×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Casting and machining drawings
10

Casting and machining drawings

Casting and machining drawings

(OP)
Not sure how to do this: I have a solid model of a casting completed. I would like to make a copy of it and add all the machining features, which involves removing material from several surfaces and drilling a lot of holes. The question is, can these two models be linked, so that making a casting change will show up in the machined part?

Thanks,
John Woodward

RE: Casting and machining drawings

They can be linked.  It does require that they reside in the same assembly file.  Use "Insert --> Join" when editing the new (machined) part file in context of an assembly that also has the raw casting.

An alternative might be to have multiple configurations in one part file for raw casting and finished product.

"An object at rest can not be stopped."
http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

RE: Casting and machining drawings

Just make an assy with the casting and cut-remove material.

RE: Casting and machining drawings

How about a file with (2) configurations.  Casting and Machined

RE: Casting and machining drawings

Gee, whiz, ctopher! I like that idea.  That way there is no extra file to manage.  If all you do is remove material, that should work.

The only disadvantage I see is thet one is limited to cut with extrude and revolve only.

"An object at rest can not be stopped."
http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

RE: Casting and machining drawings

3
I would create another part, the machined part (this reflects the real MRP in my company).

The first feature in this part is an INSERT PART (inserting the casted part).

Then all the features riquired for machining are added.

All modifications in the casted part will be reflected on the machined part. But an inspection to the machined part should be performed. The modifications on the casted part can cause machining features do fail.

Regards

RE: Casting and machining drawings

Thanks Scott. All you can do in an assy is remove material, which is what you would do from a casting anyway. And the casting model is always referenced with the machining model assy. And you can still have separate dwgs for the casting and machining. One more point, pay attention to where the cuts are started. For example, if you offset a plane from one of the main planes in the machining assy, and you change a casting feature, it is possible a machining feature will not update. Hope I made sense. Good luck

RE: Casting and machining drawings

5
It is more approrpiate to use the Base Part approach.  Open a new part file that will be your machined version.  Then use Insert-->Part and select the file that is your molded part.  Now your first "feature" is the casting.  From here you can add all your machining features.  I usually make sure all my new features, which are usualy cuts, are a different color from the base part.

This Base Part feature was specifically designed for this purpose.  If you change the base part (the casting) it will show up and will precede any features you create in the machined part file.

- - -Dennyd

RE: Casting and machining drawings

Dennyd, good idea ... I have not created one that way, but that will also work.

RE: Casting and machining drawings

Use a derived configuration. That way each config is linked.

RE: Casting and machining drawings

     I wholeheartedly agree with Dennyd.  IMO the base part approach is the best way to go.  We use that here all the time - I have instructed all our users on this method as part of a best practice approach.  We use PDMWorks and I like having different parts and as separate entities from a data management perspective.

RE: Casting and machining drawings

I must confess, if I had known about the Base Part feature, I would have recommended it.  Another star for Dennyd for teaching me something new.

"An object at rest can not be stopped."
http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

RE: Casting and machining drawings

If you use a base part you have to be aware that your two parts are now in-context.  You have to be careful that the base part is never updated independently of the "machined" part (and vice versa).  

Also - if you ever want to make a copy of the machined part (to give it a new part number), you have to re-create the base part.  If you just copy the machined part, it will be referencing the base part of the original.

We use a machining configuration in an assembly for precisely these reasons.

RE: Casting and machining drawings

Hey guys ... not to belittle Dennyd's good tip ... but if you look 2 posts prior to his you will see that macPT had suggested exactly the same!

RE: Casting and machining drawings

Configurations are still the most correct and easiest way to achieve this.

RE: Casting and machining drawings

I'm with you rockguy ... I would, & have, used configurations for similar situations. I don't have a PDM system to contend with, so it justs make more sense to me to deal with one file ... but each to their own.
That's one of the beautys of SW ... there are usually several ways to solve a problem ... each having its own merits for a particular users situation.

