Hex Cuts into Surface

[Anonymous]

Hello,

My apologies if this has been covered elsewhere. I've searched, but am new enough to the CAD vocabulary that I might not be searching the correct terms. 

I have a part that I would like to light-weight with a hexagonal pattern cut into the back of it. Ideally, I would like something like the Hole function, where I can cut a hexagonal "hole" into the flat back of the part. I can't seem to find the correct course of actions to get what I want. I need to preserve the surface on the front of the part. Unfortunately, when I use the split tool, I cut a hexagonal hole through the entire part.

I've attached a screen shot showing the geometry of the pattern. Each 'hole' can be slightly different, but I'm happy cutting them to a uniform distance to start.

Thanks for your help. It's possible that I'm going about this completely wrong, so feel free to set me straight.

[graemev · Accepted solution]

Extrude using the Cut option.  You may wish to specify a distance.  Other termination options are also available.

[WHolzwarth]

Perhaps like that. By using the "Island" body I didn't need to select all hex regions individually.

Walter