3 Easy Lovin’ Tips for Tiny SolidWorks Assemblies

by Josh on March 13, 2008 · Comments

i-love-tiny-assemblies.jpgAwww, look. That tiny assembly is so… tiny and cute. Makes you want to grab a million of ‘em and just give ‘em hugs.

Now, I know some of you aren’t that attached to your bracket or gasket , but you gotta admit there’s a special place in that documentation system for those little boogers. However, re-creating a lot of the same can turn that admiration into disgust real quick, unless you have a few tricks to lull them into submission.

Dealing with small is easy right? Why not talk about the large ones that seem so difficult? Well, sometimes you can get some perspective by scaling back a little and setting things up for the smaller situations.

  1. Make it an assembly
    Every once in a while I’ll come across a part that is called out as an assembly. Great. After you verbally lash Mike for doing that, you go through the process of turning it into an assembly which isn’t so much a problem until you have to do a drawing. Even worse, in 2007 and previous, if you use the Replace command (right click on part in FeatureManager Tree), you can only replace a part with a part. Best to create it as an assembly to start off with, just in case you need to add some other parts.
  2. bracket-example.jpgTemplate Your
    If you build a lot of the same bracket assembly for instance, you probably have drawings that look really similar or should. It’s fairly simple to copy and start from a previous drawing which I would recommend. But, if you have sets of that have a typical starting point it’s going to be quicker to make a ‘template’ of those. Create a common directory on your Network and then set it up in your Design Library on the Task Pane.
  3. Use the same views
    From working with people closely in a shop I don’t understand why two similar would have completely different views on the drawing. Most likely because two different people worked on them. I’m not just talking about the drawings either.Views set up in a model are different depending on how that person works. Set up your View Orientations and Annotation Views the same across similar . It’s a quick and easy way to make your drawings consistent. Now, if you have templates of these you don’t have to set up the same views each time. Give that guy a nickel.

These three things come in handy for those that create a lot of the same pieces but if you know you’re going to re-use something, why not set up a few rules to make it go fast impress the boss and get a fat bonus? What do you do?

(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

Tagged as: assemblies, solidworks, tips

  • Can you elaborate a bit on the first one? I'm still not getting it.

    As far as same views, that's a good one. Also, try to model the components in the same orientations and reference points. That way if you have to replace the component with a different one, you will decrease or eliminate the amount of mates that you will have to fix. I try to model each component the way it is going to be oriented in the final product.

    Also, for drawings, don't forget to leverage the power of Configurations and Display States to eliminate the number of Drawings/Assemblies you need to manage.
  • Johnathan
    Great, some more tips I wish my company had three years ago. I think the most I've done is copy stuff from one sheet to another and change configurations.
  • Josh
    Wow Bruce. I missed this comment. sorry.

    Occasionally, I'll come across parts that are called out as assemblies. I see it happen with some beginners or done as a shortcut to avoid having to create an assembly.

    For example, in my line of work, rivet are commonly not shown, so I may see a bracket that is called BRACKET ASSY, but it's a part. If another bracket or some hardware needs to be added to this "assembly" it takes a bit longer to update and becomes a pain if it's been used in a lot of assemblies.

    Does that make more sense?
  • hhoe
    Hi Guys,
    Wher can I get a real 3D program where I don't have contrain everything up front in assembly ?.I'm looking for something like I-DEAS witch worked great, but is sadly no longer an option due to marked consollidation.

    br,
    hhoe
  • Kinda depends on what you're trying to do. In SolidWorks you don't have to constrain everything up front in an assembly. You can create parts like there's no tomorrow. What exactly are you trying to do?
  • Steve
    Hi! I was wondering if you had any experience modeling a serrated edge on a knife? I am trying, and can't figure out how to cut/sweep the feature to give me the right look. Any ideas??

    Thanks,

    Steve
  • Dave Moore
    Create a part that has your desired serration in reverse, insert it into your blade part, position it where you want the serration, and then use a combine to cut the profile of the serration into the blade.
blog comments powered by Disqus