Why can't I fillet this

[marlon]

I'm trying to draw a mouse

 

The other end of the mouse won't fillet. Why? The error message is "Failure to perform blend. Failure while filleting."

 

I've tried smaller radius but still the same result.

 

Thanks!

[Attila The Gel]

maybe your fillet radius is to large try a lot smaller radius' see if that helps?

Oeps sorry didn't read after the images! I'm very sorry. maybe a file upload so we can try on newer versions?

[marlon]

would anyone like to try?

mouseFORyou.dwg

[MaxwellEdison]

Your main problem is that you are using AutoCAD 2002. The 3D options are a lot more robust from 2004 onward. The only thing I can really recommend is to try and create a piece which you can use to sculpt the curve wither with SUBTRACT or INTERFERE or possible REVOLVE. If you think its bad now, wait til you try making the cord . If you are a student, I'd recommend going to Autodesk's student portal and download the AutoCAD electrical package. Its an AutoCAD vertical product, but behind all the Electrical bells and whistles you'll still find vanilla AutoCAD. You'll need a student email address or have your instructor use theirs. Good Luck!

[shift1313]

it worked for me. type fillet, enter your radius, then select the arc which is the back of your mouse edge(thats giving you issues), then in the command prompt there will be an option for chain, type C then select the other side and it will complete the top edge of your mouse, this will chain the fillet together and do the entire edge. Your fillet has to be small enough to work on the back edge though. The issue is with how the profile was created. how did you draw the initial shape?

[marlon]

shift1313, if the issue is with how the profile was created, how come you were able to fillet? I did exactly what you told me - fillet the back edge, type c for chain, then click the other edge which completes the entire edge, but I get the same error message. It won't fillet even when I set the radius to 1.

 

Are you using autocad 2002? Should I just get 2004 like maxwell suggests?

[Attila The Gel]

Works fine on 2009. Im guesing that maxwell is right. If this is the only time you need something like this maybe you sould ask for someone to do it for you and sent it to you??? maybe it works that way?

[shift1313]

i used 2005 which should have no major difference in modeling to your version(edit. in terms of fillet, as maxwell pointed out they did change a few things). The issue i was talking about for chaining is how the profile was created. because the edge where your back arc and your sides arent tangent, you need to use chain to select the entire perimeter. I think i typed 12 as my radius when i did it. ill try again real quick.

[shift1313]

i used a radius of 10, sorry. It still works fine if you select the top edge, then chain and select the other top edge(the part that wasnt selected at first). I did notice on the other layer all the construction lines. How did you go about creating this shape. Some times there is a small detail at the edge that will cause you a lot of grief. I would have created the main shape of the mouse. then created the top surface via a revolve command. then used Intersect once they were positioned appropriately.

 

Max, do you know much about the autodesk community. I have been trying to get registered for about a month now with no luck. Just havent heard back from them. Same thing with another member.

[shift1313]

your drawing still wont fillet just the large arc by itself and im not totally sure why, but im going to say it has something to do with the geometry of how it was drawn still. It will still let me do the whole thing though.

 

I started to draw one from scratch just so you could see how would handle the geometry, because i noticed you had a large sphere on the other layer and some construction lines.

 

First thing i did was draw the general "bean" shape in the top view.

 

 

I drew the lines as reference points and just used arcs for the rest of it "snapping" to the line end points. Then i used the fillet command(my mouse is 6" long by 2.5" wide or so) using a radius of 1 on all of the arcs to blend them into each other. This will ensure my geometry is nice when i go to fillet my top edges later. After all of the arcs have nice fillets into the others i used PEDIT>M select all my lines, then J for join. There are other commands you can use for different things, region, boundary etc...

 

 

I then took this closed drawing and extruded it and drew a profile in the middle of it. It is kind of hard to see from the screen shot but the arc falls to a lower point on one side of the mouse than the other.

 

 

I used REVOLVE about the bottom line of my sketch an then used the INTERSECT command and selected both solids.

 

That left me with this

 

 

Because i knew my initial sketch was blended together with fillets at every joint, when i go to fillet my top and bottom edge i can choose my radius, select one edge, then select chain. Now if your edge is blended nicely, you should only have to select one part of your edge and the entire edge will become selected. If there is a bad seam or joint in your solid, you will have to select the edges manually. Autocad can blend most of this stuff but there will be instances where it can not(like the back edge of your mouse).

 

 

If you want to go farther from there you can shell the mouse, create a block with "slits" in it where your mouse buttons join. Or you can make multiple copies of your mouse, subtract solids from one copy and use intersect on another copy and get your buttons that way.

 

 

[shift1313]

i just thought of something else that may help visualize this. Draw two cubes. I drew them from 0,0,0 to 5,5,5. Use fillet and radius of 1, select the top edge of the first cube, then chain, then select the other 3 top edges and look how the cube is filleted.

 

Now on the second cube use fillet on the vertical edges first(4 different operations). then use fillet again, select one of the top edges, chain, and then another edge, or corner on the top. Notice that the entire top edge becomes selected because all the edges were blended previously. Also the two filleted cubes look very different.

[marlon]

The sphere was to make the top edge round. I'll study how you made your mouse. I'll also experiment with the fillet on the cubes.

[shift1313]

yeah i understood what the sphere was for and your construction lines. I was just trying to lay out a way for you to lay it out and get a custom curvature without limiting what you can do. The sphere may be exactly what you need for some things though so dont get me wrong and think im saying dont use it, i just want you to have more tools at your disposal. Using the sphere as your top surface as opposed to a revolved solid limits your geometry greatly. for example i just drew this fast. I made two sketches and converted them to regions, subtracted one from the other, and revolved it about a line that was 20 degrees or so off from the initial "mouse" body. This gives a double hump top and its off axis(how a real one would be) (((sorry for the poor quality, the computer im using wont save my screen shots as jpegs)))

[marlon]

Good thing you showed me what REVOLVE is capable of because I had this notion that it's only for drawing perfectly round objects, appreciate it! Thanks for the illustrations!

I'll try your method very soon. Happy new year guys!

[shift1313]

no problem. Revolve does create round parts because you have to revolve around an axis, but that axis can be off from your part. thats really the key. also you dont have to revolve it around a line on the sketch, or 360 degrees.

 

 

two regions

 

subtracted them, then revolved them

 

then fillet the sharp edges.

 

what the two solids look like

 

and then intersected

[marlon]

I'll try that one too! meantime, here's a new problem

http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?p=199165#post199165