Offset line problem

[jhyder79]

I am having an issue with offset lines that I can't seem to resolve no matter what I do and it is about to drive me crazy. I have a bolt that goes through a washer and bracket. I want an offset line to go through these parts in my exploded view so I pick an axis in the bolt and an axis in the bracket, what I get is the offset line shown in the attached picture.

No matter what I do I cannot move the anchor points or pick the axis in any particular order to fix the offset line. It always points the offset lines in the wrong direction!

Anyone know how to fix this?

 

[kerklein2]

I don't have an answer for you, but I always have problems with offset lines. Their endpoints are always wrong and it will only let you adjust one end point. I will be watching this thread.

 

[jhyder79]

This issue behaves like it is a bug in the software, but I believe I have found a way around it. I was originally picking the datum axis to use by using the search tool. I finally figured out that it works better if I turn on the axis layer (so they are all visible) and pick a point on the axis that is somewhere towards the center of the axis. When I do this, the lines go in the correct direction.

 

[Caddy1]

So I often find it useful to use the "pick from list" feature for creating offset lines. When the Cosmetic offset line window is displayed, right-click near the entity you want to reference for the offset line, and select the pick from list feature in the menu. This will make it easier to select axes as references. Sometimes, not all relevant references are displayed when you choose the pick from list feature, so you may have to try it two or three times to get the right references in the list.