Handling of mirrored parts

How can you tell that a part is a mirror image?

I IRONCAD  we can easily mirror an object with TriBall, but how do you really know if a part is mirrored and how does it show up in the story tree? Is it possible to remove the mirror as a property?

See that an object is mirrored

A part mirrored"around itself" with TriBall... (or by being copied/linked)

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...will be displayed with a different ("green-yellow") text color and an extra "mirror icon" in the tree structure:

This is something we also wrote about in a previous post, which also includes a short video on how to show the symbol of the mirrored parts or assemblies in the tree structure. But we'll take it up here anyway:

Click on the Filter icon in the top right corner of the Scene Browser:

Choose to display the Mirror Part or Assembly filter.

This means that mirrored objects in the tree get a different text color and an extra icon next to them in the tree structure, see Part1 in the image below:

Note! Remember that the mirror itself in a CAD system is only a function of a position/orientation in XYZ space and does not necessarily imply that it has a relationship to another object. So if you compare this to things in our everyday life, where mirroring means "mirrored in relation to something else", it works differently here!

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In IRONCAD 2022, there will also be a new setting for Part Number and Description where this can be set differently for objects that are mirrored. In this way, you can have different item numbers for two linked models where one of them is mirrored.

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Remove mirroring

To remove the "mirror feature" from an object in the 3D scene, you therefore need to change its "function of orientation in space". Keep in mind that this can be a major operation if the model is not mirror-symmetric!

Select the object and activate TriBall.

Then right-click in the background and select Orient TriBall to Global (Eliminate Mirroring):

Keep in mind that "eliminate mirroring" means that the object will change its shape, unless it is, for example, a mirror-symmetrical sheet metal plate. You may need to adjust the position of the features to the opposite side etc. and then the TriBall is a great option as always!