SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [164]
Note
The Consume Cut Bodies option deletes any bodies involved in the Split feature. For most purposes, you should deselect this option. Deselecting the option makes sure that the bodies are still available after the Split feature. If you want to eliminate the bodies once they are saved out, then you should select the Consume Cut Bodies option.
4. To automatically create an assembly with all the components located in the proper location, right-click the Split feature in the Master Model FeatureManager, and select Create Assembly. Multiple Split features can be included in this command if bodies have been created by multiple Split features. Click the Browse button to locate and name the new assembly. Click OK when you are done. Completing this step opens the assembly that you just named and located. When you create the assembly, the parts appear but may not be displayed in the FeatureManager until you have saved and reopened the assembly file. You should still have access to the data through the RMB menu from the graphics window.
5. Right-click one of the parts in the assembly to open it. Notice that a Stock feature is used in the tree, so it is possible to access the parent part and change the parent part configuration used in the current part. Right-click the Stock feature and select Edit In Context.
6. With the master model open, right-click the Split feature and select Edit Feature. From here, it is possible to see where each of the child parts is located.
7. If you rename any of the documents, then you should do this by using either SolidWorks Explorer or the Save As command with the other documents open as well. If you want to rename the parent part (master model), then make sure that all the child parts are open as well. (You can easily do this by opening the assembly; although the assembly was created from the master model, there is no direct link between the Split feature and the assembly.)
8. Save and close all the files before proceeding.
To work with the Save Bodies function, follow these steps:
1. As before, create a copy of the original master model part and rename the copy Save Bodies Tutorial.
2. Open the renamed copy, and right-click the Solid Bodies folder. Select Save Bodies from the menu. (Save Bodies has its own icon, which looks like the Split icon and is used to denote the placeholder feature in the FeatureManager.)
3. Use the Save Bodies PropertyManager to save the solid bodies out to separate files. (This interface is nearly identical to the lower section of the Split PropertyManager.) The major addition in the Save Bodies dialog box is that the Create Assembly function is directly within the PropertyManager. The primary benefit of this addition is that it retains the name and path of the assembly in this interface so that you can look it up later if necessary.
Note
In both the Split/Create Assembly and Save Bodies features, when you create an assembly, SolidWorks may rebuild the tree of the part as many times as you have bodies to save out. This may take some time for a complex model with a lot of bodies.
4. Open the reconstructed assembly. Right-click one of the parts and select Open Part to open it in its own window. Notice that the Stock feature has again been used to push a single body into the part.
5. Right-click the Stock feature and select Edit In Context, which takes you back to the master model.
6. Save and close all of the files.
Summary
Each of these four functions has strengths and weaknesses. The Insert Part feature is probably the most flexible of them, mainly because of the additional items you can bring forward from the parent