I'm currently designing a device that starts as a single body. This is split into multiple bodies, which can then be assembled via dovetail joints. Something like this:
Being new to FreeCAD, I made all the errors one can read about in this very forum, like forking the dependency graph and relying too much on external references in my sketches; and I suffered the consequences, having to re-draw stuff over and over.
So my question is: what is the recommended workflow for this type of design?
What I want to do:
- Design the body as one piece, with parameters in a spreadsheet (this is 3D printed and dimensions will need tweaking to account for tolerances)
- Design the split line/dovetail joint
- Split the body into multiple parts
- Continue to work on those parts, and have them change when the spreadsheet values change
- Be able to use external references in my sketches, because they make life so much easier
My current understanding is that in 0.16, I'd better only have a single body in part design; so the plan is to make a master file with the main body and the spreadsheet, and then one file per split part, where I import the master via the Assembly2 workbench. In those files, I can "cut off" the parts I don't need and continue working with the component, and when I change the master, I can update the import via Assembly2.
Does that make sense, or are there better alternatives?
OS: Debian GNU/Linux 8.7 (jessie)
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.16.6707 (Git)
Build type: None
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-16
Hash: 5465bc47c95db45e0be85dc0e2872419efadce0f
Python version: 2.7.6
Qt version: 4.8.6
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 6.8.0.oce-0.17