Building models from imported surfaces
Building models from imported surfaces
(OP)
This is a sort of general "how to proceed" question regarding building new models from already existing solid models.
We make parts for shotguns, so what we will typically do is send a shotgun platform out to a service bureau to get a 3D solid model of it back. Then we can use the solid model as a basis on which to build the new parts.
When the solid model is saved as a SolidWorks part, it appears in the feature tree as one or more imported surfaces.
The most straightforward way for a noob to start making a new part is to use the Convert Entities tool to sketch surface details and shapes to match the shotgun solid model. This works very well, and before you know it you have yourself a 3D solid model of a new part.
The problem is, the imported surfaces are still in the model. And you can't delete them, because the sketches from which you made your part need the imported surfaces as references (from using the Convert Entities tool).
What would be a better procedure for using the imported surfaces to make sketches to build solid features, one that didn't depend on the existence of the imported features in the model description?
In the illustration below, the tan model is the imported surface, and the green is the 3D solid model I'm building on the imported surface.
We make parts for shotguns, so what we will typically do is send a shotgun platform out to a service bureau to get a 3D solid model of it back. Then we can use the solid model as a basis on which to build the new parts.
When the solid model is saved as a SolidWorks part, it appears in the feature tree as one or more imported surfaces.
The most straightforward way for a noob to start making a new part is to use the Convert Entities tool to sketch surface details and shapes to match the shotgun solid model. This works very well, and before you know it you have yourself a 3D solid model of a new part.
The problem is, the imported surfaces are still in the model. And you can't delete them, because the sketches from which you made your part need the imported surfaces as references (from using the Convert Entities tool).
What would be a better procedure for using the imported surfaces to make sketches to build solid features, one that didn't depend on the existence of the imported features in the model description?
In the illustration below, the tan model is the imported surface, and the green is the 3D solid model I'm building on the imported surface.






RE: Building models from imported surfaces
"Delete bodies" appears as a feature in the feature manager. You can suppress, delete, or roll back before the delete bodies feature and your bodies return. Features referencing the bodies before they were deleted in the feature tree retain associativity.
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RE: Building models from imported surfaces
RE: Building models from imported surfaces
(Alternately in your case it looks like you might get some killer results with FeatureWorks which works great with prismatic surfaces)
RE: Building models from imported surfaces
Thanks. Perhaps it's because I am still getting acquainted with SoldiWorks, but for some reason I experience difficulties sketching while in an assembly...
RE: Building models from imported surfaces
Voila - your new part will then have no link to the model with the imported surfaces!
RE: Building models from imported surfaces
RE: Building models from imported surfaces
Holy cow, this might be the Holy Grail...
RE: Building models from imported surfaces
One other thing - when you first insert your new part in to the assembly, DON'T drop it on to a face of the surface model instead drop it on to one of the principal planes (Front, Top, Right)
As you are going along, any features that have an external reference will be dispalyed with a -> beside them in the feature manager. If you don't have any of these, your new part has no relation to the surface model.
RE: Building models from imported surfaces
Not being able to extrude a boss probably means you're sketching in the assembly, and not int the part. In the assembly, right-click on the part you want to edit and select "edit<partname>". This is editing in-context. In the context of the assembly, that is.