Solidworks drawing Dimensioning
Solidworks drawing Dimensioning
(OP)
Dear Folks;
I have modelled a bent railroad track in solidworks 2003 shaped like a giant "C". While I was measuring the existing piece in the field I took a measurement on the rail centerline from one end of the C shape to the other.
Having drawn the piece I would like to duplicate that dimension for checking purposes. But I have not been able to get the solidworks dimension to snap to the intersection point of the rail centerline and the end of the rail. I have had to use autocad to do that.
Is there some way to exercise more control over what SW dimensions snap to. Or am I overlooking some basic drawing techniques here.
Best Regards
Adrian D.
I have modelled a bent railroad track in solidworks 2003 shaped like a giant "C". While I was measuring the existing piece in the field I took a measurement on the rail centerline from one end of the C shape to the other.
Having drawn the piece I would like to duplicate that dimension for checking purposes. But I have not been able to get the solidworks dimension to snap to the intersection point of the rail centerline and the end of the rail. I have had to use autocad to do that.
Is there some way to exercise more control over what SW dimensions snap to. Or am I overlooking some basic drawing techniques here.
Best Regards
Adrian D.






RE: Solidworks drawing Dimensioning
You can dimension an arc by selecting its end points and then the arc itself.
You probably know how to dimension a straight line.
A spline is more complicated. Fortunately, meintsi posted a link to solve this in anoter thread:
http://www.dynabits.com/sw/spliner.htm
This is a free download that plugs into SW. By the way, I found the on-line instructions for this to be a tad vague. Unzip the contents of the downloaded Zip file on your hard drive somewhere. Grab the *.dll file and drop it on your SolidWorks.exe file. My SW opened, then closed. Then I was able to open SW and choose the Tools > Add-ins and find spliner in the list.
Hope this helps,
Jeff Mowry
DesignHaus Industrial Design
http://www.designhaus-i-d.com
RE: Solidworks drawing Dimensioning
Hope this helps
Best regards,
Jay
RE: Solidworks drawing Dimensioning
Timelord
RE: Solidworks drawing Dimensioning
Thats exactly what I ended up doing, now, is it possible to hide that line so it wont show up in the final drawing ?
Thanks Jay and Jeff for your input but perhaps I did not make myself clear, I don't need to dimension any arc's or splines.
I am just trying to replicate the dimensioning practices that have been used on railroad drawings for decades.
Best Regards
Adrian D.
RE: Solidworks drawing Dimensioning
In the 3D model, right click on the sketch and choose Hide Sketch.
Jesus is THE life,
Leonard
RE: Solidworks drawing Dimensioning
I understood that you were in a drawing file, so there is no 3D model or sketch listed in a feature tree to hide, only drawing views.
I simply put the line in an area where I can drag the extension line completely over it, or grab the endpoints of the line and move it under the extension line so it does not show.
Timelord