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Mirroring with a plane

Question asked by Matt Thomas on May 29, 2018
Latest reply on May 30, 2018 by Habib Ghalamkari

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Ok, so here is a little video i made of the mirror not working then working. I would like to know why it worked. Im confused about reference planes and mirroring i guess.

mirroring question - YouTube

Why is it, when i select the right plane as my mirror face, that the holes end up in the middle of space? i want them on that face. haha. I then followed the instructions for the assignment and it worked but i have no idea why. Im trying to understand why one way works and another does not.

thanks

EDIT: For some reason, only 5 seconds of the video was recorded by solid works..... ill try again. hold on

Christopher Culver May 29, 2018 5:38 PM

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Just think of it like a midplane between the features, so if the feature you want to mirror is "x" inches away from the mirror plane, the new feature will be 2*x inches away from the original feature, and "x" inches away from the mirror plane. Sorry if that sounds confusing, it really isn't once you get used to it.

It is a very powerful tool for symmetric parts as you only have to change the original feature and the "mirrored" feature will update itself.

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Christopher Culver May 29, 2018 5:25 PM
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the mirror feature is just that, it creates a feature symmetric with another feature. The first time you used that face as the "mirror" thus it was the plane of symmetry, not the location the feature will be created on, the second time you did it correctly and created a reference plane half way between the feature you want mirrored and the face you want it to appear.

Think of the mirror reference as a line(sketches) or plane(features) of symmetry.
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- Matt Thomas @ Christopher Culver on May 29, 2018 5:31 PM
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  Let me make sure i understand this. The second time i did it, the more was 2 inches from the features. so when i used the plane as the "mirror of symmetry" it new it was two inches away from the features and just mirrored it to the other side of the plane exactly two inches away?
  
  Thank you for the reply. Some of this is easy but hard to understand why haha.
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  - Christopher Culver @ Matt Thomas on May 29, 2018 5:38 PM
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    Just think of it like a midplane between the features, so if the feature you want to mirror is "x" inches away from the mirror plane, the new feature will be 2*x inches away from the original feature, and "x" inches away from the mirror plane. Sorry if that sounds confusing, it really isn't once you get used to it.
    
    It is a very powerful tool for symmetric parts as you only have to change the original feature and the "mirrored" feature will update itself.
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    - Matt Thomas @ Christopher Culver on May 29, 2018 5:46 PM
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      oh, thats why when i selected the right plan, the feature was 4 inches away, so when i mirrored it, it ended up 8 inches away.. ok, thats beginning to make sense. I am in the process of getting solidworks at home. FINALLY!!!!
      
      Im behind on my school work because on thursday, a rock chuck(size of a cat) tried eating through the main power wire outside. power was out for 3 days at the school. poor lil guy was dead before he knew it.
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Kevin Chandler May 29, 2018 8:59 PM
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Hello,

As a suggestion for a "safer" workflow, create a "midplane" plane as your mirroring plane.
A midplane is one that is located exactly between two surfaces, so if your example part widens, the mirroring plane will automatically adjust to be in the middle as required.
If your mirroring plane is an offset distance one, as shown in your video, then as the part changes size (or assuming your offset is correctly calculated), this plane doesn't move and the mirrored features aren't balanced.
.
To create a midplane, in the plane command, simply pick the two surfaces.
One will go to reference 1 and the other will be reference 2.
The order you pick them doesn't matter.

Lastly, if one of Mr. Culver's replies answered your post for you, please mark it as correct so others with the same issue will know what the remedy is.

Cheers,

Kevin
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- Habib Ghalamkari @ Kevin Chandler on May 29, 2018 9:37 PM
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  Kevin Chandler wrote:
  
  Hello,
  
  As a suggestion for a "safer" workflow, create a "midplane" plane as your mirroring plane.
  A midplane is one that is located exactly between two surfaces, so if your example part widens, the mirroring plane will automatically adjust to be in the middle as required.
  If your mirroring plane is an offset distance one, as shown in your video, then as the part changes size (or assuming your offset is correctly calculated), this plane doesn't move and the mirrored features aren't balanced.
  .
  To create a midplane, in the plane command, simply pick the two surfaces.
  One will go to reference 1 and the other will be reference 2.
  The order you pick them doesn't matter.
  
  Lastly, if one of Mr. Culver's replies answered your post for you, please mark it as correct so others with the same issue will know what the remedy is.
  
  Cheers,
  
  Kevin
  Kevin, I'm a fun of mid planes. But the worst thing about mid planes is that they don't resize.
  Normally all three primary planes (Right, Top & Front planes) resize automatically with the size of the component.
  But mid planes never change.
  
