PartDesign Hole feature

[NormandC]

That's fine, I just felt that "None" seemed odd because a simple drilled hole is a cut type by itself, not the absence of it.

Now that I just wrote that, I think that the CAD program I use at work uses the term "Simple" for a straight drilled hole.

If you plan to expand this mode, then yes, I think "Custom" would be more suited.

[din743]

How do I specify the thread depth? I can specify the hole depth but not the thread depth. Or is this something that still needs to be added?
How can I modify the counterbore depth and diameter? They now seem to be standard (which standard?) values that are greyed out.
Is it possible to add the also frequently used British Standard Pipe thread (also known as Gas thread)?

[bluetiger9]

Hi,

1. Could this be made to also work with points in sketches? As the circle radius is ignored anyway, it is easier to get a fully constraint sketch with single points.

Points have two drawbacks compared to circle. 1. If you constrain a point to be coincident with an endpoint of a construction edge, that point is not distinguishable.
2. It is possible to toggle circles to construction mode. But not points. This means, I can't use points as construction geometry. Not big deal, but points are very useful when constraining to intersections.

So we should stick to circles then. Should a hole feature add or update radius constraints, maybe?

Eivind

IMHO it would be better if the Hole feature would work with points too...

If we ignore the above technical limitations / drawbacks, I think, we all agree that using points makes more sense.

If I understood correctly, the problem is that there may be additional points in the sketch we don't want to use. Maybe we could solve the above problem by having the ability to select which points to use to make the holes.

Right now, it is completely un-intuitive what happens if we try to create a hole from a sketch with a point on it:

screenshot 1

sc-1.png (16.46 KiB) Viewed 2922 times

screenshot 2

sc-2.png (13.99 KiB) Viewed 2922 times

screenshot 3

sc-3.png (141.75 KiB) Viewed 2922 times

Or at least we should have an error message shown the tell to Use Circles!.

Btw, should I report a bug for the above behaviour?

Thanks,
Attila

[chrisb]

Hi Attila welcome to the forum.
No bug report needed. The point in sketcher is only a construction point, it doesn't add to the geometry seen from the outside of the Sketcher.

It has been discussed here to change this, as it would help with other features too, like lofts to a point. If points are ever available in FreeCAD it may be sensible to discuss this again. Currently I would say it looks tempting, but if such a point happens to lie on an endpoint of other geometry it is much more difficult to spot than a circle.

[NormandC]

If we ignore the above technical limitations / drawbacks, I think, we all agree that using points makes more sense.

I disagree completely with that statement. How can you presume on our preferences?

To me, defining a hole through a point is illogical, and no CAD program I've ever used has done such a thing. I'm not currently on my computer, but I believe that lone points in a sketch aren't even displayed out of the sketch editing mode, which would be an unacceptable drawback.

In the propriety CAD program I use at work, there is a specific sketch tool for the hole feature. Because the hole feature is created before the sketch, it automatically dimensions the circle based on the hole settings; it even adds a concentric circle when the hole options define a countersink or a counterbore. Of course that wouldn't be possible in FreeCAD since we always start with the sketch.

[bluetiger9]

Hi NomandC,

If we ignore the above technical limitations / drawbacks, I think, we all agree that using points makes more sense.

I disagree completely with that statement. How can you presume on our preferences?

I was not aware of the aspect that the diameter of the circle may be used as the diameter of the hole.

To me, defining a hole through a point is illogical, and no CAD program I've ever used has done such a thing. I'm not currently on my computer, but I believe that lone points in a sketch aren't even displayed out of the sketch editing mode, which would be an unacceptable drawback.

Fusion 360 and Inventor both uses points as reference for holes. The points are displayed outside of the sketch editing mode too. In my opinion, a point is just as a valid geometric object like a line or a circle is, so I see no reason why it wouldn't be displayed. As chrisb mentioned above, in FreeCAD currently points are always construction geometry. I think that's why are not shown outside of sketch editing mode.

The hole feature uses only the center point of the circle, while the diameter is being ignored. So, using a circle instead of a point may seems redundant. Having to deal with the diameter of the circle too just adds unnecessary complexity to the sketch.

In the propriety CAD program I use at work, there is a specific sketch tool for the hole feature. Because the hole feature is created before the sketch, it automatically dimensions the circle based on the hole settings; it even adds a concentric circle when the hole options define a countersink or a counterbore. Of course that wouldn't be possible in FreeCAD since we always start with the sketch.

If the diameter of circle is used, I agree that having a circle would make sense.

Thanks,
Attila

[Jee-Bee]

Solid work uses points too.
CREO maibe in the backgrount. But that one can only handle a single hola a time... after this add a pattern helps

[adrianinsaval]

CATIA also uses points for holes positioning.

Hi Attila welcome to the forum.
No bug report needed. The point in sketcher is only a construction point, it doesn't add to the geometry seen from the outside of the Sketcher.

It has been discussed here to change this, as it would help with other features too, like lofts to a point. If points are ever available in FreeCAD it may be sensible to discuss this again. Currently I would say it looks tempting, but if such a point happens to lie on an endpoint of other geometry it is much more difficult to spot than a circle.

If I remeber correctly CATIA displays points as small crosses to make them visible, that seems a viable solution for me, and loft to a point does seem like a useful feature!

[m1cha1]

These feature also works with fillets and slots. Is it intended?

[chrisb]

These feature also works with fillets and slots. Is it intended?

I don't understand; can you explain what this means, please?