CAD Forum

Glenn Schroeder

Dwight wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 1:33 pm Better to leave off the threads in the main configuration.

With only a few exceptions, the bolts in my parts library don't even have threads modeled. The one or two that do have them suppressed, and only showed the one time I needed to show them in a drawing (they're specialty bolts).

Glenn Schroeder

Yeah, sent a nice mail to my VAR reminding that he; should not be closing requests without giving valid reasons and should be following up on requests faster then a 10 month span and without having me to force him to do so. There are better VAR's out there, but I don't know if switching is possible...

Glenn Schroeder

Thank you so much for all the answers. I'll give it a try to separate different sizes into different files and i'll update you on if it still happens. But i'd like to know how the process of changing sizes works in an assembly. When you change the size, thus changing the part file, does the changed...

Glenn Schroeder

Why do you guys use "instances to vary" rather then use sketch driven patterns...? I can't speak for others, but while I don't use "Instances to Vary" often, when I do I almost always want to just adjust one instance, so doing that in the Linear Pattern seems simpler and easier ...

Glenn Schroeder

DanPihlaja wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 3:20 pm You can't use "instances to vary" with bodies. You can only use it if you are patterning features.

I can. Maybe that's new with SW2024?

Glenn Schroeder

Welcome to the forum. Is that a Toolbox part? Since you said you modeled it I suspect it isn't. Assuming I'm correct, the problem may lie with the derived configurations. Configurations are extraordinarily useful, but it is possible to have them be too complex. You might want to consider breaking th...

Glenn Schroeder

I'm glad you got it to work properly, and welcome to the forum.

Glenn Schroeder

New SolidWorks video dropped this morning on youtube - cool use of multi body for anyone who does wire forming or bending https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es8j3Ijep-c That's a nice technique. I've never used it for sweeps, but I use a body to drive 3d sketches for weldments (one of the many things I...

Glenn Schroeder

MacroEnjoyer wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 10:45 am Ok cool.

Glenn I tried that method but it lost the relation during copy tree. Cheers.

Maybe use Pack and Go instead?

Glenn Schroeder

It's not a workflow I've used, but many people have extolled the virtues of having a sketch (or two) in the Assembly that drives all the Parts (so all the Parts reference the sketch).

Glenn Schroeder

A familiar name from the good old days just popped up on the Swamp: https://r1132100503382-eu1-3dswym.3dexp ... GVjsedatCQ.

Glenn Schroeder

I have a job that generally takes a pattern in some parts. Until this job they have all been a standard pattern, but this is pattered at three different distances, so I want to use "instances to vary". All the pattering is with cuts and some work nicely but some have the command greyed ou...

Glenn Schroeder

You got my vote.

Glenn Schroeder

Have an interview over MS Teams for a local architect firm with the vice president of the firm. She had gotten a resume from my instructor. Though I am not holding my breath. In previous industries, I have been ghosted and things not work out. Not sure how they do drafters. Or if they see a 50 year...

Glenn Schroeder

CarrieIves wrote: ↑Fri Mar 29, 2024 2:24 pm @josh Is there a way to flip the sketch plane normal after a sketch exists?

One easy fix (notice I said easy, not pretty) that might work would be to do a circular pattern of the feature that created the text, then use a separate feature to remove the original.

Glenn Schroeder

I agree with @AlexB . If you are going to do that, I'd make it a separate document so that you don't have to revise your drawing whenever someone wants the assembly instructions changed.

Glenn Schroeder

I entered (4) global variables in the attached part: length_01 = 1.0 length_02 = 2.0 length_03 = 3.0 length_04 = 4.0 I then made (4) different configurations and attempted to link D2@Sketch1 to the 4 different global variables using the "This Configuration" setting in the dimension Modify...

Glenn Schroeder

This just popped up on Pandora.

Glenn Schroeder

I don't know how much these will help without better understanding what you're using the equations for, but two things may help. (I almost never use equations, but I know other workflows require their frequent use.) 1. Use global variables. 2. Use construction lines and relations whenever possible i...

