Hi all,
I have a bit of a problem. I am currently tasked with devloping a
model of a door that has the ability to place a number of pre-defined
hole patterns on the model for various locks.
My problem is, all of the useful ways of doing this do not support sheet metal parts or do not work properly.
Inheritance - Does not work with SM.<br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">
Cut Out Feature - Does not work with SM<br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">
UDFs - Do not update if you redefine the feature. Only dims can be modified.
What I would love to do is use a Cut Out ASM feature, as this would give me the most robust way of controlling the cuts.
What I originally did was create a part. Inside this part, I used
protrusions to signify the various cuts. I then added it to an
asm, and had it intersect with the part that required the cut in
it. Using a Cut Out feature, it works fine. I can go back
into the original Cut Out part and redefine or add features, using
relations and program to control which protrusions were turned on or
off.
The biggest problem with this is, I cannot use it with SM parts, which
is what I need. Sure, I can create the parts as solids, then
convert to SM once the cutout feature has been added, but I may need to
add a second later on and do not want to go down the wrong road right
from the start.
Does anyone have any ideas on how I could do this? Whatever
solution I use, I need to be able to redefine the cutouts without the
limitations listed above.
Any suggestions are welcome. I do not understand why PTC decided
to limit sheet metal parts to this extent, but they did. Even a
third party solution would be welcome. As long as the Cuts can be
modified without restriction, as they are defined by lock manufacturers
who often change their required cuts.
ps- Setting these cuts in Family Tables are not desirable, as we have
nearly 1000 "codes" or series of holes that are unique and I would like
the keep each on a seperate feature that I can just supress.
Thanks in advance,
Jim
I have a bit of a problem. I am currently tasked with devloping a
model of a door that has the ability to place a number of pre-defined
hole patterns on the model for various locks.
My problem is, all of the useful ways of doing this do not support sheet metal parts or do not work properly.
Inheritance - Does not work with SM.<br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">
Cut Out Feature - Does not work with SM<br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">
UDFs - Do not update if you redefine the feature. Only dims can be modified.
What I would love to do is use a Cut Out ASM feature, as this would give me the most robust way of controlling the cuts.
What I originally did was create a part. Inside this part, I used
protrusions to signify the various cuts. I then added it to an
asm, and had it intersect with the part that required the cut in
it. Using a Cut Out feature, it works fine. I can go back
into the original Cut Out part and redefine or add features, using
relations and program to control which protrusions were turned on or
off.
The biggest problem with this is, I cannot use it with SM parts, which
is what I need. Sure, I can create the parts as solids, then
convert to SM once the cutout feature has been added, but I may need to
add a second later on and do not want to go down the wrong road right
from the start.
Does anyone have any ideas on how I could do this? Whatever
solution I use, I need to be able to redefine the cutouts without the
limitations listed above.
Any suggestions are welcome. I do not understand why PTC decided
to limit sheet metal parts to this extent, but they did. Even a
third party solution would be welcome. As long as the Cuts can be
modified without restriction, as they are defined by lock manufacturers
who often change their required cuts.
ps- Setting these cuts in Family Tables are not desirable, as we have
nearly 1000 "codes" or series of holes that are unique and I would like
the keep each on a seperate feature that I can just supress.
Thanks in advance,
Jim