Edit Bar controls: Interactive, Fillet Radius, Selected Path, Side, Use original palette, From Intersection, Leave Original.
This tool allows you to trim or extend two entities to a corner and to round the corner using a specified radius. The entities can be lines, arcs, circles or Beziers. Alternatively, you can fillet all corners of a path of selected entities.
Enter the required radius in the Fillet Radius text box on the Edit Bar. Alternatively you can use the Nudge keys to adjust the value interactively.
If you switch off the Leave Original option and there is a fillet or chamfer in that position already, the new fillet will replace what was there previously. If you have this option switched on, the fillet will be added to the drawing together with what was there previously. If you hold the Shift key down whilst selecting the entities then the Leave Original option will be forced on.
If you activate the Use original palette check box, the fillet will be drawn in the same palette as the first entity you pick. This is useful if you have changed palette since you drew the entity you are filleting. If the check box is not activated, the fillet will be drawn in the current palette.
To fillet the two entities, ensure Selected Path is switched off and pick the two entities. As detailed for the Trim Corner tool, be careful to make the picks close to the intersection at which you wish the fillet to be created. The order that you pick the entities is not important, other than for changing the palette.
An arc of the specified radius is created, tangential to the chosen entities. The entities are trimmed back, or extended, to this arc.
As with the Trim Corner tool, entities which are standard circles, Construction entities or which are not within the current block may be picked but will not be trimmed or modified in any way.
To fillet a path of end-to-end entities (which must already be selected) ensure Selected Path is switched on. When enabled (providing the entities form a closed loop) you get a further option on the edit bar asking which Side you wish the fillet to go: Inside only, Outside only and Inside and Outside. When you click, the tool detects which side of the path was clicked and then determines whether each corner is an inside or outside turn.
If the Interactive option is selected then the edit bar will not display the Fillet Radius and Selected Path controls. After selecting the two entities a fillet cursor will be displayed that you can drag to the required size.
If the From Intersection option is selected then you only need to pick a single point, which must be at an intersection between two entities, and the fillet will be added at that point.
Constraint Manager
If you have the Constraint Manager active whilst using this tool you will experience the following differences:
- A coincident constraint and a tangent constraint is added at each end of the fillet
- In Non-interactive mode a radius dimension is added onto the fillet - on multiple uses of the same radius an equal radius constraint is added
- In Interactive mode the tool infers when the fillet radius gets close to a previously used fillet radius and it snaps to use that radius unless the Control modifier is used - if the fillet is placed whilst inferring equal to another radius then an equal radius constraint is added
- If the fillet is created at an intersection a coincident constraint is added to the entities on the other side of the fillet
- If a Path of entities is filleted then a radius dimension is added onto the first fillet and an equal radius constraint is added onto all the fillets
Related topics: Selecting, Trim Corner, Trim Chamfer, Fillet slot