How to SEPERATE multi-body bodies into standalone parts?

[TooTallToby]

Hi CAD FORUM!
I dropped this tip earlier today on my youtube channel - I know lots of SW users ask about this.
Hope this helps!

[DanPihlaja]

OK, i do this kind of thing all the time. I have found that the best way to bring a body into another part is to use the "pull" method and open a new part and then use "insert->part".

The reason for this is that it is the ONLY way that you can get hole wizard information to pass through.

The other 2 ways are really only for simple extrude without holes or other complicated features.

[TooTallToby]

Nice! Thanks for the feedback Dan!

OK, i do this kind of thing all the time. I have found that the best way to bring a body into another part is to use the "pull" method and open a new part and then use "insert->part".

The reason for this is that it is the ONLY way that you can get hole wizard information to pass through.

The other 2 ways are really only for simple extrude without holes or other complicated features.

[matt]

It surprises me that people still get mileage out of this kind of thing. This information is decades old. Even the most recent thing I've done on this is probably 6 years old and 2nd generation material.

https://episodes.dezignstuff.com/blog/t ... ter-model/

If you take time to look, there is a whole surfacing course with original models.

[RichGergely]

Any type of save body from the original file still has the appearance bug. The new part that is created, if you apply a colour to that part, under certain circumstance it will then lose that appearance on rebuilds.

You have to add the colour to a feature in the new part to totally side step the problem.

[len_1962]

Toby
I show the students this alot.
They always make a something like a cabinet that is all one part, not seperate panels so it can be made in the shop, I show them how to split and then rename the bodies and save as a new part to make drawings or put into an assembly.

This also works great for CAM and 3D printed parts when they are to big for the build plate.

Last thing Andre from the shop is taking your class tomorrow and Friday, thanks for offering it!

and of course those ID guy's use this for Master Modeling Technique

your former fellow AE at DDi

lenny

[mpaul]

OK, i do this kind of thing all the time. I have found that the best way to bring a body into another part is to use the "pull" method and open a new part and then use "insert->part".

The reason for this is that it is the ONLY way that you can get hole wizard information to pass through.

The other 2 ways are really only for simple extrude without holes or other complicated features.

the reason I do insert part from a new part is because I can bring in the all of the bodies and whatever other features I want such as sketches and surfaces.

the next set of features I add to my new "part" is to delete or hide (though I almost always delete) all the bodies I don't want in my new part. then, I'm left with just the body I want to add additional features to.

this way, I can still reference geometry from the OG master part file in my new part and that geometry gets updated if I change the master but it's readily available in my sub part files as well.

[DanPihlaja]

the reason I do insert part from a new part is because I can bring in the all of the bodies and whatever other features I want such as sketches and surfaces.

the next set of features I add to my new "part" is to delete or hide (though I almost always delete) all the bodies I don't want in my new part. then, I'm left with just the body I want to add additional features to.

this way, I can still reference geometry from the OG master part file in my new part and that geometry gets updated if I change the master but it's readily available in my sub part files as well.

Quick tip:

image.png (14.76 KiB) Viewed 347 times

If you utilize the "keep bodies" selection and then only select he body you want to keep, then no matter how many new bodies you add to the master file, you wont have to go back to your new part and update the number of bodies to delete.

[matt]

the reason I do insert part from a new part is because I can bring in the all of the bodies and whatever other features I want such as sketches and surfaces.

the next set of features I add to my new "part" is to delete or hide (though I almost always delete) all the bodies I don't want in my new part. then, I'm left with just the body I want to add additional features to.

this way, I can still reference geometry from the OG master part file in my new part and that geometry gets updated if I change the master but it's readily available in my sub part files as well.

The big problem with this kind of thing in a history based system is that the "delete" function does absolutely nothing aside from making all that geometry unavailable. It is still there inside your file taking up space. It can't be "deleted" because if you roll back the tree before the delete feature, the data still exists. I would avoid putting data into a part that you're just going to use this "delete" function on, because isn't your file size big enough already?

[mpaul]

Quick tip:
image.png

If you utilize the "keep bodies" selection and then only select he body you want to keep, then no matter how many new bodies you add to the master file, you wont have to go back to your new part and update the number of bodies to delete.

good to know.

thanks

I'll probably still do it the same way since I've been doing it that way since 2005 and it's effectively the same thing but always good to know alternatives!

[len_1962]

Another good resource is what Mark Biasoti did while at Spanner Product Design, he released a slew of vids, this one is on Master Model Techniques

https://www.spannerpd.com/solidworks-webcast-episode-17