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I've tried two methods for this sort of thing -
1. Scanning in as an image and then 'tracing' the part or:
2. If the part is available, as it seems to be here, simply measure the original part to whatever degree of accuracy is required.
Option 2 wins hands down in my opinion. It's more precise and avoids the difficulty of aligning the imported image.
The width of the webs being known, arcs can be drawn from the hole centres to meet the outlines of the webs. Try the various circle and arc options on the toolbar. This way, it's unnecessary to know the exact radii of any arcs to be drawn.
John
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Very good response John!
Measurement is always best if you have the tools to do it. The benefit of this particular part is that the majority of holes are elongated, which tells me that this bracket will most likely be able to be adjusted, whereas, if the holes where round then the hole centers would hold a great deal more importance to their actual location. In this case, if "ferociouscad" has radius gages to measure the actual outside radius he can use that "known" radius to define the arcs used. In my opinion, I would not use the "create a radius" toolbar button (found in the "edit" tab) to create the radius because you would first have to have the linear lines drawn, which is not possible with this part. I would use the known radius to create "circles", then position those circles (to overlap the corner radius position), then draw my lines using the "draw a line using two points" button so that I could take advantage of the "tangent snapping" capability of this button.
I'll try to upload a video to show this procedure later today.
Chris "i44troll"
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Well, it just goes to show how flexible DeltaCad is! I just tried several different ways to achieve what FerociousCAD is asking and they all worked. As you point out, 'Create a Radius' (known elsewhere as 'fillet', I believe) is not really the best one for the purpose, if only because it was the only one where it's necessary to input the actual radius to make it work. Otherwise I just decided on a notional web width for the part and used the 'draw perpendicular', 'draw circle', 'draw circular arc' and 'draw parallel line' using simple geometrical constructions. The tangent snap does the trick for drawing the circle or arc to meet the straight lines of the web. The internal radii are a bit more difficult but can be done in much the same way. If the radius subsequently needs to be put on the drawing, then it can be done using, er, 'Dimension', or by getting the information in Edit|Edit Circle.
I'll be interested to see how you do it in your video - there's always something new to learn about DeltaCad.
John
