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This is where the story begins for the medical device example. If you are following along:

1. Add a Scale feature to the Mold Tools medical device part, using uniform scale, and a scale factor of 1.05.

2. Scale the part about the origin. Figure 21.5 shows the FeatureManager and PropertyManager for the new feature.

FIGURE 21.5

Adding a Scale feature to start the Mold Tools process

Inserting Mold folders

The first step in the process of using SolidWorks Mold Tools is to insert Mold folders. Mold folders are folders in the FeatureManager that the Mold Tools add underneath the Surface Bodies folders. You can add these folders manually using the Insert Mold Folders button on the Mold Tools toolbar. They are used to organize the different groups of faces used in separating the cavity and core solid bodies. The folders that are added are shown in Figure 21.6.

FIGURE 21.6

Adding the Mold Tools folders to the Surface Bodies folder

Parting lines

The Parting Lines feature identifies (semi-automatically or manually) the edges that separate the cavity faces from the core faces. If you are following along and want to perform this part of the process while reading, follow these steps:

1. Click the Parting Lines toolbar icon in the Mold Tools toolbar.

2. With the first selection box in the Mold Parameters panel active, select the Right (YZ) plane, and make sure the arrow is pointing in the direction of pull for the inside of the part, as shown in Figure 21.7.

3. Set the draft angle to 1 degree, which is the minimum angle allowed for this mold. In practice, the minimum draft applied to this mold is 1 degree, so you could use .5 degree here.

FIGURE 21.7

Setting the mold parameters for the parting lines

You should have done the draft analysis already before getting to this point so that you are not depending on this analysis to make sure everything is okay. For example, this draft analysis inside the Parting Line PropertyManager cannot tell you how many faces need draft.

4. Select an edge that is between a green and red face. The wavy edge along the finger grip area is a good one. SolidWorks cannot identify the parting line as the set of all edges that share green and red faces, so you will perform this step semi-automatically.

The easiest way to do this is to click the wavy edge, and then click the Propagate tag that appears as shown in Figure 21.8.

This propagating selection should select all of the parting line edges automatically, and it does, but in the example shown in Figure 21.9, it also selects some redundant edges. SolidWorks labels the redundant edges on the screen to help you see which ones need to be deselected. Notice that the message box at the top of the Parting Line PropertyManager tells you that the feature is not yet ready.

FIGURE 21.8

Propagating the parting line edge selection

FIGURE 21.9

Correcting redundant selections

After deselecting the redundant edges, the message box in the PropertyManager turns yellow, because the Parting Line feature does not to split the mold. In this case, the part has screw holes that go through the part, so you need to create shut-off surfaces to close them. However, you are now done with the Parting Line feature.

5. Click the green check mark icon to accept the feature.

There should be 48 edges selected in the Parting Lines selection box.

Note

The parting line color is blue, and cavity and core colors are red and green. As a result, it is a good idea at this point to change the model to a neutral color, such as gray. You can do this by clicking the Appearances icon in the Heads Up View toolbar, and then clicking the Remove Appearances button. If the button does not become grayed out, it is renamed Remove All Appearances, and you can click this button again to remove overrides such as face, feature, or body appearance assignments.

Initiating the shut-off surfaces

The mold industry is full of terminology