RE: Casting and machining drawings

Thanks CBL for noticing my post. As you say, there can be several ways to solve a SW problem and, for almost all cases, is not possible do say each one is better. For this case, I would say that:
easiest way - configurations
"real" thing (at least for my company) - 2 parts, the machined part starting as a base part of the casted part

engAlright
"be aware that your two parts are now in-context". Yes, but they are really in-context. You can't modify one without verify the consequences in the other. That's the real thing.
"if you ever want to make a copy of the machined part (to give it a new part number), you have to re-create the base part". Why is that? Can't you give a different part numbers to each part?

Regards

RE: Casting and machining drawings

Kudos to MacPT as well,

    Another benefit we enjoy with the base part is the ability to use the geometry compare in SolidWorks Utilities to review all the material removed between the casting and machining part files.  We do this during the checking phase and consider it a very handy tool.  We save the results of the compare out to another file where we can take measurements to look at the nominal amount of material we plan to remove from the casting.

RE: Casting and machining drawings

CBL,

macPT's post and mine are essentially the same.  His wasn't there as I was writing mine.  He must have hit SUBMIT just before me.

As the above posts indicate there are several ways to approach this situation.  I love the ease of configurations and use them a ton.  However, for this scenario the Base Part option is also appropriate.  We have the situation where we buy a die cast part and then machine it into several different finished parts.  For this we will use the die cast part as the Base Part for the machined part file.  Our machined part file might have several different configurations to represent the various finished parts.  It works cleanly and smoothly for us.

- - -Dennyd

RE: Casting and machining drawings

There are definetely pros and cons to each method.  

We use PDMWorks which forces you to be "clean" when working with in-context parts.

MacPT,
Consider the case where I have a part in-context of a base part, now I want to create a new part with a new number based on that base part.  If I take a copy of the existing part, that part is still in-context of the original part.  

How do you make changes to 2 parts independently of each other if they are both related to the same base part?  This is especially troublesome if the parts become very different in shape - you would end up having to re-create the part from scratch to "detach" it. Also - if one of those parts is made obsolete while changes are being made to the base part (for use in other parts) you are actually making changes to an obsoleted part.

That being said, these problems are manageable if you are careful and know how to handle them.

RE: Casting and machining drawings

All good points. With PDMWorks, the best way for us to achieve this is with an assy. We never have an issue with updating the casting and machining separately. Nothing is in context.

RE: Casting and machining drawings

(OP)
Thanks everyone for all the replies. I started a new part and inserted the casting, then added several machining operations (by extruding the material away) and changed the color as was suggested. Works great. The casting is still being designed, and the machined part keeps right up with it. I think I will also work on the drawing views at the same time.

By the way, this is not a new design. It is an old pencil drawing of a complex casting and the foundries will not quote the part without a cad drawing. The other guys are using Autocad to draw every view and section.

John Woodward

RE: Casting and machining drawings

Guys and Gals,
I just read back though this thread and notice that MacPT beat me to the punch as far as far inserting the casting into a new part and machining with a different color (I perfer casting gray in color and red for the machine cuts)I like the contrast.

Anyways...........There's a one thing I want to add that been bothering me with PDMWorks. When checking into the vault, the casting is not listed with the machining. It tags it at the end of that project folder. Why is this? The files are still there when you check it out, but not listed in the PDM.

    

Macduff
Meggitt Airdynamics Inc.
Dell Precision 370
SW2004 Pro SP4.1
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1300

RE: Casting and machining drawings

macduff,

   I have been trying to get SolidWorks to fix this for a few years now.  SolidWorks Explorer actually shows the base part underneath the make from part, as expected and as any normal ERP/MRP would categorize them.  PDMWorks does not do this and in fact places them at the end of the project folder as you mentioned.  PDMWorks still knows that the two are related if you look at the where used and reference info for each.  I have written to Joy Pineau, PDMWorks product manager, about this and mentioned it on the Beta discussion forum for 2005.  I have also submitted several enhancement requests all to no avail.  Keep trying and maybe we'll see it someday.  Its really annoying to me and especially to my co-workers.  It just never makes it onto the top list of priorities for the next release.

Pete Yodis
Harold Beck and Sons

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources