SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [177]
FIGURE 20.32
The PropertyManager for the Mirror feature in Step 28
Note
An easy way to select all the bodies is to use the flyout FeatureManager, select the first body in the list, and Shift+select the last body.
29. Select the Combine feature (Insert⇒Feature⇒Combine), and set it to Add. Select the two 10-foot sections and the two smaller 1-foot sections to combine them into a single continuous body. Click OK to accept the feature. Also hide the 3D sketch.
30. Right-click the Cut List folder, and select Update. Figure 20.33 shows before and after images of the Cut List folder.
31. Right-click the folder for the large-diameter cross member and select Properties. Change the Description field to read Support Pod Members.
32. Use the Create Drawing From Part/Assembly button on the Standard toolbar to make a drawing. Place Front, Bottom, and isometric views, and then press the Esc key to quit placing views.
FIGURE 20.33
The Cut List folder in Step 30
33. Select one of the views and then choose Insert⇒Table⇒Weldment Cut List. When the PropertyManager displays, select the options that you want and click OK. Then place the table.
34. Click inside the Bottom view, and from the Annotations toolbar, click Auto-Balloon. The finished drawing looks like Figure 20.34.
FIGURE 20.34
The finished drawing
Note
Relative views are difficult to create with round pipe rather than a rectangular tube, although you can use planes as references for relative views.
Summary
Weldments are based on either a single 3D frame sketch or a set of 2D sketches, usually denoting the centerlines or edges of the various structural elements. This creates a special type of part in the same way that the Sheet Metal commands create a special type of part. Structural profiles are placed on the frame sketch to propagate and create individual bodies for the separate pieces of the weldment. Custom profiles are easily created as library features; you can add custom properties to the library features, and the custom properties then propagate to the cut lists.
Chapter 21: Using Mold Tools
In This Chapter
Understanding SolidWorks' capabilities with mold geometry
Using Mold Tools manually
Mold geometry is one of the most difficult things to visualize. To make a mold for a plastic part, you have to be able to envision putting air where you want plastic and putting steel where you want air. You have to visualize your parts inside out, and in such a way that you can get each part out of the steel. SolidWorks Mold Tools help you with the visualization by providing a process for creating cavity and core blocks from the model of a plastic part. The process does not guarantee that the parts are manufacturable; you still need experience in the trade for that.
The SolidWorks Mold Tools give you a process by which you can take plastic parts and split cavity and core blocks for them, as well as additional core pins or slides. This process is usually not 100 percent automated, and often requires manual intervention. The overall process works, but users often find that they want to develop a hybrid system incorporating SolidWorks tools and their own techniques.
To work with the tools in this chapter, you need to understand how surfaces work. Features such as the Boundary surface, knit, trim, and others are covered in a basic way in the SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible, (Wiley 2011) and are covered in much detail in the SolidWorks Surfacing and Complex Shape Modeling Bible (Wiley, 2008).
Manual methods also exist by which you can choose your own features to create the same cavity and core block. This chapter introduces you to both the formal Mold Tools process and the less formal mold splitting methods used throughout the industry.
Working with the Mold Tools Process
The goal of the Mold Tools process is to produce a single, continuous surface body (the parting surface)