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cadjunkie Mick sent in this solid part file wondering how it might be approached in SolidWorks. We love our users here at cadjunkie, so we put together this quick video tutorial to walk through the basics. Have fun, Mick!
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Adam O'Hern is an industrial design consultant specializing in visual brand languages, and has designed products ranging from laptops to power tools, classroom toys to bathroom fixtures, and robots to lint rollers. He has published with 3DWorld Magazine, CGTuts+, and Luxology, and works with Josh Mings of SolidSmack.com on EngineerVsDesigner.com. |
Thanks for that Adam.
Some really helpful tips, especially dragging the section plane through the model as I could see that would be a good way to ensure the geometry is just as it should be.
I’d like to detail the steps I took to create the Valve Body from scratch just to see if you could enlighten me as to recreate those steps:
1. Create the body by extruding a cylinder.
2. ‘Drill’ the larger hole (Where the bayonet-type fittings are) by creating a hole on the end.
3. (This is where I struggled in SW) I created a work plane tangential to the cylinder surface by activating the WP tool, clicking on the surface and then clicking on the, what is in SW, front plane to create a WP that is tangential to the surface and parallel to the front plane.
4. I used this WP to create a point from which to insert the counterbored hole, then do the same for the smaller hole on the other side.
5. A sketch was created on the front plane to revolve extrude the bottom cut out.
6. I created the sketch for the 4 internal holes in the same way you did, although I will always use the hole feature where possible.
7. Another counterbore was created ‘To Next’ to create the intersecting holes.
8. Another work plane was craeted tangential to the surface and parallel to the side plane.
9. From this I extruded a 4mm slot, to next.
10. I then used the earlier created WP to extrude-cut the slot which allows the bayonet fitting to be inserted. AGAIN To next.
11. I sketched a rectangle which was colinear with the centreline of the body, colinear with the top of the 4mm slot, colinear with the outer surface and finally 2mm high.
12. I then revolve cut thru 90deg to join the slot and the bayonet insertion slot.
13. Like you I applied a circular pattern.
14. Finally I applied all chamfers.
Sorry if I appear to waffle on somewhat but I just wanted to compare the two techniques.
And I think it does show from my approach that I come from a hands-on background in that I started out as a Mechanical fitter and I look at each part I create as a physical model and methodically work my way through.
Once again though, I really appreciate the help you have given me.
Just to conclude, the only point I am struggling with was the creation of offset workplanes and aligning them with specific surfaces.
It’s interesting that you make such heavy use of tangential planes. These are perfectly legal in SW, but I only use them in very bizarre cases, as typically there is a better way.
Perhaps another useful tutorial would be to walk through the available datum types and their specific uses.
Cheers!
Like I say, I think it is more the way I think through things as I always have to create things from scratch. Especially as I have to think about creating a draft of the component.
If I apply a tangential plane to create a hole, like the one through the side of the Valve body, I just need to apply the Hole Detail feature in the draft environment and it will add all the relevant information, C/Bore diameter, depth and the hole detail.
Maybe this is the difference between looking at a part from a mechanical perspective as opposed to just creating the model as a part that serves a function.
I agree that a revolve cut WOULD indeed be easier to produce, however, when it comes to creating a part for manufacture, it can sometimes be counter productive.
I think it all comes down to the fact that if a part is geometrically accurate, it doesn’t matter as it is all down to the requirement for the specific need for the application it is being put to.
Just a thought… If I produced a screen capture of the way I created a part, would it be possible to upload that? Or would it be better to upload it to youtube?
I think it would be a useful exercise to compare workflows and features.
Oh, if you’re wanting to do functional modeling (i.e. one SW operation per real world manufacturing operation), you can certainly do it. I would encourage you to take a look at the “hole wizard,” which will allow you to do much of what you’re wanting in terms of counterbore / countersink, etc in a single feature.
Send me a YouTube link to your method and I’d be happy to take a look and let you know what the equivalent would be in SW.