  In a new part, add a plane parallel to Right Plane (200mm to the left and rename it to Left ).
  Then add mid plane between left an right planes. ( Use mid plane button for this)
  
  Now create a feature ( an extrude block) with a random size. Rebuild your part and make all the planes visible.
  You'll notice the main primary planes have been resized to the part. Left and the mid planes' size don't change.
  Now drag one of the corners of Left plane and change it's size. then right click it and select AutoResize.
  Rebuild your part and from this point Left plane will auto resize with the size of your component.
  
  But whatever you do, mid plane' size will never change. and its size remains as the very first time you added it.
  I hate when I have a very larg component and have to zoom several times to find the mid plane or when I have a very small part and all the screen is filled with a mid plane.
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  - Glenn Schroeder @ Habib Ghalamkari on May 30, 2018 8:00 AM
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    I never noticed that. I generally keep planes turned off and select them from the tree. I don't like planes and sketches cluttering up the graphics area.
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    - Habib Ghalamkari @ Glenn Schroeder on May 30, 2018 2:04 PM
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      Glenn Schroeder wrote:
      
      I never noticed that. I generally keep planes turned off and select them from the tree. I don't like planes and sketches cluttering up the graphics area.
      Yes I keep my planes hidden too. But with large assemblies, I make the main planes of assembly visible to make mating component easier. It takes a lot of time to move in a feature tree with over a handred component to find a plane and mate it.
      After mating is finished I make them hidden again. With this situation you understand how the size of planes is important For me.
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  - Kevin Chandler @ Habib Ghalamkari on May 30, 2018 9:11 AM
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    Hello,
    
    I never noticed that either, but I generally don't care what the plane size is.
    I'll pick from the tree since I've add some text to the end of the ones that may be useful later on, such as "PLANE 1-MID WIDTH".
    
    Thanks for the info,
    
    Kevin
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- Matt Thomas @ Kevin Chandler on May 30, 2018 11:47 AM
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  Thats good to know, because alot of my parts i make from the book are symetrical, so using a midplane mirror that will auto correct is great.
  
  thanks for sharing that info with me:)
  
  Now that i know how mirrors works, i feel more confident in creating more complex parts haha. or at least mirroring features correctly haha
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  - J. Mather @ Matt Thomas on May 30, 2018 12:04 PM
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    Matt Thomas wrote:
    ... of my parts i make from the book are symmetrical,
    Use the Origin planes for symmetry.
    I seldom need to create Work Planes.
    If you think you need one - Attach your *.sldprt file here.
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    - Christopher Culver @ J. Mather on May 30, 2018 12:10 PM
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      On the subject of mirrors. What is the opinion on mirroring sketches? It is a convenient way to create symmetric sketches, but unlike the mirror a feature command which has a clear definition in the tree, the mirrored sketch is absorbed into the single sketch and only defined with symmetric relations, and sometimes hard to keep track which features are part of the mirrored geometry and the original sketch, for me at least. Thoughts? Tips?
      Thanks
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      - Glenn Schroeder @ Christopher Culver on May 30, 2018 12:40 PM
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        Christopher Culver wrote:
        
        On the subject of mirrors. What is the opinion on mirroring sketches? It is a convenient way to create symmetric sketches, but unlike the mirror a feature command which has a clear definition in the tree, the mirrored sketch is absorbed into the single sketch and only defined with symmetric relations, and sometimes hard to keep track which features are part of the mirrored geometry and the original sketch, for me at least. Thoughts? Tips?
        Thanks
        
        I use the Mirror Sketch entities tool all the time, and it works well. I haven't noticed any problems sorting out which entities are driving; probably because my sketches usually aren't overly complex, and also having dimensions on only one side of the mirror line will help.
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    - Matt Thomas @ J. Mather on May 30, 2018 1:44 PM
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      yes, that is true, i try not to make extra planes unless needs be. i only make planes when i need to mirror features such as counterbore holes from one side of the part to the other or if i want to drill a hole at an angle, other than perp, to the surface. or for machining a surface at an angle as well
      
      Or if i have a rounded surface on the top and need to cut pockets out like on the part below. I still dont know why i couldnt select the round surface as my sketch plane and just start the sketch at the center, then circular pattern it all before the cut, but the book wanted to show me how to make a sketch plane above the part to cut the pockets.
      
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      - Glenn Schroeder @ Matt Thomas on May 30, 2018 1:48 PM
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        Matt Thomas wrote:
        
        Or if i have a rounded surface on the top and need to cut pockets out like on the part below. I still dont know why i couldnt select the round surface as my sketch plane and just start the sketch at the center, then circular pattern it all before the cut, but the book wanted to show me how to make a sketch plane above the part to cut the pockets.
        
        Sometimes with textbooks, videos, tutorials, etc. the author will use a certain feature to show you how the feature works. That doesn't mean it's the best way to accomplish the goal.
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        Matt Thomas @ Glenn Schroeder on May 30, 2018 2:00 PM
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        that was my reasoning as well. I thought it to be a great exercise and learned alot. It was very helpful.
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