Using a Sketch as a reference / construction for a second sketch (plus a little Dodo WB)

[TheBrick]

Hi,
I may have completely the wrong work flow here but I will explain my aim and how I am try to do it.

I am trying to construct a model of a pair of metal garage doors doors I am building out of cold rolled steel. My plan is to:

1. create a sketch of the opening.
2. create sketch that uses the opening as reference for the frame.(size / clearance offsets)
3. create a sketch that references the frame to create the door frames (size / clearance offset)
4. use the sketches from 2 and 3 together with dodo work bench to create the frame, and doors.

Problems.
1.Once I draw the opening if I start a new sketch I can't reference the "opening" sketch. If I draw all the sketches in one this is now one item.
2. The tutorials I see on dodo involve creating a sketch and padding to crate an object to select the edges to frame. As this is just a frame in a plane how to I achieve creating an object from the sketch that is just in the plane?

Thanks

I am on the Real Thunder branch
OS: Windows 10 Version 2009
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 2022.1128.26244 +5318 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: LinkDaily
Hash: d45d221edcc7a757eb4e4eb638da0db5ed2759aa
Python version: 3.8.10
Qt version: 5.15.2
Coin version: 4.0.1
OCC version: 7.6.2
Locale: English/United Kingdom (en_GB)

[Bance]

Post the file you have.

[TheBrick]

Added to OP but not much in it as I could not achieve what I needed to

[papyblaise]

it's a good start, use your 1st sketch as a master sketch on which you redraw 2 sketches using external references on the 1st sketch

[TheBrick]

Hi @papyblaise that is what I am struggling with. I can't work out how to reference the first sketch in any new sketches. I can sketch over the top but I am only lining up by eye and fine mouse movements, super zooming in.

[TheBrick]

Ahhh is this what I am looking for?

[TheBrick]

Ahhh is this what I am looking for?

magicButton.PNG

[TheBrick]

Ok. Progress!

I managed to create a second sketch that referenced the first by sing the button above.
then Iwas able to select the sketch "SkhDoor", select Dodo work bench Insert a section for my angle iron (40x20x4), then select FrameBranchManager and add a frame to my sketch!

new Problems:

1. The top and bottom rail need to be rotated. Selecting the rotate tool from within branch manager results in all the components of the frame being rotated. the tutorials I watch show just selecting one frame element should rotate just the one beam not all, how do I rotate just the one frame element?
2. On all frame elements there are placed with the sketch on the "wrong"edge" of the angle from my POV how do I select which edge the frame should reference against? Something to do with "Base Attachment" from within each one of the structures perhaps?

[papyblaise]

let dodo make dodo (to bed in french), use Sweep from PartWb and the profile will rotate around the frame in the correct orientation

[TheBrick]

Nice idiom!

Thanks I think I see what you have done. The sweep is in slightly the wrong place but I think this is because of the Angle_40x20x4 sketch is centred around the origin. I am guessing after reading a little about sweep tool and attachments in general.

So now the question is I seem unable to edit the Angle_40x20x4 sketch. It is greyed out, a quick google suggests this is a visibility issue but the "eye" is not crossed out and hitting space crosses it out as expected. This sketch seems to be locked in some way? How can I unlock it to edit?