I am creating a case for a power supply. I have all of the connectors and fuses and such constrained to where I want them in an assembly. I am trying to make a flat plate that has the cutouts for all of the connectors and displays. I know how to start the part in the assembly, but then I have problems. Is there a better way to sketch all of the holes than using convert entity on each and every connector? I know in CATIA you can just intersect a plane with all of the items and it will basically create the outline of where all of the selected items intersect the plane. I tried to use the intersect tool in solidworks, but it is always greyed out when I try to use it, so I am probably missing something. Or is there a better way that I'm not thinking of?
I have attached the assembly and components below.
I would appreciate any advice!
The components that you're creating the knockouts for need to be in the same part as the faceplate because the Intersect tool requires all of the bodies to be in the same part.
You can achieve this using the Join tool to add create part bodies from assembly components.
You might also try using the Indent tool set on 'Cut' as it might allow you to pick in-context references as tool bodies
But here's an important thing to remember: a port for a connector needs to allow access with clearance to both the connector and the socket.
I suggest you check the spec sheets for whatever connectors you want to facilitate and see what they recommend for mounting ports.