Dear MISTER TinWhisperer things are a mess

Im back! LOL

Im getting into modeling, drawing a cossmember with control arms and Heim joints and other hardware etc. inserted using the mcmaster menu.
question 1: I used the mirror/plane function to make duplicates and save time. however im getting a ton of components in my menu, i know theres gotta be a better way to make them all one component.

Question 2: when using the mirror feature i didnt get my joints.
do I have to manually do that individually?

thanks as always!
frame crossmember v1.f3d (3.6 MB)

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That’s MR TinWhisperer not mr :rofl:

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I think it’s Baron TinWhisperer, Keeper of all Manuals.

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Welcome Back.

I’ll have a look through this file tonight.

There is a lot to talk about when properly structuring an assembly.

Post more of the cool stuff you are making!

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How easy a thread gets derailed! Tom you of all people!

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@handbuilt Hotrods if you have social media

I’ll throw a couple of thoughts out there while awaiting his reply.

  1. Create a sub-assembly of the parts you intend to mirror. For example, Frame Rail - Front. Do this by creating a new component, then drag / dropping existing components into it. You’ll end up with a similar result in that you’ll have lots of components, but they organize / display much better.

  2. Regarding joints - I can confirm that mirroring does not preserve existing joints in the new component. You can, however, apply a Rigid Group to the new components after mirroring to keep them in place.

Hope this helps.

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yes. ive attempted to do that but it wouldnt allow me to apply my joints. i mustve done something incorrect.
for what its worth you can in fact have components in components in components right?

That is correct. Components are allowed within components.

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And joints within components. Make sure you have the right things selected as Activated when you apply joints.

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Yes you can consider a component the same way as you would consider a file folder on a computer.

You can put a bunch of stuff in a file folder including another file folder.

“Assemblies are a collection of components that form a larger, more complex design. Components are single parts that can be used in an assembly or as a standalone object. Bodies are solid or surface shapes used to create components. Together, they are essential building blocks in Fusion 360 that allow you to create complex 3D designs.”

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Okay. I thought that was the case but must’ve done something wrong when applying the joints. I’ll see what I can do to resolve it.

I would have looked at the sooner but I got distracted by fire pits and my real job. :joy:.

Here are some text instructions but I will try to work through these on the live stream when I get a chance.

you want to simplify your component list by combining all of your duplicated parts into one component. To do this, you can use the “As-built joints” command. Here are the steps:

  1. Select all of the duplicated components that you want to combine into one component.
  2. Right-click on one of the selected components and choose “As-built joints” from the menu.
  3. In the “As-built joints” dialog box, select the “Rigid Group” option.
  4. Give the new component a name and click “OK”.

This will combine all of the selected components into one component, which will simplify your component list and make it easier to work with.

When you mirror a component in Fusion 360, any joints that are attached to that component will not be automatically mirrored as well. However, you can mirror your joints manually by following these steps:

  1. Select the joint that you want to mirror.
  2. Right-click on the joint and choose “Copy” from the menu.
  3. Right-click on the destination component and choose “Paste” from the menu.
  4. In the “Paste Special” dialog box, select the “Mirror” option and click “OK”.

This will mirror the selected joint along with the mirrored component.

And truth be told I could be more comfortable with the structures of these files than I am. Hard to keep up on assembly housekeeping.

I hope this helps!

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