SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [173]
You can access the Update command by right-clicking the Cut List folder and selecting it from the RMB menu. Figure 20.16 shows the result of the update. The weldment solid bodies are broken down further into subfolders that reflect quantities of identical bodies. Notice that the weld beads at the bottom of the list are not in a folder.
FIGURE 20.16
The cut list in the model FeatureManager
Note
You can assign different materials to bodies within a part in SolidWorks. SolidWorks does not account for weldability of different materials.
Using Cut-List Properties
In addition to the custom properties for the document, SolidWorks weldments also make use of Cut-List Properties. You can access Cut-List Properties by right-clicking a Cut List Item folder (other than the top-level Cut List folder) at the top of the FeatureManager and selecting Properties. The Cut-List Properties may not be available for a newly created weldment until you have updated the cut list (right-click the top-level Cut List icon and select Update).
Figure 20.17 shows the Cut-List Properties dialog box, which allows users to enter data such as length and material for BOMs and cut lists.
Notice the Properties Summary tab, which enables you to look at each property, and see what the values for each cut list item are. You would select a property such as Description, and then assign descriptions for each cut list item, and then go on to the next property, say Material, and assign values for that property.
FIGURE 20.17
Use the Cut-List Properties to enter relevant data for BOMs and cut lists.
The Cut List Table tab shows you a preview of the cut list and enables you to use cut list templates that might have different default columns established. Figure 20.18 shows the Cut List Table tab of the Cut-List Properties dialog box.
FIGURE 20.18
The Cut List Table tab previews the cut list for you and gives you the opportunity to edit values in the table.
As Figure 20.18 shows, you may need to enter information for items added to the weldment such as end caps or gussets.
Excluding and reordering cut list items
To exclude a feature in the FeatureManager from the cut list, you can select Exclude from cut list from the feature's RMB menu. The next time the cut list is updated, the members that were created by that feature will be listed at the bottom of the Cut List folder with the weld beads. To include the item again in the cut list, select Include in cut list from the feature's RMB menu and update the cut list again. Figure 20.19 shows a folder that has been excluded from the cut list.
FIGURE 20.19
Excluding an item from a cut list
Only entire cut list item folders can be eliminated from the cut list, not individual bodies. To reorder items in the cut list, just drag and drop the folder to where you want it to be in the list.
Using weld beads and fillet beads in weldments and assemblies
In SolidWorks 2011, there is a difference between a fillet bead and a weld bead. All of the weld functionality is new in 2011, and the Fillet Bead feature is a new tool on the Weldment toolbar. Some of the tools from the Weldments CommandManager tab are shown in Figure 20.20 to help you identify the names with the icons.
FIGURE 20.20
Differentiating the Fillet Bead feature from the Weld Bead feature
The Fillet Bead feature creates actual solid geometry, which shows up in a weldment part as a feature. Figure 20.21 shows the Fillet Bead features in the FeatureManager and the actual fillet bead between a plate and a Structural Member.
FIGURE 20.21
The Fillet Bead feature in the FeatureManager and on the part
To create a weld in an assembly, you still use the Weld Bead tool, just as you did prior to SolidWorks