Snapping Question

[Devastat0r]

On the Draft workbench if I try to draw an object in a space where an object has already been created the snapping is disabled within that space. How do I turn that back on?

Example: Here I want to draw another object on the same workplane and use the existing object as a guide, but have it as a separate object (not a sketched feature) that I may want to separate later for 3d printing). When my cursor is over the object the snapping seems to not be working, I don't know why. I can visually hide the object and it will work, but that's a pretty annoying workaround since I'm using it as a guide.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 11.32.58 AM.png (769.88 KiB) Viewed 1856 times

[Korslight]

Devastat0r,

I am a little confused what you are trying to do? Can you reexplain?

If you are trying to draw using draft then you should be able to snap to parts of the solid already. If you would like to use sketcher then you can map the sketch and create a link to external geometry which you can dimension from or use as a guide.

Cheers,
Korslight

[Devastat0r]

Devastat0r,

I am a little confused what you are trying to do? Can you reexplain?

If you are trying to draw using draft then you should be able to snap to parts of the solid already. If you would like to use sketcher then you can map the sketch and create a link to external geometry which you can dimension from or use as a guide.

Cheers,
Korslight

The workflow that I would PREFER is let's say I draw a rectangle, then extrude/pad it. Then I put a circular hole through it.

Now on TOP of that box with a hole, I want to draw a longer rectangle (not as a feature but a NEW part) of the same height but a longer width than the box, I want the hole at the same location because when I 3d print them or cut them on a laser cutter I want to put a rod of that diameter through both boxes.

I would PREFER to not have to draw the second box on a separate location of the draft sheet, because A) I'll have to remember the dimensions instead of just easily working off the first piece B) it's time consuming.

HOWEVER, if I draw a shape on the draft sheet, then try to draw something else over it, snapping becomes disabled for me both on my MacBook Pro and on my Win 10 tablet, which makes life hell. This does not occur on the sketcher afaik, but I'm drawing new parts not new features on one part, because I'll explode them AFTER I've built them is my preferred workflow.

Plus, I really like working with the draft sheet rather than the sketcher, it just seems to have a lot better functionality for making complex shapes, and doesn't have all the constraint stuff to worry about. I really prefer starting out with a draft for each new part.

Hope that all makes sense, I've been pulling my hair out over here trying to figure out why something so fundamental doesn't seem to be documented anywhere or at least changeable as an option. I know some python but I don't know enough about FreeCAD yet to know how it's coded, and I have lots of other obligations atm to go that far in for just one feature, I'm still just starting out.

I CAN get the desired behavior by using Shift-Space on a solid object to turn it to Wireframe display, then snapping works again on the work plane and I can draw a new object. That's kind of a nasty workaround, and I think you lose snapping again wherever you've got a line on the existing object it looks like. It would be better if there were just an option or macro I could run to change the default behavior. Thinking about it now, maybe the problem is in how the Draft workbench acts with existing solids.

[Devastat0r]

Steps to reproduce:

Step 1) Draw a solid, any solid.
Step 2) Go to the Draft workbench, select a face on the solid and set it to the active work plane.
Step 3) Try to draw a rectangle on the work plane. Snapping gets disabled anywhere over the solid, which I don't want. Anywhere outside the solid snapping will work.

Current Workaround (very much undesired):
Press Shift-Space while the solid is selected to turn it temporarily to a wireframe, and snapping will work as long as it's not over a line in that solid. Otherwise I have to hide the object entirely.

Desired Behavior:
Would like to be able snap to the active work plane grid when hovering over an existing solid on the Draft workbench without hiding objects or temporarily turning them to wireframe.

Before suggesting using Sketcher, there are instances where I want to subtract shapes from other shapes, like an oval from a square, before extruding. This is easy and intuitive on the Draft workbench. I don't see an option in the Sketcher workbench or in the documentation for doing the same with Sketches, so my preferred method is to work from drafts and extrude to sketches, then perform whatever fillets or other operations I need.

[Korslight]

Devastat0r,

Thank you for explaining more about your issue. I hope we can solve this or someone else can look into it and know what to do.

When following your three step reproduction it did not seem to work in the same way for me.

When I click on a plane in Draft and right click --> Utilities --> Select Plane (or W,P for hotkeys) Then it allows me to snap to the points on that plane.

I have attached a picture of something random I just made by using draft, snapping, extrusions, upgrades, boolean etc.

In green you can see where I snapped in the upper left hand corner and made a rectangle.

I have also attached a picture called "Multibody Snapping.JPG" where I snapped a line from the corner of the right body to the midpoint of the left object.

Is this what you are talking about? I do not seem to have issues snapping to solid bodies. Can you possibly upload a part to illustrate what you are referring to if I am misunderstanding what you mean?

[NormandC]

I know it's off topic, but

there are instances where I want to subtract shapes from other shapes, like an oval from a square, before extruding. This is easy and intuitive on the Draft workbench.

I don't see what the issue is in this case, you'd achieve the same result with a sketch containing an ellipse inside a square. Internally FreeCAD does automatically from sketches what you're doing manually with Draft objects.