[mhackney]

I can't seem to be able to locate the tabs where I need them on a circular part. See attached screenshot. Basically, this is the left most of two parts. I would like the tabs on this part rotated 180° so the middle tabs of the two parts are connected. I tried doing the profile operation on both geometries and now have tried separating the geometries but I always get the same results. If I let BobCAD add the tabs automatically, it always orients them (3 tabs) like this. If I try to do it manually, I can't put them where I want. Holding shift-selecting does not really show me anything. Is there a technique to do what I'm trying to do? Thanks!

[The Engine Guy]

I can't seem to be able to locate the tabs where I need them on a circular part. See attached screenshot. Basically, this is the left most of two parts. I would like the tabs on this part rotated 180° so the middle tabs of the two parts are connected. I tried doing the profile operation on both geometries and now have tried separating the geometries but I always get the same results. If I let BobCAD add the tabs automatically, it always orients them (3 tabs) like this. If I try to do it manually, I can't put them where I want. Holding shift-selecting does not really show me anything. Is there a technique to do what I'm trying to do? Thanks!

Hi Michael

See attached image below and let us know if this is what you are looking for If so then read on

Attachment 317458

Attachment 317456

The tabbing defaults to the correct cartesian start and end coordinates for a circle, so the start of the circle is always at the 3.0 o`clock point and goes clockwise from there.
So to move the tabs around you can alter the start and end points of your circles as per the attached BobCAD file I have Zipped up, look at the left hand circle by using select mode and then selecting "Entity Modify" and you will see in the Data pane the circle info with the start and finish angles of
start 300 and end 660, works for me

Whether this is the way BobCAD intends the tabbing system to be used I really have no idea, it may be just my oddball "workaround", however it works for me

Hope it helps a little

Regards
Rob
:rainfro: :rainfro: :rainfro:

[mhackney]

Yes, that is exactly what I am looking for!

My part is a 3D geometry and when I attempt to do Entity Modify, nothing happens. Is there a trick to that or do I just need to draw separate circles and use those to cut the perimeter of the part?

[The Engine Guy]

Yes, I think you will need to draw 2D circles for that but you should be able to extract the edges of the 3D circular part which will give you the 2D circles you want, give it a try

Or upload your file and maybe someone can figure it out

Regards
Rob
:rainfro: :rainfro: :rainfro:

[mhackney]

Yes, I was experimenting after I replied. I did Utilities->Extract Edges-> From Solid


Interestingly, this resulted in 11 arcs. I was able to move tabs to the ends of these arcs to get the tab layout I want. Not sure why 11 arcs but the tabs look to be 120° from each other.

[mhackney]

Well, no they aren't 120° but they are close enough for what I am trying to do.

[mhackney]

So spending more time with this I've developed some "tabbing chops"! Basically, I extracted a single edge (so now I know how to use that tool) to it's own layer so I can manipulate it easier. I then used Utilities->Break->Many to divide the circle into 6 pieces (or you can specify however many you want). This then gave me locations to place the tabs at 60° increments around the circle so I was able to place them exactly where I wanted them 120° apart. This works really well and is generally useful for placing tabs. Some of the other Break options could be used to explicitly locate where to break the perimeter to get precision for other types of shapes.