HELP! Cutting holes out of a 3d object

Hi guys,

I'm new to Autocad, about 3 days in. Please forgive my utter newbness!

I have an enclosure (Retex Caja ABOX P33020115) and I want to cut some wholes into the casing to accommodate various connections. A friend of mine works for a company who have a CNC machine and they have offered to help me out if I can provide them with a .dxf which shows exactly what I want.

I've messed around a bit, watched some tutorials and have managed to make a 3d drawing of the bottom section of the enclosure (the enclosure is in two pieces) along with the stand offs and board holders which are molded to the internal of the base and a PCB with some blue things attached to it which are the cut out's I want to make (check me out!)

The back face of the enclosure is sloped. I want to draw the cut outs to this face but not directly as the connectors will be protruding at a 90 degree angle to the base so I need to make the cut outs into the back face but at a 90 degree angle to the base of the enclosure. I was hoping that I'd be able to use the 'presspull' command to achieve this but it's not acting as I'd expected.

I'm hoping these pictures will make things clearer:

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I've also tried to use the trim tool but this hasn't worked either.

I appreciate that, in all likelihood, I am approaching his in completely the wrong way! Does anybody have any idea as to how I might achieve my goal of making the cuts outs to my drawing?

Looks like this post could be DELETED.

Don't you think? Maybe the OP Edited out all the words, instead of using the DELETE POST option.

Looks like this post could be DELETED.

Don't you think? Maybe the OP Edited out all the words, instead of using the DELETE POST option.

Nope, it got moderated by the forum software. I have approved the post so you should be able to see it now.

Cool, thanks CAD64.

From the screenshots, assuming that everything I see are 3D Solids, you look pretty much good to go, using the SUBTRACT command, which is used to create a hole, void or whatever in one 3D Solid by subtracting another 3D Solid.

It looks like you are doing great for just 3 days into the program!

Just use that TOOL (3D Solid), copying it wherever you need it to penetrate the back of the tray.

You might find it easier working in 2D Wireframe, as it makes some things easier than realistic, conceptual, shaded and other cooler looking visual styles.

You need to set the UCS to the angle of the face in the back. Use UCS, Face, pick that face, ...

Remember that "Trim" is a 2D command and has no effect on 3D solids. PressPull will create the Solid from a region, closed polyline or a solid face but you'll need to subtract as Dadgad mentioned.

Thanks to everybody for your help. Subtract is the tool I was looking for. I should probably mention that I started again since many of the objects in my drawing were not solids. Dadgad's post really helped me out. Thanks again!

This is where I've got to:

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Now I need to delete out the PCB's and the extra pair of stand offs and then somehow make everything into one object. I'm worried that my messy work will come back to haunt me.

Vincemickman, this is the 2nd time I've had to approve one of your posts. Since you are a new member, with less than 10 posts, the links you're including are putting your posts into the moderation queue where they have to wait for approval. Read here: http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?56184-Information-for-new-members

In order to avoid having to wait for one of us to see and approve your posts, you should upload your images here in the forum: http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?8863-How-to-add-images-to-your-posts

Thanks to everybody for your help. Subtract is the tool I was looking for. I should probably mention that I started again since many of the objects in my drawing were not solids. Dadgad's post really helped me out. Thanks again!

 

This is where I've got to:

 

free photo hosting

 

image url upload

 

Now I need to delete out the PCB's and the extra pair of stand offs and then somehow make everything into one object. I'm worried that my messy work will come back to haunt me.

Messy work always come back to haunt whomever is responsible.

The command used to make everything into one object is UNION.

I am not entirely sure that you want to do that though, you might want to create a copy of the geometry in your drawing, and UNION it.

In that way should you need the individual elements because something was wrong or needs to be changed, you will still have those parts available.

Nicely done, just saw the screenshot!

You should follow this link, as it will help you a lot,and very quickly .....http://www.mycadsite.com/

I used this site back in 2008 to teach myself CAD, it is very well laid out.

Thanks again Dadgad, I'll follow the link and have a good read. I'll also copy out my lines onto another drawing and mess around with Union, see if I can get it to work for me. I warn you that if I get really stuck I might be back for more help!

Apologies to Cadtutor. I had read the 'information for new users' thread but I missed the 'how to add images to your post' thread. I'll use this method in the future if I want to upload an image. Thanks for your help.

The UNION command is used to unify multiple 3D Solids into one 3D Solid entity.

Make sure that you have checked the alignment carefully from a few different view perspectives before you UNION them.

UNION can be used on 3D Solids which are neither touching nor intersecting, so pay attention to your alignment.

As Patrick mentioned earlier regarding SUBTRACT, in another post, presumably UNION can also be used to unify multiple 2D regions.

Union worked just fine. Thanks, Dadgad.

I've pretty much ready to send my drawings and the case off to CNC guys. Fingers crossed that it turns out how I hope it will.

Glad to hear it, if you want some feedback from forum members, before you submit it to the fabricator, you can of course post your final result.

Thanks for the offer Dadgad and apologies for my super late reply, I've been back at work and barely had time to eat/sleep!

Since I finished the drawing I have received many of the internal electronic parts which I'll be using and have come to discover that I need to adjust my design slightly to accommodate some additional connectors which I had not taken into consideration in the first instance.

I plan to do this over the weekend and will upload the DWF once I've finished. If you are able to have a quick look over these when you have a spare moment and suggest any improvements/alterations which I could make then that would be great!

Probably a good idea, nothing to lose, that I can see.

Have a great weekend.