Part EditAttachment

    From FreeCAD Documentation

    Part EditAttachment.svg Part EditAttachment

    Menu location
    Part → Attachment...
    Workbenches
    Part, PartDesign
    Default shortcut
    None
    Introduced in version
    0.17
    See also
    Placement, Basic Attachment Tutorial, Part Part2DObject

    Description

    Part EditAttachment is a utility to attach an object to another one. The attached object is linked to the other object, which means that if the latter's placement is changed afterwards, the attached object will update to its new position.

    Usage

    1. Select the object to be attached.
    2. Go to the Part → Attachment... menu.
      Note: when working in PartDesign and creating sketches, datum geometry or primitives, steps 1 and 2 are unnecessary: the Attachment dialogue is brought up automatically.
    3. Under Attachment parameters, Not attached can be read. The first button below is labeled Selecting… to indicate it is expecting a selection in the 3D view.
    4. Select a topology element on the object to attach to: vertex, edge or face/plane. Datum geometry from Part containers are also selectable.
    5. The first button's label now adopts the type of topology selected. In the white field to its right, the referenced object and its element is added. For example, if a face on a primitive cube is selected, the field will show Box:Face6.
    6. Select an Attachment mode in the list. The available modes are filtered by the selected references. Attached with mode <mode description> will be displayed under the Attachment header.
      For live information on the attachment modes, hover the mouse on top of one of the modes in the list for a tooltip to appear.
    7. Optionally, add up to 3 more references by pressing the Reference2, Reference3, and Reference4 buttons and repeating step 4.
    8. Optionally set an Attachment Offset.
    9. Press OK.

    Options

    Part Offset Tasks.png

    Attachment mode

    Deactivated

    Default, no reference selected.

    Normal to edge

    Object is made perpendicular to edge. Optional vertex reference defines location.

    Reference combinations
    Edge
    Edge, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge

    See Align O-X-Y type attachment modes for more details on the following modes:

    Align O-Z-X

    Matches object's origin with first referenced vertex, then aligns its normal and horizontal plane axis toward vertex/along line.

    Reference combinations
    Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Vertex, Edge
    Vertex, Edge, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge, Edge
    Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge

    Align O-Z-Y

    Matches object's origin with first referenced vertex and aligns its normal and vertical plane axis toward vertex/along line.

    Reference combinations
    Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Vertex, Edge
    Vertex, Edge, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge, Edge
    Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge

    Align O-X-Y

    Matches object's origin with first referenced vertex and aligns its horizontal and vertical plane axes toward vertex/along line.

    Reference combinations
    Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Vertex, Edge
    Vertex, Edge, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge, Edge
    Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge

    Align O-X-Z

    Matches object's origin with first referenced vertex and aligns its horizontal plane axis and normal toward vertex/along line.

    Reference combinations
    Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Vertex, Edge
    Vertex, Edge, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge, Edge
    Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge

    Align O-Y-Z

    Matches object's origin with first referenced vertex and aligns its vertical plane axis and normal toward vertex/along line.

    Reference combinations
    Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Vertex, Edge
    Vertex, Edge, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge, Edge
    Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge

    Align O-Y-X

    Matches object's origin with first referenced vertex and aligns its vertical and horizontal plane axes toward vertex/along line.

    Reference combinations
    Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Vertex, Edge
    Vertex, Edge, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge, Edge
    Vertex, Vertex
    Vertex, Edge

    Translate origin

    Object's origin is aligned to matched vertex. Orientation is controlled by Placement property.

    Reference combinations
    Vertex.

    Object's XY

    Plane is aligned to XY local plane of linked object.

    Reference combinations
    Any, Conic.

    Object's XZ

    Plane is aligned to XZ local plane of linked object.

    Reference combinations
    Any, Conic.

    Object's YZ

    Plane is aligned to YZ local plane of linked object.

    Reference combinations
    Any, Conic

    Plane face

    Plane is aligned to coincide to planar face.

