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Any one have any ideas on how to make a wire?

Any one have any ideas on how to make a wire?

Any one have any ideas on how to make a wire?

(OP)
I'm brand spankin new to solidworks and I've just been given a little "project."  I'm trying to do a layout for a presentation and part of it calls for me to show a wire running through the various parts of the assembly.  The wireline then splits apart and wraps back around a cone at the end of the assembly.  I'm sure I can fudge the wire when it is a single piece, but I'm not sure about the rest (it splits into 12 evenly spaced wires 30 degrees apart)  I was thinking of some sort of an array function or something, but I'm quite lost as to how to accomplish this thing.  Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks
mae1778

RE: Any one have any ideas on how to make a wire?

Mae1778,  I would read-up on 3D Curves if you have to route this wire in more than 2 planes (X,Y).

If it is going to stay on one plane, and then splint into 12 segments, you could do a Circular Pattern at the point where it splits.  You would have your "root" wire a certain length as one feature, then your "branch" wire as another feature.  Then you would apply a Circular Pattern to that "branch" feature to make the other 11 features.

As far as making the wire, the easiest way would be to draw the centerline of your wire, then Sweep-Extrude the wire diameter the length of the centerline.

"Happy the Hare at morning for she is ignorant to the Hunter's waking thoughts."

RE: Any one have any ideas on how to make a wire?

mae1778,

Madmango is 100% correct!  3D Sketch is the way to go.  You can use either regular sketch entities such as lines and fillets.  Or you can use a 3D spline.  in either case, you can add some constraints (mostly tangent and colinear) so that your wires start and stop correctly, like in a terminal.  By using a Sweep and the 3D sketch as the centerline, you can route your wires any which way.  If you do it right (some practice is needed), you can have multiple locations for the part where the wire ends.  This way, after each rebuild, you can see where the wire will rest if one of your parts moves.

Don

Don Shoebridge
Dayton, Ohio
The birthplace of aviation
Check out my webpage
www.geocities.com/donshoebridge

RE: Any one have any ideas on how to make a wire?

I made a lot of wires using 3D sketch...in fact I miss not doing it anymore. I enjoyed the challenge wires gave me. I recently made a power cord for an Aquarium filter I designed at home. So if you need help in using 3D sketch let me know and I'll help.

Best Regards,
Scott Baugh, CSWP

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