You don’t need to create a sketch in order to cut a part at a datum plane. All you have to do is this.

1. Click Feature, Create, Cut, Use Quilt or Insert, Cut, Use Quilt.
2. Instead of picking a quilt, select a plane (such as Top in Fig. 1).
3. You then have the choice of removing side 1 or side 2 (as shown in Fig. 2).

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Erik Sherwood is a mechanical engineer at Advanced Design Inc. in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He can be reached by e-mail at esherwood@adsca.com.