confusion.

Let me look at your .f3d while I figure out how to rip out the older sketches and start over again. 

Thanks.

[sehaque]

@TheCADWhisperer I used your .f3d file example (copy of my sketch with a missing vertical) and then completed the vertical using the line command (TOP > BOTTOM) and then ran the PIPE TOOl again. This is what I got:

Error: The given path is not tangent continuous around tight corners. To make self-intersecting sweep work, the circular path segments should be tangent continuous to the adjacent path segments.

So, what are the best practices to combine curves with straight sections in a rectangular pattern while sketching? 

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@sehaque wrote:

@TheCADWhisperer I used your .f3d file example ….

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You should recognize that it is your sketch, not mine.

I would never have a sketch that has so many issues.

I recommend that you start over from scratch and Attach you new attempt after each and every sketch/feature.