Glenn Schroeder

We had the opportunity to head a few hours south this weekend and enjoy the Texas Hill Country. It always surprises me how much a few hours drive can make in what season you are in. Our bluebonnets are just starting here in the Dallas area, but the ones down near Fredericksburg, TX are well are the...

Glenn Schroeder

Regarding the first one, I don't have columns for the angles. If it's not 90° on each end then I detail the part. Knowing the angle isn't much help anyway without knowing which direction the cut is.

The second one will likely be difficult to diagnose without the files.

Glenn Schroeder

I've spent most of the last few weeks on one of the most difficult projects I've done in the 15 years I've been doing this kind of work. I've gotten the information piece meal, and the client drawings I'm working from are awful. At one point it calls for three rebar stirrups spaced at 20", span...

Glenn Schroeder

The shape can not change on a sweep, it can rotate around the center and/or contort when using "keep normal constant" setting, but the shape never changes. To get it to jut out on the left side like your skecth shows you would most likely have to do a loft or a series of extrudes/cuts. Th...

Glenn Schroeder

I was able to open your file just fine, and it didn't show any errors, but I suspect it also isn't what you want. Sweeps can only follow a single path. I believe you need a Loft instead. I don't work with them much, but someone will probably be able to help.

Glenn Schroeder

Honestly, I doubt it will ever be because of the complexity it brings forward. SolidWorks can't even determine which occurence is the seed occurence, let's not confuse it more. To be fair, they did address that problem a few years ago. It still happens to me occasionally, but much less than before ...

Glenn Schroeder

Really?!? Linking the bom to a configuration and a view to a configuration isn't enough? I also have to link the balloons to the BOM? Thanks for explaining what I was doing wrong. I never would have found it on my own. One of the things I feel like isn't commonly known by users is that, although a ...

Glenn Schroeder

Do not use Ctrl+Q when in an open sketch. I can't say why it messed up your features when you tried it without more information. If I was to speculate I'd say that maybe your edits of the sketch caused lost references, and they showed up as errors after Ctrl+Q since that workflow closes active sketc...

Glenn Schroeder

In 2023 they seems to have fixed somewhat the hole wizard when it comes to sketching. image.png Midpoint line is removed for the sketch toolbox. (its just face palm...) In 2024 have they also fixed the other smart sketch feature problem by just removed it from the user ? (Thinking here center retan...

Glenn Schroeder

Here's what I've been doing for a very long time. Each diameter bolt is a single Part file, with configurations for each length, and I didn't try to put in every length right away, but instead add them as needed. I have a configuration specific custom property linked to the length dimension, so when...

Glenn Schroeder

bnemec wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:26 am It may be simpler to use a different CAD system.

Did you see the part about retiring in four years? It would likely take me nearly that long to become proficient with the new software (which would likely have its own problems).

Glenn Schroeder

I've probably mentioned it here before, but there were unintended consequences with the new "Reattach" feature for dimensions that had lost a reference. It seems to work fairly well if only one reference was lost, but if there were two lost references then it doesn't work at all. To top it...

Glenn Schroeder

I have fond hopes that at some time in the distant future (but not too distant because I plan to retire in 2028) when we suppress a feature in a Part, and it has children further down in the tree, we will have a System Option to have those features remain active, but showing errors, instead of being...

Glenn Schroeder

dave.laban wrote: ↑Mon Mar 11, 2024 7:36 am https://r1132100503382-eu1-3dswym.3dexp ... IbU4PAddeA

What do we think this one's for, a plane replica or JFKs car?

Probably a perpetual motion machine.

Glenn Schroeder

If I go to "Save Sheet Format" the Note disappears when the Save dialogue box comes up. Sheet template: image.png After activating Save Sheet Format: image.png Seems like Notes get removed from the Sheet Format? If I add the Note to the Sheet Format rather than the Template, I can't then ...

