NateSP
Mechanical
- Jan 8, 2009
- 6
I have a part that should receive a rectangular grid of circular etch marks. As the size of the part changes, the grid can change in size and number of instances in the grid. Attempting to pattern the etch feature yields an "Associative Recompute Error" which makes sense since the etch has to be tied to a sketch, which cannot be patterned.
Has anyone been successful in patterning etches? I understand the Etch feature isn't exactly designed to do this.
As a somewhat-successful workaround, I apply a patterned hole feature in the modeled part. In the flat pattern, I attach sketches to the holes, I attach etches to the sketches, and then delete the holes. Therefore when the flattened DXF is saved, the etch layer is defined with geometry included, and the CNC programmers do not have to manually edit the DXFs. This method works fine for patterns that change in size, however when pattern instances are added or removed, the sketches go into a rebind failure, and the etches go along with them. As I intend to change the size of the part and save the flats with an API, this workaround is insufficient.
Any help is much appreciated. It seems that if the SE developers would've made the Etch feature work like a Cutout feature, this would work.
Thanks!
Has anyone been successful in patterning etches? I understand the Etch feature isn't exactly designed to do this.
As a somewhat-successful workaround, I apply a patterned hole feature in the modeled part. In the flat pattern, I attach sketches to the holes, I attach etches to the sketches, and then delete the holes. Therefore when the flattened DXF is saved, the etch layer is defined with geometry included, and the CNC programmers do not have to manually edit the DXFs. This method works fine for patterns that change in size, however when pattern instances are added or removed, the sketches go into a rebind failure, and the etches go along with them. As I intend to change the size of the part and save the flats with an API, this workaround is insufficient.
Any help is much appreciated. It seems that if the SE developers would've made the Etch feature work like a Cutout feature, this would work.
Thanks!