Better way for dovetails?

[wphred]

In sketch mode in Atom3D, how do you start a line from another line at a prescribed distance? I'm trying to model a dovetailed case. I'm showing one side, but I'm not satisfied with how it is working out. I made the attachment by sketching 1/4 of it, extruding it and mirroring twice. My issue is with the sketching. There is probably a better way, but I'm trying to start with a rectangle, offsetting one line that represents the thickness of the mating board, and then drawing the tails. The difficulty I'm having is starting one leg of the tail 3/8" from one end. Once I learn how to do that I can use the same process for the other leg, then use the linear pattern tool to sketch the rest of the tails. Is this making sense?

 

[HaroldL]

If I understand your question. You want a line to start 3/8" from the end of the offset line.
See if this image answers the question for you.

 

[wphred]

It could be from either line. I tried to add a point in sketch mode but was unable to. I looked at a tutorial which said I could do it in either sketch or model mode, but was using the model mode for the example. I can add a point 3/8" from the corner in model mode, but was trying to sketch everything before extruding.

I see how I could add a line and then dimension it for the spacing, but being able to start a line (or create a point) 3/8" (or any distance) starting at a point seems more intuitive to me. Still have to wrap my head around a different way of doing things.

If I created a number of points on a line (edge) in model model, could I project them to the sketch plane and use them in sketch mode?

 

[HaroldL]

I don't understand the reasoning for adding Points in order to position the Tail Cuts along the edge of the part. Adding Points will be another level sketch geometry that needs to be controlled.

If you sketch and fully dimension the shape of the tail you can then use Constraints to locate the sketch along the edge of the part and then use constraints or dimensions to position it along the edge. The rest is horizontal patterns and mirror features.

I recorded this short video to illustrate the above method.

DOVE TAIL SKETCH.mp4

Shared from Screencast.com

www.screencast.com

 

[wphred]

It's a holdover from using Sketchup for many years. I'm sitting in an airport at present watching your video...........very nice, I get it! This is for a tool chest commission. I already have a complete set of plans, but modelling this in Atom3D is a good exercise.

Thank you for your efforts.