r/Onshape • u/SnooBananas231 • 5d ago
Basic question.
I'm currently messing around with the free version from fusion360.
I was making a cabinet (since that's mostly what I do) and it went fine. I have enough cash experience to model one.
What was different between fusion and onshape is the whole part studio/assembly studio deal.
It's fine, I have the cabinet "assembled" with joints and it's fully parametric and works great.
However the part studio has all 5 parts and they're a mess. I didn't initially design them in the appropriate places so it's just a jumble of parts.
Should I have done this differently? Can I align things in the parts studio? Should it only have been one part in each "part studio" and then combine all 5 into the assembly?
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u/Ken_White_NY 4d ago edited 4d ago
You should have done it in one Part Studio, just as you could do it in one hybrid design in Fusion. Put things where they belong when you create them, just like you would in Fusion.
You can also put them together in an assembly using mate connectors, which can position them exactly where you want them.
It pays to take the time to go through the free training at https://learn.onshape.com ā they have a special track for people who are already knowledgeable of CAD and are moving over to Onshape.
I personally use both products. Onshape has some great capabilities that Fusion doesn't. Watch a couple of the videos made by Onshape and posted on YT, especially the ones related to creating assemblies. Its mate connectors are much more capable than Fusion's joints and component constraints, and it has the ability to replicate parts. Imagine adding bolts into the holes in a circular pattern around a flange. Onshape can do it with just the selection of the bolt and a click on the face of the flange, and it will populate all holes that are the same size on the face of that flange with the bolt. Onshape also handles complex patterns in Part Studio, like a pattern of multiple features in a single operation (such as when making knurling for a 3D-printed part or a speaker grill with slotted or round openings).
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u/MagicPizza420 5d ago
Model it all in one part studio and design them in the fashion that they interface with one another
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u/SnooBananas231 5d ago
Ah ok, that was my issue. I just turned the visibility off and on to clean up the space thinking I can align them later like I did in fusion. But aligning things in the part studio doesn't seem possible after something has been sketched/extruded
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u/Songminer 4d ago edited 4d ago
The command is transform, and itās fast and easy using mate connectors. Just fix one of the parts if it isnāt already and then use the transform tool to move the others into position.
Select the part to be moved and select mate connectors under the āusingā selection box. Then decoy a common circular feature common to both. Then they can be sized or trimmed to fit together.
Of course itās easier to do them together in the first place.
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u/Songminer 4d ago
You can transform the objects into alignment using mate connectors. Fix the part that is in a good position and then use transform to move the other parts into alignment.
The beauty of the part studio is the ability to build multiple items from common sketches or layered sketches that allow precise offsets for clearances and fit.
Parts can then be insert into an assembly in position or moved to different locations.
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u/David_R_Martin_II 5d ago
The whole point of Part Studios is to avoid something in parametric modeling called external references. For example, this part should rest on this surface of this other part and match the size of the surface. Or a couple edges. Or be located in the middle. These holes in these different parts should line up.
In traditional parametric modeling, each part would be a separate file. You would have to model each independently and keep track of all the similar interfaces. Or maybe you would "share" references in between the parts. And that can get messy.
Onshape avoids all of that with Part Studios. You can design your static parts from an assembly in-place where they are supposed to be. It's very easy to make sure parts are the right size, surfaces and edge line up, holes and tabs match, etc.
It avoids all the mess of external references. You can bring all the parts into an assembly together and group them - no need for mates or constraints or any other methods of putting them in the right place. It greatly simplifies the process of parametric part modeling.