×
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

Square Holes

Square Holes

Square Holes

(OP)
I am currently making a sheet metal part with Multiple square holes (for various size carriage bolts) and I am having some dimensioning issues. I would like to add dimensions in the drawing to the center of the square hole like a normal round hole but have not figured out how. Smart Dimension always goes to one of the sides or corners but does not allow the ability to pick the center point of a line or hole. Also, when I am creating the model, I would like to be able to locate the holes by the center point and not a corner or edge. I have searched through the forum as well as SolidWorks help to no avail.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!

RE: Square Holes

I've always just drawn in the centerlines on the drawing with the line command (using the centerline type).  Perhaps someone else has a better suggestion.
 

RE: Square Holes

V8280Z,

   To dimension to the centre of a rectangular or square hole, use the Center-Line feature.  When you click on the opposite edges, it places a centre-line in the middle.   

               JHG

RE: Square Holes

You can also create the hole with a point at its center in the sketch then show the sketches in the drawing.  They are easy to pick and dimension to and then you can even hide the sketches.

- - -Updraft

RE: Square Holes

(OP)
Thanks for the different ideas, I have tried some of these methods in the past, I wanted to make sure there wasn't some simple setting that I had just overlooked that would make it easy to "click" the center.

RE: Square Holes

If you create your square sketches for the holes as polygons (Tools->Sketch Entities->Polygon I think) with 4 sides, they will be created with a constrained, inscribed (or circumscribed, whichever you want) circle of construction geometry.  Then you can pick the circle or its centerpoint.

-handleman, CSWP (The new, easy test)

RE: Square Holes

V8,
you can also RMC on a line and select midpoint

Frank

RE: Square Holes

I haven't tried this - but can you do it with a Forming Tool?
(that is how another program I use works - punches are placed and dimensioned by centerpoint)

RE: Square Holes

I did a library feature using a center point rectangle as a basis. You can sort of kind of do this as a hole wizard method by laying out the centers in a sketch on a face with points and then dropping the library features on the points.  

TOP
CSWP, BSSE
www.engtran.com  www.niswug.org
www.linkedin.com/in/engineeringtransport
Phenom IIx6 1100T = 8GB = FX1400 = XP64SP2 = SW2009SP3
"Node news is good news."

RE: Square Holes

You can use center rectangle instead of normal rectangle to get the centerline or draw a construction line on diag and put point at the midpoint to dimension to. you can show the sketch on the drawing to dimension it or in your sketch to bring it in by showing Feature Dimension in the drawing.

Michael

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