Diameter measurements

[michaelpaul]

Am I missing something here...........

I often desire to measure the diameter of something. I work with plastics so everything I do is drafted. Thus, I usually wish to measure the diameter at the top or bottom of a boss. The measure-diameter tool only seems to work on an undrafted surface. Is there an easy way to measure the diameter of an edge? yes, I can find the curve length and do the math but that doesn't really save any time.

Lately, I've just been sectioning the part and measuring the distance between the two points. This works but it's a P.I.T.A. if I don't already have a x-section defined through the boss so it takes extra time to create one.

Sometimes I'll also jsut throw the model on a drawing and create the dimensions but again, this is a process that seems to take way more steps than it should just to find out what the diameter of a circular curve is!

any suggestions?

Michael

 

[moldworksmn]

try..... Analysis....... geometry.....click on the radius icon.

 

[[-Skint-]]

Hey Michael, I work mostly with die-cast parts so I have to think basically the same as you when creating bosses etc, and yes Ive often thought of the same problem. Its not too much of an issue with me now because I will sometimes create the bosses in autocad and then use the angled dimensions for reference, or import the cad data and use a revolve to create the boss. Other than that, I have not found an easy way. At the end of the day with the bosses I create, using a flat boss and adding a general draft afterwards is good enough