Sometimes a creative solutiuon will solve a problem when there isn't a "do this" button. One request I've received over the years is to find a way to show a knurled surface on a model. This is how I do it:
1. Create a sketch of one facet of the knurl. For example, a diamond. Position it on a plane hovering over the surface you want, such that the sketch is on one edge (top edge of a cylinder, etc.)
2. Use Wrap feature to wrap the sketch onto the model. Use the "scribe" option in the Wrap command so that it will simply break out a seperate surface showing the facet.
3. Use the Offset Surface command to offset a surface body of the facet. You'll need to offset a certain, but tiny, amount in order for the hidden lines to show up clearly all on the drawing views when doing Step 4. I typically use .005" when I do this.
4. Use the Pattern command to pattern the surface body as needed to cover the model area.
That's it! You'll see the facets in the 3D model and they should also show up nicely in the 2D drawing. If they "fade out" in the views near the tangent edges, then you need to increase your offset a bit. Again, I find that .005" is enough whenever I do this on my models. This method is also relatively low on system overhead and it's very easy to suppress the knurling as desired.
You can download an example model at http://www.gxsc.com/SolidNotes/knurl_example.zip
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