Push/Pull an object flat

[jonbowen234]

I'm designing buildings for laser cutting. I'm using MDF and styrene so I need to put the pieces together in 3D to make sure everything fits. After that is done then I need to lay it out for cutting and export to dxf.

I've run into an issue. I have elements that are 0.5mm thick and 3mm thick but they have surface etching details on one edge. If I try to flatten them then they just disappear. If there isn't any detail then I just click into component edit and grab the face but these have lots of faces and it's a pain to grab them all. I have also tried deleting the back piece lines and connector lines to leave just the one face. Both methods are kind of a pain.

Any way to make them no disappear with the push pull tool or other ideas on how to get this to work?

Thanks!

[TIG]

Look for a 'flatten' tool there are several...
It's relatively straightforward in code to reduce all of the edges vertices to z=0...
http://www.smustard.com/script/Flatten is $10.
My FlattenToPlane http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=281320#p281320 will also do it, you need my WorkPlane tool [linked on the same page] too, as in this case you'll need to make a flat-plane project onto...
This also flattens an object IF the surface onto which the Drape happens is flat http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=346754#p346754
Or there's this http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=346887#p346887
Several other Tools could be used to do a 'flatten' too [e.g. Artisan]...

And of course you could just make a large flat plane [face] and use the Sandbox tool to Drape the grouped/instance object down onto that surface...

[thomthom]

You can use Selection Toys to select faces of the same orientation. I use that often for such task you describe.