Getting a simple measurement

[pguillory]

Hey guys, this may be a simple answer. I'm a beginner and teaching myself at the moment, but I'm just wondering how do I go about getting a simple measurement? For example with a 123 block, where could I find the distance between 2 points to determine if it is actually 1 inch?

When I say this out loud, it sounds like the answer is going to be right in front of me, lol. Thanks in advance!

[Darrollh]

Without doing anything alignments. Just take a point on one side of the block then take a point on the other side and select distance in the tool bar. That will give you the measurement. But, there's a lot more to just taking a point. There's a multiple things that must be done to insure your measurements are correct.

[pguillory]

Sounds simple enough. Thanks!

[Wes Cisco]

Welcome!

You need an alignment to 'square' the part to the machine axis (in the 'eyes' of the software), or you could measure a plane or a line on one side of the block then take a single point on the other side, then dimension the distance from the point to the plane, perpendicular to the plane. Without doing one of these two things you will get an 'as the crow flies' distance between the two points as opposed to a valid check of the 1" dimension of the block.

HTH (Hope This Helps)

[pguillory]

Nice! Thanks for the welcome and advice. I haven't dove into the "Dimensions" much yet, but that sounds like the new area of focus for me now. Interesting to see how much this program has to offer

[Douglas]

3 points making a plane on one side, 1 point on the other, use shortest 3d distance to get thickness... whether there is an alignment or not a 3d distance will return good results if used right.