PowerSHAPE

3. Workplanes

3. Workplanes
Workplanes
Workplanes are additional XYZ datums that can be activated or deactivated as required. A Workplane can be snapped to entities, rotated, copied, moved and aligned to existing geometry or key points. Working on large complex models is easy as you can create your own workplanes and work in 2D on the XY plane.

Example
Create the wireframe shape from 0, (shown as a circle) with a base length 100, width of 75, back height of 150 and a front height of 125.

Create a workplane and snap it into position at the rear corner point, as shown (by default a newly created workplane becomes the active datum). Move the cursor over one of the arrowheads and using the left mouse key dynamically rotate the workplane in 3D (all axes move).
This is used in cases where an initial alignment is required (to fix one of the main axes).

Undo the command

In this case it is required to dynamically rotate the workplane in 2D locally about the Z-axis. When selected, the Workplane borders contain yellow and blue lines. The yellow lines are used to control dynamic rotation about X or Y and the blue lines rotation about Z. Accurate alignment is achieved by dragging and snapping the coloured lines to key points on other entities.

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Move the mouse to the small blue line just beyond the X arrow.
Note for rotation about the Z Axis the blue lines also include the corners for quick alignment at 45 degrees.

Drag the workplane blue line (rotating around the Z-axis) to line up as shown below.

The intelligent cursor will find end points of lines, mid points and other location as the mouse is moved. When a suitable position is found, releasing the mouse will fix the Xaxis.

Release the left mouse button. The X and Y axes are now modified.

To re-orientate the Y (and Z) axes without changing the X-axis one of the yellow lines parallel to the X arrow is selected. The workplane is then dynamically rotated around the X-axis the intelligent cursor being used to fix the rotation.

Select one of the yellow lines beyond the Y arrow and drag the workplane to the top of vertical line (along Z) and release.

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The modified workplane being active is the dimensional datum until such time that it is deactivated or different workplane is activated.

Deselect the workplane by on a blank area of the screen. Create a square of side length 10, with a start position of 20 20. Double click on the workplane to access the editing form for non-dynamic modifications.

Within the Workplane Editing form direct values can be entered for position, rotation, etc. Tick boxes are available to Activate/De-activate or to nominate as the Master Workplane. When a workplane is Active it is displayed in red and is appears larger on the screen. When a workplane is de-actived it is displayed in grey and appears smaller in size. The Master workplane, if nominated is the default datum if another Workplane is deactivated.

Select the Active button (so it becomes unticked) and then press Accept Create a small square of side length 10, starting at 20 20.

The second square appears relative to the world origin. If a workplane is deactived, then the datum of the model will default to world origin (unless a Master workplane has been specified).

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Create a new workplane and snap it to the front corner of the slope. Select a yellow line by parallel with the X arrow and dynamically rotate the workplane into place as shown below.

The new workplane is active. The View menus will operate relative to the active workplane.

Select an isometric view. Create a square of side length 40 from 20 20 0. Generate a composite curve and create an extruded surface of height 30.
By default all extrusions occur normal to the planar base. As the new workplane is already aligned to the plane, the extrusion occurs along the workplane Z-axis. This mode can be switched off such that extrusions can be forced to occur along one of the main axes, by switching off Extrude normal to planar base. This is found in Tools - Options Objects Surfaces.

Click on the workplane icon and then the position icon.

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Select the Between tab from the position form.

The between option positions the workplane midway between two specified key points on the model. These can be defined either dynamically or by typed input.

Select the two corners of the top extruded square surface as shown.

The form will mark with an asterisk the position of each point as they are selected.

Accept the form.

The workplane appears exactly at the mid-point between the two selected points.

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Modification of Workplanes
The Workplane editing form enables changes in rotation, realignment, repositioning, etc. As the form operates on the local datum it is not important whether the Workplane is Active or not but it must be selected. (For modifications relative to an alternative active datum use the options in the general Edit toolbar (Swiss Army Knife)).

ROTATION (Twist)
Create a workplane at 30 0 and double click the workplane to bring up the editing form. Select X-twist.

Enter 30 into the calculator form as shown.

The workplane has rotated about itself by 30 degrees. At this stage it is possible to select AC and enter a different angle.

Select Accept on the Calculator Form. Select Accept on the Workplane form and the Workplane is rotated.

REALIGNMENT (Axis)
Double click on the workplane and select Align X-Axis.

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Select the Align Z icon in the direction form.

Select Accept on the Direction Form. Select Accept on the Workplane form. The X-Axis is now re-aligned to the World Z direction.

Workplane toolbar
Below the graphics area in the bottom left hand corner is the workplane toolbar, which includes an icon for creating temporary workplanes as well as a table as an alternative means to control the naming and activation of workplanes.

Select the down arrow to select another workplane.

If workplane 1 is selected in the form it becomes active. A workplane can be renamed by clicking on the current name and typing over it with the new name followed by the return key.

Click on the Temporary Workplane icon. Snap to some existing geometry (or graphics area).

anywhere in the

The red and black temporary workplane appears. This workplane does not have access to a local editing form, but can be modified using the Edit toolbar options (Swiss Army Knife). It is automatically called Temporary and can be deleted from using the local menu or by pressing the Temporary Workplane icon.

Click on the

Temporary Workplane icon.

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The Temporary workplane is removed from the model.

PowerSHAPE

Master Workplane
In a PowerSHAPE model you can designate a workplane as the Master Workplane. This master workplane is shown with thicker lines to distinguish it from the others. If another active workplane is deactivated, instead of PowerSHAPE returning to the World co-ordinate system it activates the Master Workplane.

Example
Open the model golf_fin.
There are two Workplanes on this model called 1 and 2.These are situated above the World Co-ordinate system in the workplane menu.

Select Workplane 1 and click the right mouse button to bring up the menu. Select the option Master (this becomes ticked). Deselect the workplane to display the master status.

The workplane also appears below the World in the Workplane selector, so it is easy to find.

Activate workplane 2 and then deactivate it.

The master workplane becomes active, instead of the world origin. This is a must for users handling imported data in the car industry where traditionally every component part has a common datum (Car Line). This World datum could be metres away as well as being in an unsuitable orientation for tooling purposes. It must however be retained in case a copy of the data is to be returned to the supplier (in Car Line).

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