mmccall

This method could become painful, but you could select all the internal faces then create a surface shape from them and convert to solid from there.

I am having a real problem with DXF files from pro/e.. Over 50% of my drawing notes and dimensions didn't show up in Ironcad. Any body else with this problem?

I have an animation where I need two objects to come in contact and then move together. Ex... I have one cylinder moving until it contacts cylinder 2... once in contact, cylinder 1 moves cylinder 2 in a straight line for 2ft. How can I get ironcad to understand a solid surface? As of right now, the only way I am getting this to work is with timing in the smartmotion editor... meaning, I only move cylinder 2 at the instance or time when cylinder 1 hits it. I know that with smart dimensions you can constrain or lock the relative distance between the two objects. Lets take this concept one step further. What if you could apply + and - tolerances to smart dimensions or have upper and lower limit smart dimensions!!.. And it would be really usefull if you could lock the mean, upper and lower limits all independently! Now considering this capability along with animation, you could start cylinder2 with a smart dimension 3inches + and - some values away from cylinder1 and lock the lower tolerance at .000.... Now when cylinder 1 hits cylinder2 ( remember the lower limit is locked at .000) the two will or should move together. See what I am asking? Is there any way to get Ironcad to understand a solid surface? Any ideas?

I noticed that for some reason the handles don't allow you to snap to edges etc. until you complete the function and go back to modify it. Is anyone else having that problem?

Is there any way to lock the order of features in the feature manager? Ex.. I have a block with two cylinder cutouts. Where the two cylinders meet, I have a chamfer. When I modify the depth of the cutout ,where the chamfer is, the features scramble in the feature manager and the chamfer dissapears.. Also the interaction , magnet constraint, between the two cutouts is broken ( going back to the magnet constraint problem in one of my earlier topics). To get the chamfer back, I have to reorder the features again. Any ideas?

HMMMM... good question... I can't seem to find a way to do it. Looks like something we should have. View properties doesn't show a tool like that.

Apparently there is a difference in linking an object at the intellishape level (yellow with handles) vs the part editing level (blue). If you take an object, select it until it is at the intellishape level and do a linked copy, it will only update size changes... that is , if you drop another shape onto the parent object, the linked copy will not show the new added shape or hole features etc.... (well... it will if you add the hole or shape cutout by editing the cross section of the parent.... it just won't update to show any drop on features.) If you take an object and bring it to the part editing level, then make a linked copy, when you drop another object onto the parent object the linked copy will show the added shape. This is something I never really noticed... Is it supposed to work that way? Just checking. Here is an example file.... you can see how the two methods react. One pair only responds to size box changes or profile (edit cross section) changes... the other does sizebox changes and updates to show added drop on features. You may notice that deleting the parent part give a different outcome in each case. Deleting the parent of an object that was linked at the intellishape level will delete both objects while deleting the parent of an object that was linked at the part editing level will only delete the selected object.... and sometimes the equavalent linked object....or parent.... uuuhhhhh? Confusing enough? Just play around with the file... let me know if you discover anything different. linking.ics

I am loosing the Attach To Surface constraint on the anchors no matter what I do.... no matter what order... in every case. It happens after saving a scene, starting a new scene... anything you do. Just like you said, the anchor changes its behavior.... eventhough the magnet icon still shows.... for some reason it won't stay attached to the surface it was applied to. And the "attach shape to part" option IS selected in the Tools/Options/Parts menue.

Looks like my previous issue is beginning to work also... Talk about results... the IRONCAD people have found out how to fix problems .... during or before we complain !!!

I noticed a similar problem. You have to make sure that when you drop the profile on the surface that it truly extends throught the part.. I dropped a custom profile on a flat surface, but when I dragged it over to the bend to make it wrap around the bend, I noticed that it only moved parallel with the first surface I dropped it on. You can tell this by showing the features location or dimensions with respect to the global coordinate system... so you may see an anchor floating out some distance away from your bend.... I then had to use the triball to re-orient.... Kind of a hack job but everything worked... and it flattened out properly. It may help to make the drop at the apex pick point of the bend, and that should get it there and then locate it where you need it. Hope this helps.

