Detailing of non-circular parts.

[aepeszel]

I am looking into other 3d cad for work. When we detail in 2D we have a large number of vertical members, square or rectangular, which have centerlines to aid in dimensioning and punching of mating pieces.

Tried to do this in Inventor9, but it would require a vba to properly make.Other work arounds for Inventor negate the use of 3D.

Can solidworks be set up with the centerlines for these parts and have them carried over when made by arrays?

What we want in the end is the CLs on the drawings automatically laid out with minimal work, which we can dimension to.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Unfortunately SW cannot currently do this either. (that I know of). It can be done via API or VB, but you've already stated that's not what you want.

There are several workarounds ...

Create an axis in the parts & individually show them in the drawing or place a centreline in each part in the drawing. Neither of these would be good if there are many verticals.

Probably the simplest workaround, that I can think of, is to create a "layout" sketch (or sketches) in the assy which has lines representing the vertical member centrelines & show that sketch in the drawing.

Hopefully others here may know of a better solution.


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[smcadman]

If you want to dimension square and rectangular punches to their centers, all you have to do is create the punches as palette features.
Next, on your drawing sheet, use the "hole table" tool to automatically pick the centerlines of the punches. This will work on either a single part, or the complete assembly, but the downside is that you have to pick the face of each part in the assembly to collect the hole data. (not really a problem if there only a few parts that you have to choose).

P.S., The quickest way to create a rectangular or square punch is to pick the "slot" feature in the design library, then right-click it and choose "Open". Next, save-as copy, and save it to a desired name. Next, just delete the arcs, close the shape with lines, and dimension it.

Takes every bit of 1 minute to create and save a new palette feature this way. Just remember to hit the "refresh" button in the design library to update it.

Flores

 

[ctopher]

In SolidWorks, when creating features to be arrayed, create the sketches with centerlines. Then when creating array, select "show sketches" and you will see the arrayed part with the CL for reference.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site

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[CorBlimeyLimey]

ctopher ... Do the centrelines show in the drawing? If so, was that a new feature of SW05? It does not work in SW04. The assy model shows the centrelines no problem, but they do not show in the drawing.


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[aepeszel]

I was looking for it in the drawing but it doesn't show. Wish I had SW I would try these methods. Thanks y'all.

 

[ctopher]

In 2005, if I create a sketch on the part with centerlines and on the dwg "show sketches", the CL shows.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site

FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716