    Reference combinations
    Plane

    Tangent to surface

    Plane is made tangent to surface at vertex.

    Reference combinations
    Face, Vertex
    Vertex, Face

    Frenet NB

    Plane is set to normal-binormal (NB) axes of Frenet-Serret coordinates at the point of the edge's curve that is closest to the vertex (or defined by MapPathParameter property, if vertex is not linked). The object's origin is translated to the vertex if the vertex is first, or kept at the curve if edge is first. This mode is similar to Normal to edge, except that X axis is well-defined.

    Reference combinations
    Curve
    Curve, Vertex
    Vertex, Curve
    Attacher mode FrenetNB.png

    Frenet TN

    Plane is set to tangent-normal (TN) axes of Frenet-Serret coordinates at the point of the edge's curve that is closest to the vertex (or defined by MapPathParameter property, if vertex is not linked). The origin of sketch is translated to the vertex if the vertex is first, or kept at the curve if edge is first. Effectively, if the curve is planar, the sketching plane is the plane of the curve.

    Reference combinations
    Curve
    Curve, Vertex
    Vertex, Curve
    Attacher mode FrenetTN.png

    Frenet TB

    Plane is set tangent-binormal (TB) axes of Frenet-Serret coordinates at the point of the edge's curve that is closest to the vertex (or defined by MapPathParameter property, if vertex is not linked). The origin of sketch is translated to the vertex if the vertex is first, or kept at the curve if edge is first.

    Reference combinations
    Curve
    Curve, Vertex
    Vertex, Curve
    Attacher mode FrenetTB.png

    Concentric

    Aligns to plane to osculating circle of an edge. Optional Vertex link defines where.

    Reference combinations
    Curve
    Circle
    Curve, Vertex
    Circle, Vertex
    Vertex, Curve
    Vertex, Circle

    Revolution Section

    Plane is perpendicular to edge, and Y axis is matched with axis of osculating circle. Optional Vertex link defines where.

    Reference combinations
    Curve
    Circle
    Curve, Vertex
    Circle, Vertex
    Vertex, Curve
    Vertex, Circle

    Plane by 3 points

    Aligns XY plane to pass through three vertices.

    Reference combinations
    Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
    Line, Vertex
    Vertex, Line
    Line, Line

    Normal to 3 points

    Aligns plane to pass through first two vertices, and perpendicular to plane that passes through 3 vertices.

    Reference combinations
    Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
    Line, Vertex
    Vertex, Line
    Line, Line

    Folding

    Specialty mode for folding polyhedra. Select 4 edge in order: glueable edge, fold line, other fold line, other glueable edge. Plane will be aligned to folding the first edge. In the picture below, it is not required that both leafs to fold together be the same.

    Reference combinations
    Line, Line, Line, Line
    Attacher mode Folding.png

    Inertia 2-3

    Object will be attached to a plane passing through second and third principal axes of inertia (passes through center of mass).

    Reference combinations
    Any
    Any, Any
    Any, Any, Any
    Any, Any, Any, Any

    Attachment Offset

    Attachment Offset is used to apply a linear or rotary offset from the referenced object. That means the offsets are relative to the local coordinate system, not to the global. It becomes active when an attachment mode other than Deactivated has been selected.

    • X: sets an offset distance in the X axis of the reference object.
    • Y: sets an offset distance in the Y axis of the reference object.
    • Z: sets an offset distance in the Z axis of the reference object. This coordinate is to be used for the frequent use case that you want to offset a sketch perpendicular to the plane.
    • Yaw: rotates the attached object along the reference object's Z axis.
    • Pitch: rotates the attached object along the reference object's Y axis.
    • Roll: rotates the attached object along the reference object's X axis.
    • Flip sides: if checked, the attached object is reversed from its XY plane.

    Limitations

    • Part and Body containers are not supported. While it's possible to use Attachment to align them, the attachment won't be parametrically linked.
    • If selecting two lines results in a traceback with "points are collinear. Can't make a plane", try selecting three points instead [1].