Minsert Block - 'Multiple Inserts' of a Block

Today we will see the "Minsert" Command in AutoCAD. This is a rarely used command in AutoCAD and most of the people do not know about such a wonderful command. Lets see...


Minsert command is simply "Multiple Inserts" of a block. This is similar to that of arraying a block into rows and columns. But, the main difference is that all the instances which are arrayed would behave like a block, with properties of a normal block and something extra. 


For creating a minsert block, you should have a block first. Lets create a block. I made a dining table with four chairs around it .

Lets try the Minsert command on this..


Look at the image of command window where you can see the command in progress. (Click the image to enlarge)

Lets get into details of the step by step procedure...
Type MINSERT and hit Enter Key.
It will ask the block name. Enter the block name. In our example it is "Dining Table"
From here the process is same as inserting a normal block, till it asks from details about the rows and columns. From here it is similar to that of Rectangular Array command. Enter the number of Rows and Number of Columns. Specify the Row Distance and Column Distance, or go for the Unit cell, where you pick two corners of a rectangle to specify the row height and column width. To use the Unit Cell method, you shouldn't type in a value, but just pick one point on screen using your mouse. AutoCAD will ask you to pick the next corner. By this method, the horizontal distance between the points will be taken as Column Width and Vertical Distance between the picked points will be taken as Row Height. Now, see the result below...

Lets see the properties of this block. Select it and go to its properties. You will see something like the image below.

See the highlighted part... That is the advantage of using Minsert Blocks. You can control the Number of Rows or Columns or the spacing at any time in the properties of a minsert block.
Now try changing these values and see it yourself...

Wait for more... Have a nice day friends…!!

--

Harilal M. N.
harilalmn@gmail.com
Bangalore, India.

Arrange blocks on a path

Most of the people are familiar with the Divide or measure command. But less would have noticed that these commands have an option "Block".
Lets see how it works.
Here is an ellipse and a block with a Rectangle in it. But I have the Block's base point exactly at the center of the rectangle. This is critical, as the command would place the block instances on the path at their basepoints.

I want to arrange the block on this elliptical path, dividing the ellipse into 30 equal segments, placing the block perpendicular to the path at each point.

This is where you would use divide command. 

Activate the divide command by entering DIV in the command window. 

Pick the ellipse and press Enter.

You will have an option "Block" available now. Type B and press Enter.

Enter the block name. (This case, it is "Block1")

Say "Yes" for the prompt for aligning the block instances. 

Provide the number of divisions (This case, it is "30")

You should have something like this...

If said "No" for the prompt for aligning the block instances, you will get this;

Try this method on various paths (plines, lines, circles, ellipse or splines) using different blocks.... 


Wait for more... Have a nice day friends…!!

--

Harilal M. N.
harilalmn@gmail.com
Bangalore, India.

Controlling Hatch Objects

Hello Everyone,
This is my first post. The intention of creating such a blog is to share some tricks in AutoCAD which would make your life much easier. I know there are thousands of other blogs. Still, I would be happy and would consider my effort is paid, if someone gets benefited out of this post. Ok... enough of talking...!! So let me just start with my first post.
Here we go....

You have to create an RCP for a building. The tile size what you are using is 600 x 600 mm. Drawing the grid manually would consume too much of time. So, what is the solution? Did you say that??….Yes..The Hatch.

But, while using the hatch command, there are certain things which you need to take care.

What is my tile size? It is 600 x 600. Lets see….. Look at the hatch below.

 This hatch has been made using the hatch scale factor 1. This has been done with scale factor set to 1, to know the measurement the person who created this pattern, has considered for the tiles. But how will you measure the tile size now? You can’t dimension a hatch right..?? No… You can…!!
Go to Options by typing OP <Enter>, Go to Drafting Tab. Go to Object Snap Options and check off “Ignore hatch objects”. This will enable you to dimension a hatch object.

Now, Dimension a tile and see the value.

Ah… now that we got the real size of the tile. It is 0.1250 here. Your required tile size is 600 x 600. So, divide 600 by 0.1250 which is 4800.

So you got your hatch scale. It is 4800.

Now do a normal hatch. Assume that your result is something like this below.

Now, measure a tile and see…

Yes…. We got it….!!!

But, there is a small problem, Look at the corner….

You want to start with a full tile at this corner. What to do….??? No idea…..??

Select hatch and go to edit. In the hatch edit dialogue box, you will see an option to set the origin.

Click on “Specified Origin” and click on the button below.

Click at the corner and press enter key. You did it…!!! See the result below. 

You can set any hatch to any origin point this way..!! Enjoy and hatch is no more a headache…!!! 


Wait for more... Have a nice day friends…!!

--

Harilal M. N.
harilalmn@gmail.com
Bangalore, India.