Obtain an Outline of a Part (overlay)
Obtain an Outline of a Part (overlay)
(OP)
I'm looking for a way to obtain an outline of a part for an overlay. A section won't work, because the geometry that is being sectioned off makes up a portion of the outline. For explanation purposes, imagine a shaft with external threads. The swept thread makes up part of the outline, so trying to convert the sketch lines forces you to select the complete helix. I also tried to hide tangent edges, which helps, but still shows lines through the middle of the body.
It would be nice to be able to extrude a body through a block (tried, too complex for solidworks). Or display outline option in the drawing.
Is there something else I should be trying?
It would be nice to be able to extrude a body through a block (tried, too complex for solidworks). Or display outline option in the drawing.
Is there something else I should be trying?






RE: Obtain an Outline of a Part (overlay)
In the drawing if you right click each of the thread lines you can hide them ( little vertical line icon with a black and grey line ) it might be tedious depending on the number of threads.
Also maybe you can create a surface to intersect through the section you need and then insert a combine feature ( common ) and save it off to a new part. hmmm I don't think I've ever tried to combine a solid feature and a surface before - no clue if it would even let you do that.
Or a thin feature cut and do an opposite side cut.
RE: Obtain an Outline of a Part (overlay)
Try using the Cavity Feature. Easy to embed a solid body into a block, which then can be cut to show the desired shape.
If you use a Section view, try turning on 'Display only cut faces' in the Property Manager
RE: Obtain an Outline of a Part (overlay)
If you use a Section view, try turning on 'Display only cut faces' in the Property Manager"
This does the same thing as if I just sectioned the part. Some of the "shadow" of the part is created by geometry of the thread that you would be removing by creating the section.
RE: Obtain an Outline of a Part (overlay)
RE: Obtain an Outline of a Part (overlay)
I haven't but its definitely worth a try. I'll let you know my results later today.
RE: Obtain an Outline of a Part (overlay)
You can also do a cut extrude, then simply sketch on the face and use convert entities to get the outline.
Deepak Gupta
CSWE, CSWP, CSDA
SW 2012 SP5.0 & 2013 SP 1.0
Boxer's SolidWorks™ Blog
SolidWorks™ Rendering Contest
RE: Obtain an Outline of a Part (overlay)
Thanks for this. I'll have to get my company to upgrade, so I can give it a try. Looks promising.