How to dimension to the intersection of two edges (chamfer, fillet, etc)

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Glenn Schroeder
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How to dimension to the intersection of two edges (chamfer, fillet, etc)

Unread post by Glenn Schroeder »

This became pretty easy thanks to an enhancement about 5 years or so ago. With the Smart Dimension tool active, right-click on one of the edges. Select "Find Intersection" from the drop-down.

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Next left-click on the other edge. That will place a "Virtual Sharp" mark at the intersection of the two edges.

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Now you can make your second selection for the dimension.

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As I mentioned above, this method wasn't always available, so if you're using an older version of SW and "Find Intersection" isn't in the drop-down you can still get it done. Exit the Smart Dimension function, Ctrl+select both edges, and then choose the Point sketch tool. That will place a virtual sharp at the intersection of the two lines. Now you can dimension to it. As far as I know this has always been available.

By the way, you can select one of several virtual sharp styles at Tools > Options > Document Properties > Virtual Sharps.

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The Virtual Sharp will come in as a pale gray color, but you can later move it to a layer with the desired properties if you want. Unfortunately as of SW2022 there isn't a way to assign a Layer to them in Document Properties.
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KevinC
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Re: How to dimension to the intersection of two edges (chamfer, fillet, etc)

Unread post by KevinC »

As a reminder, could please add to this FAQ, that there is also a dedicated chamfer dimension (displays D X Angle only though).
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