Need to copy a complex face to a surface

[Kerry.McInnes]

Sorry for the poor file quality, not at the computer at the moment.

I’m sure I’m missing something simple here but I need some help. I need to take the complete top surface of the attached picture and raise it 30” to create a surface with the same geometry. I tried “thicken” to a surface but it moved the surface geometry the more I raised it. What would be the best way to do this. Thanks again. 

[mcgyvr]

Copy Object to create a surface then Move Bodies to move that solid 30" away maybe?

Kind of difficult to understand what you are really trying to achieve or why. 

[JDMather]

When you get back to your computer - Attach  your *.ipt file here.

[Frederick_Law]

Try Move Face.

[Kerry.McInnes]

I know I’m not explaining to well. When I get home this afternoon I’ll provide the file and some more detailed information. 

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I am not sure I fully understand the request. If you are drafting the face, you can use Face Draft command. Or, if you are trying to create a new surface body and rotate, you can use Thicken/Offset -> Surface -> set the distance to 0. After that, use Move Bodies (expand the Modify panel) to rotate the surface.

Many thanks!

[Frederick_Law]

Split into top and bottom half.

Move one away 30".  Fill the gap with extrude and merge.

[Kerry.McInnes]

Alright, back at my computer. I know this isnt the same part file as before, but what I need to do is create a surface to project a 3D sketch to, so I want to copy the face of (its a concrete foundation in this instance) the part and simply raise it above the part. If I try "Thicken" it scales it outward as you can see in the attachment, I need it to stay the same as the part. I tried thicken and then "Move Bodies" but it wont let me select the surface

[Kerry.McInnes]

This is the actual assembly I'm building, I need to raise the surface so I can project the sketch for the grab rail all the way around the hand rails

 

[Kerry.McInnes]

Alright, I got it to work. I was able to thicken the faces to .001" and was then able to move the surface up with "Move Bodies", now im running into another issue. This is all in an assembly, I can do this in the "Part" but I cant do it in the assembly. I need to create a new component (The grab rails), but I cant get the surface into the new part im creating. Any help id much appreciated.

 

[Kerry.McInnes]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get this surface into another part level?

[johnsonshiue · Accepted solution]

Hi! Yes, the answer was in prior replies. You need to use Copy Object command. Edit a part in place or create a new part. Then go to Modify panel -> expand the panel -> Copy Object -> select the offset surface from the part -> set Output as Surface.

Many thanks!

[LT.Rusty]

Generally speaking, when I have to do a thing like this I don't try and make it all as separate IPT files up front.

Try doing it as a single part with multiple solid bodies, first. Keep all your sketches together, keep all the relationships and dependencies contained within one part file. If things change later, you don't have to worry about what's adaptive to what, or where you've broken something, because you've got it all in one file.

In this case, I guess I'd have the concrete as one solid object, and then your handrails would be... I guess I don't know how you're planning on breaking those down, but at a minimum they'd be a separate solid object. When you've finished modeling everything, you can then go to Manage-->Make Components and follow the prompts to create a new assembly file containing IPTs which have been created from your original solid bodies.

Any changes you make later to your original multi-body part file will be reflected in the final assembly and parts created from the solids, but you avoid having to deal with adaptivity link problems created by projecting sketches, etc., from multiple files.

[Kerry.McInnes]

This is the first time Ive had to model a set like this so its really taken me for a ride! The way I did it was first made the concrete as one body and then created the sketches for the rails (for frame generator) in place so i could reference the geometry from the concrete, after that I demoted each section of rails. This way I could create the drawings and parts lists for each rail and then as a whole. I did run into a couple adaptivity issues when I had to make changes.

If there is a more streamlined way to do it, Im all ears, Im just not understanding how to make components for something like this but im very interested if you could provide me some more details!

[LT.Rusty]

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@Kerry.McInnes wrote:

This is the first time Ive had to model a set like this so its really taken me for a ride! The way I did it was first made the concrete as one body and then created the sketches for the rails (for frame generator) in place so i could reference the geometry from the concrete, after that I demoted each section of rails. This way I could create the drawings and parts lists for each rail and then as a whole. I did run into a couple adaptivity issues when I had to make changes.

If there is a more streamlined way to do it, Im all ears, Im just not understanding how to make components for something like this but im very interested if you could provide me some more details!

---

Ahhh, okay. I see what you're doing now. Frame Generator. Couple different was I might tackle that.

Option 1- make the sketches in the part file for the concrete. Nothing says you have to have the sketches for frame generator in their own separate part. Just do them here, use the concrete in the assembly where you're going to build your handrails, and you can turn visibility off for the sketches later. (And the concrete, too, if needed.)

Option 2- Derive the concrete into a new part, but bring it in as a surface and then delete the faces you don't need. At this point, you can use a pattern feature in the new part to make copies of the body at 0", 21", and 42" (assuming OSHA-standard handrail heights) and make your sketches there. If you're careful about how you dimension and constrain things, any changes you make later on to the concrete part will come through to the surfaces you didn't delete, and will then filter on down to the rails created with frame generator.

As for multi-solid modeling... that's a whole separate and deep topic, but basically whenever you do an extrude or revolve feature or whatever, when you select whether you're adding or subtracting from the solid object, there's another button there as well: make new solid. You can basically create multiple objects in one single part and see how they all fit together, and then spin each one off into its own separate part when you're done. It's more of a subject than we can really get into right here, though.