Offsetting a line (or curve) in sketch mode

[countmacula]

I'm trying to offset sketch geometry within sketch mode. There are two other posts that try to deal with this:
thread554-88101
thread554-51438
neither is satisfactory for my needs. I need to create an extrusion, the cross section of which contains offset splines. In AutoCAD, Solidworks, Vectorworks, and every other CAD package I've used there is a simple and indispensable offset button. How on earth could this have been overlooked in Pro/E? If you have a complicated spline copying it will not create the same geometry as a simple offset. Please excuse my obvious frustration, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[jeff4136]

From Help, Creating Sketcher Geometry:

Sketch > Edge > Offset (or use button,
flyout on Use Edge tool button).

 

[jeff4136]

Oops, sorry. I should read more carefully (got distracted by all the other CAD packages).

I think you'll end up having to build your section in pieces; sequential datum sketches and then you'll be able to use the offset edge tool.

 

[Guest0527211403]

Yeah... I've been here, and there's nothing I can say. I think it's silly too. I think it can't be done because the offset curve looks for the edge as a reference, so offsetting something in the same sketch would lead to some sort of circular referencing.

You could try making the extrusion a thin feature (in the dashboard with WF+). But if your sketch contains thick sections with thin walled segments, you're probably better off doing it the way Jeff suggested.

 

[mburlone]

If I'm understanding your dilemma right, this might work:
go to: insert > model datum > sketch
and sketch your spline. When you're finished and back in the main window, make sure the spline is highlighted and select insert > extrude. Since the spline was highlighted when you opened the extrusion, the default setting is extrude as surface. However, if you press the extrude as solid button (the leftmost button on the extrude toolbar), you can now specify an extrusion depth and a thickness.

I Hope this helps!

Michael Burlone
NASA White Sands Test Facility
Las Cruces, NM

 

[countmacula]

Thanks for the help guys. I still can't believe it.

 

[jeff4136]

> I still can't believe it.

It does seem to be a glaring omission. Giving it some thought; I miss the function for a few minutes every couple of months but I rarely model complex shapes using solid modeling functions, opting for surface modeling functions instead. Maybe that's at the root of it. Another possibility is that the sketcher is (I think) PTC's own. D-Cubed's canned functions are pretty widely used by a lot of other programs and it does have a sketch curve offset function (? and not to say I prefer the D-Cubed based sketchers I've used; I don't.). Just some thoughts ...