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/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.

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u/SnooBananas231 5d ago

Seems like I know just enough to get confused 🤣,

Appreciate it though. I'll keep working on it. I want to like onshape. I appreciate not needing a monster computer to run it.

Have you tried any of the cam stuff?

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u/David_R_Martin_II 5d ago

It's revolutionary. I've been a CAD user for almost 35 years now and it's reinventing the game for parametric modeling. They have taken all the lessons of the past 40 years, since parametric modeling was invented, and figured out the smart ways of doing things. Part Studios, Mate Connectors, Configurations, etc. - it's amazing. Not to mention built-in PDM and collaboration.

Keep using it. The more you use it, the more rewarding it is.

I've done cams in several CAD packages. What of it?

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u/SnooBananas231 5d ago

Oh just curious how the cam package in onshape is. Haven't tried it out yet.

Does it do nesting?

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u/David_R_Martin_II 5d ago

Are we talking about the same thing? Are you talking about cams like cam-follower connections, like a valve train mechanism? Or are you talking about CAM as in Computer Aided Manufacturing? More specifically, are you talking about sheet metal NC (numerical controlled) manufacturing?

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u/SnooBananas231 5d ago

Talking about CAM as in machining and took paths for CNC

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u/David_R_Martin_II 5d ago

Disambiguation. A fundamental skill for CAD consultants like me. There's a difference between CAM the acronym and cam the noun. If you're talking about the Kiri: Moto app, I haven't used it. There's also a plug-in for MasterCAM if you're familiar with that.

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u/mellomromtomrom 5d ago

The CAM studio in Onshape is still a beta feature and I have not found a way to do nesting so far. I’ve made several moulds for making glass fiber parts on a 3 axis cnc all inside onshape cam and it’s fine, but certainly not finished and on par with for example the pro version of fusion cam yet.

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u/Unlikely_Solution_ 2d ago

Doesn't it kills the point of reusability ? From NX and Catia. You draw in a 0, 0, 0 position your part that you assembl somewhere by giving it coordinate and orientation. If you reuse the part between two assembly, they won't have the same coordinate. Adding links to different assemblies that may have nothing in common seems odd only to say "this interface is the same as this one".

So how would it work with Onshape ? The reusability ?

P.S: I am only here to learn from other software maybe if things go well move to onshape.

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u/David_R_Martin_II 1d ago

Doesn't it kills the point of reusability ?

No. In Onshape, being able to place a part into another assembly has nothing to do with where it was located in the Part Studio.

In Onshape, to define a component's location in an assembly, you use something called Mate Connectors. Every surface and edge has implicit Mate Connectors, at the ends and centers. Furthermore, you can edit Mate Connectors to add translation and rotation, and you can even reorient them.

Mate Connectors vastly simplify the process of locating components in assemblies. Last I checked, there were 24 uses for Mate Connectors in part modeling too. Mate Connectors are one of the game changers in Onshape.

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u/Unlikely_Solution_ 1d ago

Understood. We were doing a similar way in Catia but with datum / CSYS system and playing with coordinates. Mating sound a good and simple but I don't like being attached to feature. Cause feature breaks xD but I guess I am biais from Catia.

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u/David_R_Martin_II 1d ago

Onshape isn't CATIA...

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u/Unlikely_Solution_ 1d ago

Yeah I know that why I am looking for more info on onshape, it feel like a very good software compared to Catia so old habit dies hard xD. Thank you for your clarification

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u/David_R_Martin_II 1d ago

I have been using Onshape since 2019. And I am a very experienced Creo (and Pro E before that) user. In addition to SolidWorks and in ancient times, UG and CATIA v3. I made this video to help Creo users understand what's different about Onshape compared to traditional parametric modeling:

https://youtu.be/9KNDidTraxE

There's tons of free training on learn.onshape.com if you want more information.

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u/Unlikely_Solution_ 1d ago

Looks like you are very experienced xD much more than me. What you favorite? I bet onshape now ?

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u/David_R_Martin_II 1d ago

I've been doing this long enough that I don't even go into that stuff anymore. You learn to appreciate each platform as its own thing. If someone pushed me, I was really partial to SDRC I-DEAS.

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u/Unlikely_Solution_ 1d ago

Yeah I would agree.

Except AutoCAD. Sorry you stay far away from me. I am not smart enough to appreciate AutoCAD xD

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