Newbie needs help with dxf file. Again?

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oldstairdog
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2014 2:02 am

Newbie needs help with dxf file. Again?

Post by oldstairdog »

Image1.jpg
Image1.jpg (336.19 KiB) Viewed 1568 times
Image2.jpg
Image2.jpg (224.12 KiB) Viewed 1568 times
OS: Windows 7
Word size: 64-bit
Version: 0.14.3700 (Git)
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-14
Hash: 32f5aae0a64333ec8d5d160dbc46e690510c8fe1
Python version: 2.7.6
Qt version: 4.8.5
Coin version: 4.0.0a
SoQt version: 1.6.0a
OCC version: 6.6.0

OK, I've imported and opened this file, using various parameters (see attachments) and I've tried to convert this to a face but I keep getting and error message that it is unable to convert. What am I doing wrong (besides being a newbie)?
Attachments
Full Scale - Gantry Side Panel.DXF
(35.75 KiB) Downloaded 15 times
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quick61
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Re: Newbie needs help with dxf file. Again?

Post by quick61 »

In your first screenshot, click on the first tab, General and please tell us what your Internal precision level is set at. I've had the same problem with all the ends not lining up from one Draft element to the next. Upping your Internal precision level should fix this. I have mine set at 9 and your DXF works just fine for me. Not sure what those parallel lines are intended to be, but I just added ends on them to close and made faces to cut from the main face and -
Faces_From_DXF.png
Faces_From_DXF.png (9.03 KiB) Viewed 1561 times
Mark
This post made with 0.0% Micro$oft products - GOT LINUX?
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oldstairdog
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Re: Newbie needs help with dxf file. Again?

Post by oldstairdog »

Thanks I'll try that... by the way..I got the idea for converting to a face by watching your YouTube channel.
Still working on that!
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oldstairdog
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Re: Newbie needs help with dxf file. Again?

Post by oldstairdog »

OK, I changed the internal precision to 9. And i've tried several things, none 0f which worked.
I think I going to need a little more hand holding!
OSD
Last edited by oldstairdog on Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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NormandC
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Re: Newbie needs help with dxf file. Again?

Post by NormandC »

Hello OSB,
oldstairdog wrote:And i've tried several things, none 0f which worked.
This comment is not helpful. Please make the effort of detailing what you have tried, otherwise we cannot know what you are missing.
oldstairdog wrote:I've tried to convert this to a face but I keep getting and error message that it is unable to convert.
If you have selected everything visible, then it is to be expected. To create a face, you need an uninterrupted contour of lines and arcs. All those small line segments that are touching the contour cannot create a valid face.

Some work is needed on this file to create a face. As Mark said:
quick61 wrote:Not sure what those parallel lines are intended to be, but I just added ends on them to close and made faces to cut from the main face
So you need to
  1. Select only the lines and arcs that form the outline
  2. Use Draft Upgrade to upgrade the outline to a Wire, then a second time to upgrade to a face; then hide it
  3. As Mark said, join all the parallel lines with Draft Lines to form rectangles, otherwise you cannot create faces out of them; then upgrade each of the rectangles one by one to wire objects, then to faces
  4. The Circles under the "0" folder are already faces, no need to upgrade them.
  5. Next you need to use Draft Downgrade, which works as a boolean cut on faces. Doing so a single face at a time will be very time consuming, so I suggest switching first to the Part workbench to use the "Create compound" tool in the Part menu. A compound is kind of a container of objects.
  6. Create 2 separate compounds: one which contains all the rectangle faces, and a second one which contains the circles and the two odd slots at the bottom of the part. You now have three objects in your tree (not considering all those "Shape" objects which can be deleted): the original Face of the outer contour, and the two Compounds.
  7. Switch back to the Draft workbench, and select the Face then one of the Compounds, and click on the Downgrade tool; this creates a "Cut" object in the tree.
  8. Select the "Cut" object, then the second Compound, and click on the Downgrade tool again.
  9. You should now have a face ready to be extruded as in Mark's picture, and my attached file.
Attachments
Full Scale - Gantry Side Panel_normandc1.fcstd
(67.98 KiB) Downloaded 19 times
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oldstairdog
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Re: Newbie needs help with dxf file. Again?

Post by oldstairdog »

I've copied and pasted your instructions and printed them out. I'll work on them for awhile but I'm afraid that it's getting late and I won't remember. I'll try tomorrow.
Thanks
OSD
Old Stair Dog
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oldstairdog
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Re: Newbie needs help with dxf file. Again?

Post by oldstairdog »

Well look at this! I did it! It took me several hours , and several tries, but here it is!
This was a real learning experience, although I wasn't taking notes while I was pounding away on the keys!
I want to thank Normandc for the hand holding! I still have a ton of questions, but I'll tackle them as they occur!
Thanks!
OSD
OldStairDog
Attachments
side support.FCStd
(59.67 KiB) Downloaded 16 times
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