Hi Russty,
good work. You will find creating a BOM and all component drawings a breeze compared to any other method.
When I say don’t model in the assembly, I mean never model in the file with the.asm suffix. Top level assembly is just a container for the components.
Even driver sketched should be inserted as a component.
So you want to model a new object that references an existing or even a yet to be created component. No problems - that’s Top Down modeling.
Firstly each component should be modeled about its OWN logical origin. I’ve said this before but some folks still miss it.
When you create a new component,by Insert New in an assembly, you either anchor or align the component.
Align using XYZ planes even before there is geometry or create geometry then use some of that to align.
For location, the period ‘.’. will pop the new component on assy Origin even if not anchored and you can align later. Makes no difference.
So lets say you want to use some existing geometry to set up the next component.
Once the new Component is aligned (or not), use the Assy Reference Tools (not ot be confused with part reference tools) to make geometry copies that will now exist in the component even out side of the assembly! If associative, the component will update if the geometry is changed. If non- associative, it is a snapshot.
You can add reference geometry anytime AND drag it to the top of the model so that ALL you modelling has access to the geometry, otherwise it only arrives at the point in history you added it. Reference geometry has no chronological connection.
You can use reference geometry directly in a model. E.g. An assy reference face can be extruded to a solid and treated like any other geometry. Or you could subtract a shape from you new component etc.
I suggest experimenting with what you can do by doing a simple assembly , making associative reference geometry driven components then modifying the parent geometry and child components.
This is old stuff but under the radar for many.
Cheers - Paul