Part II: Building Intelligence into Your Parts
Tip
When you are sketching on parallel planes that are separated by some distance and trying to pick up automatic
relations, it is often very helpful to be looking “normal to” the sketch, so that you can see how other entities
are projected into the sketch plane.n
- Use the Loft feature to loft between the two ellipses. Be sure to select the ellipses in
approximately the same location so that they do not twist. If the loft preview accidentally
twists, then use the connectors (light-blue square dots on the sketches that are connected
by a straight line) to straighten out the loft.
Note
Notice that this feature joined together the other two disjoint bodies with the body that was created by the loft
into a single body. This is a result of selecting the Merge Result option in the Options panel.n
Tip
If you want to experiment, expand the Start/End Constraints panel and apply end conditions for the loft. This
causes the loft to change from a straight loft to a curved loft.n
- Right-click all sketches that are showing, and select Hide. Do the same for the Top
Boss Plane. This cleans up the display to prevent it from becoming confusing. However, if
you prefer to see the sketches, then you can leave them displayed.
Tip
You can either hide or show different types of entities in groups by using the View menu. Hide All Types hides
everything, and disables the options for individual entity types to be used.n
- Open a sketch on the Right plane. Sketch an ellipse such that the center is oriented
1.750 inches vertically from the Origin, and the ellipse measures .750 inches horizontally
and 1.500 inches vertically. - Extrude this ellipse using the Up To Next end condition. If Up To Next does not
appear in the list, then change the direction of the extrude and try it again. - Show the sketch of the Bosses feature by expanding the feature (click the “+” next
to it), right- or left-clicking the sketch icon, and clicking the Hide/Show icon (eye-
glasses). Next, open a sketch on the Right plane. Sketch two circles that are concentric
with the original circles, with the dimensions of .875 inches and 1.250 inches. Exit the
sketch. - Use Instant 3D to create an extruded cut that goes through the large circular bosses.
This feature will look like a boss extrusion at first, so when you have finished dragging its
depth, a small toolbar with two icons appears. One of the icons enables you to add draft;
the other enables you to turn the boss into a cut. Figure 7.67 shows the state of the
model up to this step.