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Reusable cutouts for Sheet Metal

conrat

New member
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 wanted to clarify something. I need to be able to centrally
change the cuts, and have it update any model using these cuts.
This is the reason for not just placing the cuts in the
parts/asm/etc. The Cut Out feature would do this extremely well,
but as listed above, it will not work with SM.



Thanks,

Jim
 
If you are familar with "form" or "puch" functionality, you could use thatto make a punch the shape of your knock out shape. There is an option to stretch, or remove material -In your case, you would want to remove material.
 
Puppet,



I considered doing the part as a solid and converting, but I am worried
at soem point I may be asked to add another lock cutout and the feature
won't work. May be my only choice.



Chris,



I will look into doing a punch feature. Do you know if you can
redefine the punch feature? Does it keep a link back to the
original geometry/part?



Thanks guys,

Jim
 
As an update, Punch features will not redefine, the same as a normal
UDF. I verified this. I believe you can change dimension,
but cannot redefine a sketch to add an extra hole or slot. You
can change the reference part, but the changes do not show up in the
punched part.



Jim
smiley19.gif
 
Conrat,


I briefly suggested a solution previously. After further reveiw, let me a bit more specifit. I do believe this will solve your problem: WF2.0 Insert/Shape/Die or Punch. There is an option for Reference or Copy. This will alow you toRedefine the geometry of your "tooling", and it paremetricly be reflected in your *.prt.
 
Chris,



Do you know if WF1 has this option? We have not yet moved to WF2
and are using 2001 for production. We need a new server before we
can upgrade, but hopefully in Feb06 we will be up to WF2.



In 2001, you can choose to make the punch a Subordinate or Standalone
(just like in the std UDF menu), but picking Subordinate still does not
allow you to redefine the feature, only change dimensions.



Maybe in WF they have fixed this.



I will try in WF1 (which I do have installed) to see if it works in there.



Thanks,

Jim
 

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