Problem with OSNAP to tangent

[Valiance]

Hi, I'm having a problem with OSNAP and am not sure what I'm doing wrong. As you can see from the attached photo, I am using offset to create a parallel line to the one selected (the leftmost line) that I am trying to place tangent to the circle in the center. However, the tangent snap points (which should be visible in the picture) aren't working properly and cause the line to snap to a position inside the circle rather than tangent to it.

 

My command process is offset -> through -> select line -> select TAN onsnap option -> hover over circle near desired tangent point.

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Valiance]

I figured out a different way to do this by creating a perpendicular line from the original line to the center of the circle to find the snap point for the offset line, which solves the immediate problem, but I would still appreciate advice on what I was doing wrong with the tangent feature or if the program doesn't allow me to use offset and tangent in that manner

[dan20047]

not sure if this answers the question, but two options:

set UCS to line, use Quadrant snap on circle

 

or

 

draw XLINE and use tangent snap on two circles to hit the one spot that works (there are really 4 possible tangent lines between any two circles)

 

Dan

[eldon]

Sometimes the OSNAPS don't work as you want them to.

 

For example, if you break your target circle, so that it becomes an arc, then you could use the Perpendicular osnap to offset through.

 

Curiously, that technique does not work to a circle.

[steven-g]

Try using the perpendicular OSNAP picking the line first and then the circle (also perp). I only did a quick test but it worked on a sample I tried

[RobDraw]

AutoCAD is finding a tangent point in relation to some point on the original line. I'm guessing it is the point where you picked the line. There isn't a way to tell AutoCAD that you want the copy of your line to be tangent to the circle. As you figured out, a little simple geometry solves it for you.