Chapter 11: Editing and Evaluation
- Try to draw a horizontal line from the outer end of the spiral. You will notice that
you cannot reference the end of the spiral.
Tip
Curves that are absorbed into other features are notoriously difficult to work with. Generally, you need to
select them from the FeatureManager to do anything at all with them. Also, if you need to reference an end of
an absorbed curve, you are better off using Convert Entities to make it into a sketch entity. n
- Notice that you cannot select the spiral from the graphics window. Even when
selected from the FeatureManager, it appears not to be selected in the graphics window.
Ensure that it is selected in the FeatureManager, and then click the Convert Entities but-
ton on the sketch toolbar. - Draw a horizontal line from the outer end of the spiral and dimension it to be three
inches long, as shown in Figure 11.26.
FIGURE 11.26
Preparing for the Fit Spline- Select both the converted spiral and the line, and click Tools ➪ Spline Tools ➪ Fit
Spline. Set the Tolerance to .1 and make sure that only the Constrained option is selected.
Click OK to accept the Fit Spline. Test to make sure that a single spline is created by mov-
ing your cursor over the sketch to see whether the whole length is highlighted.
Note
The Fit Spline feature fits a spline to a set of sketch entities within the specified tolerance. It can be a useful
tool for smoothing out sketch geometry. n