Try this site... They have tons of stuff... in 3DS format which inports into Ironcad really well http://www.klicker.de/e_mod06.htm http://www.klicker.de/e_mod02.htm links to other models http://www.klicker.de/e_mod07.htm

Now both magnet contraints are lost !!! In an entirely new file !

Still no luck.. lost magnet cyl 2.ics

??

1) Take a cylinder and drop it in the screen. 2) Take another cylinder and drop it on one end. If you move the size box end handles of the first cylinder, the second cylinder will follow the face it is attached to. 3) Now drop another cylinder onto the other end of the main or first cylinder.... If you move the size box end handle of the first cylinder ( the handle corresponding to the face of the third cylinder) the third cylinder will follow its corresponding face... but the second cylinder will no longer follow the face you attached it to earlier in step 2..! Why did it loose its "magnet constraint"...?... when you highlight it (the second cylinder) at the intellishape level it still shows the little magnet symbol !! What's going on? Only one cylinder is doing what its supposed to do... At this point it looks like you are forced to put mate and align constraints on the same part !... but you are not allowed to do that !!

Well... something must have happened here. I made this simple part out of several of the drag shapes and performed a boolean operation.... but then I noticed that the sizebox changed orientation!! The body of the part was simply a cylinder . I dragged two partial cones into the screen, resized them and then placed them on the cylinder Then I performed the boolean operation to create one shape out of the cylinder, and the two cones.. The hex shape and the eyelet at the end seem to work just fine. They were put on sometime later... The sizebox for the cylinder and the cones (main body area) has been skewed and it seems to re-scale the body section ! Did something change in my settings? sizeboxproblem.ics sizeboxproblem.ics

I have a cube that I am trying to shell... and its not working. The radius is really large so that shouldnt be the problem. Is anybody else having this problem? see if you can shell the top face of a shape like this..

Man... something is really going wrong. I am trying to shell a block...and for some reason it will only shell the insides of the block...meaning it won't delete or open the face I am selecting!!! Its a simple block with radius features on the faces. It should create a bathtub... but it won't.... The radius is really large so there shouldn't be a problem.. 2" radius and .120 thick shell. Any body else having this problem? shellproblem.ics

Try this file... it has the whole part... or you can make the handles show in the previous file by going into its intellishape properties and changing the sizebox to display all the handles for "part 10" in your feature manager. Made a mistake in this file... forgot to lock aspect ratios !!!.. Well, I'm sure we all get the point... step file mold 2.ics

When importing a step file you may find that alot of the logical attachment points, expecially circle centers and quadrant points, can't be selected... meaning nothing works... or the tribal can't attach to them. You can 1) change the step part properties in the "shape - set operation" to "remove material" 2) create a block around the imported step part 3) shape ---- hit the boolean At this point you will have a block with the step part subrtacted from it ... In essence you are making a "mold" 4) set your "mold" to "remove material" 5) put another block around the "mold" or subtracted area... 6) perform another boolean operation. You can drag handles around to eliminate unwanted leftover material. In several cases this brought back alot of the attachment points, but in almost every case I had to re-create holes in order for the triball to find the center and quadrant points. It helps if you use transparency on some of your parts so you can see whats going on... you can also move handles so you can get to the inner parts since ironcad still knows the location of all the geometry.... but in my example I only went to an arbitrary point.... just make sure your mold encloses the entire imported feature. Play around with the attached file. step file mold.ics

Jerry !!!... George is getting ANGRY !!!!

How often did you use the deform faces tool in 5.2? Do you think it is or could be a valuable tool and should be in 6.0?

Surely Ironcad has to streamline itself to make way for the most usefull tools, but in this case I had a use for that tool, which made it valuable to me and maybe others. In the meantime I will try to recreate the shape using the new surface tools or anything else I can find. Wish me luck.

Hey... Ironcad !!!! I had a use for that tool !!! Help us find it !!!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there a way to deform or stretch a face about a point in version 5.2?... can't seem to find it in 6.0... I found an old file I had, and I am having a hrd time remembering how I made this shape..... I dont believe I used a saurface to do it... Looks like we need a "regen steps" option in ironcad.