Project to Surface

From time to time you might want to create something more complex than a Solid with a perpendicular Cut feature. A useful, but often overlooked tool in Inventor is the 3D Sketch, which contains some useful features, such as Project to Surface.

This feature allows you to project a 2D Sketch to a Face/Surface, allowing you to place sketches exactly on a face to use as a Sweep path, Split Line, Loft Rail etc. See the steps below to get yourself started with 3D Sketches.

• Create your Model and 2D Sketch geometry

• Next start a 3D Sketch, then select the Project to Surface tool, pick your Face/s, followed by Curves (2D Sketch geometry). OK to finish, once you are happy, unlike other Inventor tools, this one does not give you a preview.

• The finished article, Sketch geometry on the Face you require, defined by the 2D Sketch. We can not use this as a Sweep path etc.