Pattern Along Curve

[lab2010]

I am working with a part that has a conical body. I would like to create cutouts around the entire conical body. I can't give the part file, but a sample image is attached.

I create the first ring by drawing in the cutout profile and then revolving (with subtract) around the longitudinal axis of the cone. This works fine. Looking down the longitudinal axis, I get a circular ring cutout around the entire conical body. I need to create dozens of these cutouts along the entire length of the cone. I felt that the "Pattern Feature Along a Curve" would be the most efficient way to achieve this task. I select the first cutout as my feature and use the line used to create the conical wall as the path to follow in the pattern feature dialog. The copied features are not coming out right. Rather than being circular rings, they are coming out elliptical. The cutout correctly sits on the outside edge of the cone at the top, but the radius decreases as the it revolves. You quickly cannot see the cutouts as it goes into the middle of the cone. The axis of revolution for the original revolve is the cone longitudinal axis, so I have no idea how the copied cutouts are not circular? Any advice how to get this to work? Thanks in advance

 

[lab2010]

By the way...this is all in NX 8.5. I am fairly certain that using the Pattern along a curve isn't the method to achieve this goal. So I am mostly interested in a suggestion of how to achieve it. Thanks

 

[mmauldin]

For this particular model, I would approach it in this fashion:

Model attached