Hey,
First time poster on here. I am trying to get some good drawings of a part that I have physically made. I am using the flex feature to create a 90 degree helix between two trimming planes - all is good here. However, I am having a nightmare trying to figure out how to attach the middle weldment onto the flexed surface (either before or after). In reality I am able to grind the small 'branch' attachment down on an angle, add more weld than necessary, and then grind that down smooth.
I'm not too worried about the lower and upper branches because I can attach those on after the flex has taken place. Also, the interior curve of the weldment on the top and bottom are slightly chamfered after the flex. Any and all help is very much appreciated!
Thanks,
Marc
Hello,
A question or two:
1) The lower and middle branches are distorted, but not the upper. Your post states the lower & upper are after the flex.
Is the lower branch supposed to be distorted? Are any of them?
I suspect the top of the lower is within the Flex region while the upper is complete above it. I think this is why the middle is bent more than the lower.
2) I don't use Flex much, but for your trunk, why not use a Swept Extrude instead (especially if none of the branches are to get flexed)?
Use your tube profile with a 90° helix for the path (regular extrudes above & below the twisting). Much simpler to implement and maintain (IMHO).
I'm at home right now so I'm running only eDrawings, so I don't have your branch build history to review, so bear with me:
1) Create a sketch plane 45° to the trunk face.
2) For the upper & lower: Extrude your tube profile with an end condition up to surface, selecting the trunk face. Dim to locate and, if necessary use cuts to trim to length.
3) For the middle branch, it's the same as the others, but the sketch is also 45° to the trunk axis,
If you want to stick with Flex, flex the trunk only, create a sketch for each branch (one line only per sketch, running the length of any of the branch's edges) and use these to create a SW weldment part with the branches as structural members, trimming/extending the branches to meet the twisted trunk face,
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Kevin