Tangent between two circles

[Mogal]

I just can't seem to make this work...
I'm trying to get a tangent line between the two circles, and it just doesn't seem to snap properly?

Does the old 'Tangent gadget" still work?
(I'd have to re-download it)

Thanks,
Chris

P.S. video tutorial at 10:40

[Adrian]

Seems to be working ok when I try it. Have you got Smart Snapping turned on?

[ger21]

When the two circles have the same radius, you can draw a line between the two centers, then offset it by the radius, and the offset lines will be tangent.

I'm not sure how to draw the line tangent to the two circles either. The video doesn't show that, and I tried for 10 minutes, and couldn't figure it out.

[Adrian]

Sorry I misread your post. I thought you couldn't do what was shown in the video.

[Mogal]

I think smart snapping is on (The second icon from the lift, top center) and its highlighted blue.

This is as close as I can get... the black line, trying snaps with the tangent.
Red line is a line drawn between centers, then offset.

Drawing a line between centers gets it pretty much exact, but then trimming can be finicky some times.

[PaulRowntree]

I haven't tried the tangent gadget, but the !Belt command in the CSV package defines a belt-path from two circles. The straight edges are tangents.

Code: Select all

!Belt, -4,0, 2.0, 4.0, 0, 5.0

[ger21]

Drawing a line between centers gets it pretty much exact, but then trimming can be finicky some times.

You don't need to trim the straight lines at all with this method, just the arcs.

[mtylerfl]

Drawing tangents between two circles is SUPER easy with version 9 software!


1) Draw your circles

2) Select the polyline tool and click pretty much anywhere on the first circle vector

3) Move your mouse to the edge of the second circle and press the letter "t" while hovering (do NOT left-click, unless you want to draw more vectors from there, otherwise right-click or press spacebar to get out of vector drawing mode)

Like magic, the line is perfectly tangent between the two circles

(No need for the Tangent gadget nor offsetting from centers anymore, no "messy" trimming, etc)

[PaulRowntree]

Drawing tangents between two circles is SUPER easy with version 9 software!


1) Draw your circles

2) Select the polyline tool and click pretty much anywhere on the first circle vector

3) Move your mouse to the edge of the second circle and press the letter "t" while hovering (do NOT left-click, unless you want to draw more vectors from there, otherwise right-click or press spacebar to get out of vector drawing mode)

Like magic, the line is perfectly tangent between the two circles

(No need for the Tangent gadget nor offsetting from centers anymore, no "messy" trimming, etc)

... and that is why we should read the manuals.

[Mogal]

Thanks mtylerfl I got it... Click the first circle, hover over second circle, and hit 'T'

Its been a long day... sigh.

[ger21]

I was pretty sure I saw this at the user group meeting, but didn't remember exactly how.

[mtylerfl]

I was pretty sure I saw this at the user group meeting, but didn't remember exactly how.

Yes, Dan demonstrated this during his "differences between version 8.5 and Version 9" presentation.

[4DThinker]

Thought I'd add that the tangent snapping also work with just a polyline and a single circle. Start a line anywhere outside a circle, move the end close to where you think you want the line to end on the circle, then tap T on the keyboard. You don't need two circles for this to work.

This also work to snap tangent to sections of a circle or arcs.

4D

[mtylerfl]

That is correct, 4D. The new drawing and snapping features are "golden"! I don't know how I got along without 'em. I got completely spoiled during beta testing!

[4DThinker]

I'm with you, mtylerf. Aspire has become my favorite 2D drafting app. In fact when my students (who have access to several other CAD packages) look over my shoulder as I draw something up for their projects they inevitably remark how nice a feature or two is that they wish they had in their "other" CAD software.

The tangent snapping doesn't work with ellipses. A work-around: You can snap a line tangent to a circle, then stretch the circle and the line together until the circle has warped into the ellipse shape you want. The line will now be tangent to the ellipse.

4D