Smarter SolidWorks

It continues to amaze me the problem that Solid Modelers have talking to each other. Okay I can see where the curvy stuff would give problems but sheet metal? Come on guys this is as simple as dirt. I was sent a couple parasolid parts translated from SolidEdge the other day and they were both what I would consider to be simple. One of the parts had seven faulty faces that that SolidWorks could not repair. The whole ordeal makes me have a few questions.

Question #1: How do you get faulty faces in a sheet metal part? It wasn’t due to bad modeling practices since the part was created in the sheet metal module of SolidEdge and I know from experience that SolidEdge makes the user adhere to the same basic sheet metal rules that SolidWorks does such as uniform thickness and such.

Question #2: Why can I import a SolidEdge part file and an assembly file but not the sheet metal (.psm) file? The customer was able to translate it into a part file on his end but it didn’t help the situation anyway.

I even sent this part to my VAR’s application engineer and he wasn’t able to do anything with it other than suggest deleting the bad faces and add it back using the surfacing tools. He went on to say:


" I don't really have any good news for you, but translating 3D cad models is a big separate industry - for a reason. Modeling software file formats don't always like to work together, as you can see here.”



Wow that’s a news flash! Since I’m a little rusty on the whole face/surface thing I fell back to my old standby which is to insert the bad part into an assembly and then build a good part on top of it.

Question #3: Why did the part fail? Was it because there was a hem on the part that actually was closed completely flat against it face to which it was added?











Or was it because of the overlapping flange that does touch the opposing flange?











Or maybe it’s the lance & form that has no relief (which incidentally is how it is in the real world)?














It might be one or all of these that is causing the part to fail. But my point is that if we can’t translate other than by ‘dumb’ solids then some rules need to be followed on both ends. Why can’t all the CAD companies get together on some rules that govern sheet metal parts? Why can’t the importing modeler be a little smarter and recognize the face or even let me tell it that this is a sheet metal part and in turn it would know to adjust so that features can be recognized.

Now just to temper the bad with some good, go check out this video. I hope this works as well on my computer. Solid to Sheet Metal

Friday Fritters

Okay it’s a strange title but as I start to write today I have no idea where I’m going. So hang on or jump off at any time!

One thing about SW2009 that really interests me is the Custom Properties tab and the ability to customize it. One thing that really irks me is when I have to go behind someone revising his drawings and find that he hasn’t filled in a single custom property. Hopefully this will make it easier to manage thus making him more apt to use them.

What’s going on in my life? I mentioned that we had replaced all the PCs at the company I work for. I struck up a deal with the owner where as I would remove all the old ‘junk’ and take care of a fitting disposal. This process included general cleaning (you’d be surprised at how filthy a PC can get) with 100PSI compressed air and several bottles of Mean Green Cleaner. Then I did a complete wipe of the hard drive using KillDisk and finally a re-install of an operating system. Most of the systems had COAs (certificate of authorization) for one version of Windows or another so they were set up again. I’m only going back as far as Windows 2000 Pro, anything older will get some flavor of Linux installed. So far I have four Dell Optiplex GX150s, two custom built CAD stations with Athlon 64 3400s, Quadro FX500s and 2GB RAM. There are a few more machines with Pentium 4s and then a slew of Microtel machines that have AMD Durons and 256MB RAM. The Microtels were bought with Lindows installed which was replaced with Win98. I’m not sure what to do with these machines. I’ve tried Xubuntu since it is a scaled down version of Ubuntu designed to run on low end hardware but I haven’t had much luck with it yet. I don’t have COAs for Win98 so that’s out of the question. Are there any suggestions from the hardware geeks out there?

I also have 15 20” Dell CRT monitors (anyone need a monitor?) that are stacked in my garage. Yeah it’s been a dirty hard job with late hours and no promise of any monetary reward but it has been fun. I already managed to sell the Optiplexs with monitors. One of the CAD workstations went to my co-worker who helped move all the stuff to my house. Some of the guys here at Byers have expressed interest in a computer and anything that is not sold will be going to the Shelby HAM Fest (which incidentally is being held in Dallas NC this year) on Labor day Weekend. But the sooner I get rid of all this stuff the sooner the wife will be speaking to me again. Wait a minute, let me think about that.

Thrown into the pile-o-junk will be a couple of SpaceNavigator PEs and one of the FX500 video cards so if you have any need for them or a 20” monitor leave a comment with contact information.
From the Wikipedia:
A fritter is any kind of food coated in batter and deep fried. The word comes from the Latin *frīctūra ("frying") by way of Old French and Middle English. It can refer to a dessert, a side dish or a main course food.
I hope you enjoyed your batter coated, deep fried side dish of useless verbage on this fine Friday. The only other question that begs to be asked…was it a desert, a side dish or a main course?

SolidWorks 2009 coming to blog near you soon!

SolidWorks 2009 coming to blog near you soon!

Because everyone else is blogging constantly all about SW 2009 I’ve been hesitant to add my observations or opinions. In finality you will be the judge of how the new release works for you. But just so you know a little of what to expect in the new release here is a link to a list of links to blogs and youtube videos showing off and or lamenting the highlights of SolidWorks 2009.

http://www.caddigest.com/subjects/solidworks/reviews.htm

I can’t wait to get my grimy little hands on it!

Friday Strangeness

Here’s a strange one:
I used the assembly feature hole wizard on an sub-assembly this morning. I place two sketch points to locate the holes while in the initial command. I then Ctrl-Tabbed back to the main assembly to make sure I was adding the holes on the correct side of the sub-assembly. Everything looked good so I edit the hole wizard sketch to add three more sketch points for all the holes I needed. No problem adding them but when I update I only see the original two holes I added. I played around with a bit but couldn’t get the remaining holes to appear. I finally gave up and did another hole wizard and included all the points I needed and it worked fine. I’m curious as to whether this is the case always or is it another ‘feature’?

Here’s another question for any config/design table experts out there. I have created a working design table that basically just uses some simple calculations to generate different lengths of tubing for use in another assembly. I don’t do configurations with design tables that often so please excuse my ignorance but I need to add back the custom property “description” to the table so that when inserted into a drawing it is more understandable. Is there a way to force SolidWorks to refresh all the parameters not just the newly added ones? If not can you provide me with the proper syntax to do this? I hope that I’m providing enough information for you to see what I’m trying to do.