Creating a Circle Tangent to an Entity

Access: Invoke the Sketcher, define the sketch plane and then invoke this function from one of the following locations:

Click the Circle button in the Sketcher toolbar.
Right-click the graphics area and select Circle from the popup menu.

Create a circle.

The procedure below describes how to create a new circle that is tangent to a selected entity. The new circle and the selected entity are mutually constrained. The new circle can also be constrained by additional entities in the graphics display area.

Demo: Press the button below to view a short movie demonstrating the function:

Note: If the tangent entity is not in the current sketch, you must add it to the sketch as a reference entity.

Create a circle that is tangental to a selected entity

Select the Circle tool .

The cursor appears in the graphical display area as a crosshair-and-circle .

Right-click to display the popup submenu, and select the Tangent option.

Click on an entity, and move the cursor away from it.

Note: Instead of using the popup submenu, you can click the entity when the tangent constraint is activated - a dashed cyan line. See Alignment with Existing Entities.

An image of a new tangent circle is displayed. A point on its circumference stays fixed to the entity. The cursor is at the center of the new circle.

You can define an additional constraint for the new circle.
Move the cursor. The new circle's radius and the tangency position change as you move the cursor.

Click to define the new circle.

Note: Dynamic constraint lines can help you position the new circle relative to the XY axis or other entities.

Note: After a circle is created using the Tangent option, the Center option is automatically selected again, ready to create a circle from its center. If you want to create another circle that is tangent to other entities, you must select the Tangent option again.