i'm curious if anyone has created or knows of a reference about the different ways to make datums?
example: offset angled datum planes (disclaimer: i don't know if this is the best way, just giving an example)
- click datum plane, leave window open
- click axis datum
- create offset axis to be used for plane rotation
- Accept creation of axis
- the axis should be preselected for the plane creation
- Select a reference datum
- enter rotation angle
- accept creation of plane
i had started a notebook as I came across creative ones but i lost it. 
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It means I need to get a real life!
I am still very conflicted about making internal datums to features. On the one hand, I like a clean feature tree and on the other, I don't like having these things locked up by one feature.
As for your direct question, I might try to use an earlier feature to establish the axis for a datum plane to assigned to. Any extrude with a geometry point will generate an axis for me. I can also place geometry points in sketches for a datum reference at a later time. I guess it all depends on just how many superfluous planes or axes I need to create to get the end result. Whatever I choose to do, I usually regret it later anyway. So for me, a skeleton type sketch(es) to maintain my intent is the easiest way to manage highly dependent models that are in flux as the design evolves. If I hadn't committed to drawings yet, I will usually allow time to clean up the models for better sustainability.