Glenn Schroeder

I've possibly been missing something for a number of years and will soon be feeling quite silly, however the Note that I have as part of my sheet format is never generated when I add a new sheet to a drawing, it only ever exists on Page 1 when I create the document in the first place. Is there a wo...

Glenn Schroeder

When I was using NX, I found the spacemouse indispensable. When I started with Solidworks, I found my left hand on the keyboard so much that I got rid of it. Since then I am back to using the spacemouse, but mostly for panning and zooming. I still find my hand on the keyboard more than on the space...

Glenn Schroeder

Might work for views and other things you can manipulate from the tree, but this ER is asking for Notes, Blocks etc. to be able to be dropped in the same place, which don't show in the tree . I guess I missed that. Adding them to a sheet format is the only way to do that now, as everyone probably a...

Glenn Schroeder

I've been using a 3d mouse for many years, and wouldn't want to have to work without it, and I didn't start with AutoCAD like many people of my generation, so I never got accustomed to using keyboard shortcuts. I'd like to agree with DanPihlaja about using keyboard shortcuts. I have mine set up with...

Glenn Schroeder

How close does it need to be? I'm asking because you can paste the view on the same sheet and drag it so it overlaps the original as close as you can get it, then go to the tree, select the copied view, and drag it to the sheet name of the sheet you want it on. It will be placed in the same location...

Glenn Schroeder

Howdy Dan, Can you just tell your users to click elsewhere on the screen when they get that box to make it go away, and then click on File > New (or the "New" icon on the top bar) to get the Advanced new document dialog box? I hate to sound like the grouchy old man we all know I am, but if...

Glenn Schroeder

On the news. Replica plane crash landed. https://globalnews.ca/news/10335808/pilot-escapes-uninjured-after-plane-crash-in-farmers-field/ The first line of the article says "A situation which could have ended a lot worse has a happy ending after provincial police say a pilot walked away uninjur...

Glenn Schroeder

bnemec wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2024 10:18 am . . . Glenn, do you know anyone around Canadian, TX?

No, I don't. It's not very close to me. Do you know someone there with my last name? If yes, that's not too surprising either. It's a very common German name.

Glenn Schroeder

Happy monday to yall, March is starting and spring seems around the corner for us, altough it generally is a month later. Hopefully there aren't too many people stranded with the weather conditions we had this weekend. The Blizzard that hit in California and Nevada hit 2 days earlier over here and ...

Glenn Schroeder

For the love of hidden keyboard short cuts! Try ctrl plus the plus key , hold down control key and use scroll wheel on the mouse. Or depending on browser it might be in the settings/tools area. image.png That one worked. Thanks for all of the replies. I tried this one first since it was the first r...

Glenn Schroeder

This old man could use some help for a very minor issue. I was typing a response on a an internet site (completely unrelated to SW) and attempting to underline some text. Somehow (I think I mistakenly held down Ctrl while hitting the -/_ key), and all the text got smaller. I've closed that tab and r...

Glenn Schroeder

JSculley wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 2:20 pm You call also roll the feature tree back above all the patterns/mirrors so they are invisible and unavailable for mates. Out of sight, out of mind.

That's what I usually do.

Glenn Schroeder

Uncle_Hairball wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 12:44 pm I think Alex was right. I just had the same thing happen again and it turned out there were mates on both ends of a mirror.

Thanks everyone for the helpful suggestions!

Sometimes it's unavoidable, but I try to avoid mating to components brought in with a pattern or mirror.

Glenn Schroeder

JSculley wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 11:41 am I would go a step further. Any dialog with more than two options such as Yes/No should not be dismissible, and even some of those are still dangerous. Here's my list of dismissed dialogs:

image.png

Mine is a little longer.

Glenn Schroeder

It's not relevant to your question, but the Confirm Delete dialog box is one that I firmly believe should never be dismissed. There are too many variables, depending on the situation, and hiding it for one situation hides it for all of them.

Glenn Schroeder

Uncle_Hairball wrote: ↑Fri Feb 23, 2024 12:41 pm Yes, but not this time. Yet another case where SW required delete and start over.

That would have been my next suggestion.

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