Mirrored Parts In Assembly Files??

[ongybill]

I'm haveing very erratic results mirroring parts in assemblies, and am hoping others have some tips.

Example, I have been drawing a computer workstation that is a countertop set on top of 2 nearly identical 19" rack mount cabinets. I built one side, then mirrored many of the components to the other side. But, a couple of the components not only mirrored, but flipped over as well. Example, the back panel has louvers in it. On the original part the louvers point down as desired, but on the mirrored part they point up. So it not only mirrors on the plane selected, but also on a plane that is perpendicular to the selected plane??? Most parts worked as expected, even those that were mirrored at the same time.

Also, the recreate mates checkbox seldom creates any mates, so parts are in the right location but not mated to anything. Which means I have to manually recreate all the mates, thus losing most of the time saved by mirroring in the first place.

Any suggestions? Or, should I just do as my supervisor suggests and simply accept that mirroring sucks in SW and quit using it? I really hate to lose such useful and basic functionality if it's just something I'm doing wrong and can fix; but between recreating the mates and double checking that every part mirrored correctly it's actually taking more time then if I just reassembled the parts for the 2nd cabinet in their mirrored locations.

 

[dsgnr1]

thread559-113475

dsgnr1

¿)

To get the best from these forums read FAQ731-376 before posting

 

[drawoh]

ongybill,

The forum listed above is correct about the new, mirrored component not being located by anything. You have to apply constraints.

How do your fabrication drawings work? This catches so many people by surprise.

When I do a sheet metal fabrication drawing, I link it to an assembly model, not a part. I link the part model to the assembly. I link the assembly model to the actual assembly, in this case, your rack.

Now I can attach thread inserts, and itemize them on the fabrication drawing in a material list. The same goes for tabs, gusset and other attachments that must be welded or riveted by the fabricator. The same goes for the rivets.

If the two sides of my rack are mirrored, I want one drawing that says there is an RH version as shown, and an LH part that is opposite.

To get the mirrored part, I mirror the sheet metal part at the sheet metal assembly level. I create two configurations of the sheet metal assembly. The rack assembly calls up one instance each of the two tabulations.

You still have to constrain the mirrored parts. You will have to attach each thead inserts manually in each configuration. The fastener patterns do not work on mirrored parts, at least on SW2003.

At the rack assembly level, the fastener patterns can be made to work, but you will have to plan a little.

At this point, you have an assembly drawing that calls up one instance each of a tabulated part. You have one drawing that describes two parts that are opposite to each other. You modify the one drawing and both parts, by changing one part model.

JHG

 

[ongybill]

Thanks for the input guys. Good thread I've read it before.

Again, anyone have any idea why some of the parts aren't mirroring correctly? Anyone ever have this problem before, or is it just something particular to my model???

I've experimented some more. The drawer sub-assembly mirrors incorrectly in any assembly drawing. The back panel Part mirrors correctly if placed into another assembly drawing. Both were drawn as SW parts. Neither show any errors. It's only when I mirror them that they have problems.


drawoh good input, though I'm not sure I understand everything your talking about. I get wanting a LH & RH part, and complete parts lists, but am not sure what you mean when you say: <When I do a sheet metal fabrication drawing, I link it to an assembly model, not a part. I link the part model to the assembly. I link the assembly model to the actual assembly, in this case, your rack.>

 

[ctopher]

ongybill,
I have seen this problem before and turned it into my VAR. They said they don't know why it does it and said they will turn in to SW. That was a few months ago.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[ongybill]

Thanks Chris.

I seem to have a knack for having SW do strange things, getting errors nobody else here has ever seen, ect., so it's always nice to know it's not just me.

 

[SBaugh]

This is an example of when you need to turn this in too Ongybill. If you don't turn this into SW, then you can't complain about the bug or problem.... because if it's never turned in, the slower it will get fixed. Hopefully my typing this is a waste of my time, because you have already turned the issue into SW?

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[ongybill]

Hey Scott,

I'll do that. SW's website says to turn problems in to the VAR, so I need to find out who that is so I can send it in.

 

[SBaugh]

Yes you need to go through your VAR, they are also helpful when you have questions about the software, that is if you have Subscription support.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376