Scaling via Units instead of Percentage

[Brent Dowell]

Darren mentioned that in last nights session, that it was possible to scale something to actual units instead of using percentages.

The example was a tapered leg, where you might create a leg that would be 2 inches square, and then want to taper it by scaling the bottom of the leg to say 1.5" exactly.

I've not been able to figure out how to make that work on my own.

I can get by using guides to set the size, then scaling by dragging to the guide, but would be interested in how to make that work.

Thanks!

 

[Dave Richards]

Start scaling by the corner handle. Then type 1.5",1.5" and hit Enter. You need to add the units and in this case you would want to add the dimension for both directions.

 

[Brett Luna]

You can also use the Tape Measure tool to do the same thing. In this case, click one end of the 2" line, then the other, and immediately type in the desired measurement and hit Enter. You'll get a confirmation dialog asking if you're really, really sure. If you're not within a group/component, it will rescale the entire model. If you're editing a group/component, everything within it will be rescaled.

 

[Brett Luna]

I should've read the OP more closely. The Tape Measure method will proportionally rescale the entire leg.

 

[Dave Richards]

And to add to the scaling thing. you need to select the bottom face of the leg before getting the Scale tool.

 

[Brent Dowell]

Weird, So it works perfectly fine with inches.

When I use a mm based template I get odd results.

I created a 'stick' 50mm sq by 900mm tall.
I click one of the end faces
I click the scale tool
I press ctrl and grab a corner and start to do a uniform scale about center
I release after it starts to resize
I enter 25mm
I end up with the face being 17.7mm square

It doesn't matter how far I do the initial resize. Every time I type 25mm I get 17.7mm

The same procedure with inches works perfectly.

I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong, but I follow the same procedure with inches (typing 1.5") and it works fine.

 

[Dave Richards]

Yes. It would appear you are missing an important step.

You would need to type 25mm,25mm so you provide the x and y dimesnions. A single dimension entered results in the length being the diagonal.

 

[Brent Dowell]

Well that makes sense

 

[Brent Dowell]

And it works fine if I enter 25mm,25mm. Could have sworn I tried that, but obviously I didn't, lol.

Thanks Dave!