Explode Sketch Lines

Kate, when you first choose an edge or axis an arrow will show the direction the sketch line will follow. If it 'points' in the wrong direction ie away from the exploded part thats selected next then the line will reverse itself and look like its jogging all over the place, this direction can be adjusted in the route line options section. I always use the edges of holes to start and finish, BTW you don't need to select any other features along the path just the start and finish points. Another point to remember is that the line will jog if the part(s) have been exploded in more than one axis, the line lengths can be adjusted to give a better representation.

Kate, everything Bob wrote was correct about changing the Routing Arrows upon creation. Although I thought I would add one thing to that. While you in the 3D Explode sketcher, (and the routing line icon is shut off, by clicking it) You can drag ALL of your 3D sketch lines to arrange and neaten them for clarity if you have a busy assy.

Wentz

Sometimes jogs are unavoidable during initial definition, but it's possible to "edit" the explode lines after they are first generated.

Unwanted jogs (line entities) in the path can be deleted and the remaining entities can be trimmed to eachother to close the gap(s).