Stuck in Solidworks and need help.

I am unsure how to tackle this and have searched to no avail

Solidworks 2012 and I have 2 objects that must be 54cm apart at the base and 33.5cm at the top. Now how can I easily do that using two sketches? I used the move tool and it took me 10 mins to get them close but the numbers in the move didn't correspond with anything I could see AND when I came out and needed to add parts between the two objects I noticed they did not line up 100% as the part was sticking out of the side of one of them.

How in the world can this be done?

So, to summarize I need an accurate way to dimension the distance of two objects with different measurements at the top and the base while maintaining their alignment 100% to each other.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

make two objects, put them into an assembly. create mates that constrain the two objects to each other, with the dimension you want.

Have you done the tutorials that are embedded in the Solidworks?

If you spent a few hours running through those, it would help get your head into the SW usage/mentality.
I think you are applying your techniques from another software to SW and it won't behave like you wish.

Tutorials are located in the House icon, upper right of the screen.
they have very specific ones for assembly, part creation, etc.

Dave

Yes well worth doing the tutorials, that's how I started just over 18 months ago. I got myself a second monitor and had the tutorials open on one and worked on the other screen

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2012 03:45PM by NelsonRap.

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Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

Not going to get a second monitor but mates is a new deal for me and you are right I am applying poly 3d.

Neat tutorial for mates.

Do the mates remain separate entities?

Alright I did the mate tutorial and that isn't what I am talking about.

/\ <---- How with two parts or using a mirror? How can I get two dimensions for one part to another (top of each part has one distance set between them and the bottom of each part has another distance dimension set between them) using mates because I didn't see a way in this tutorial.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2012 06:40PM by Dark Alchemist.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

Are you trying to create an assembly of two separate parts, or will these two end up joining into a single entity?

I would create a sketch of your layout (where you want the two parts) and contrain the parts to that sketch. With mates if it is an assembly and by sketches on top if it is going to end up as a single part.

These will eventually end up as one part but what I did was extrude a sketch and I can save that or mirror that but my only hangup is getting the parts to form an A basically (keeping it simple).

edit: What I did do is use mirror and rotate the parts at an angle and it is close but I then need to also know how far apart from the middle each side is when straight, and that is something I can't ever be precise about with a real world object that is riveted together and is not straight, to do a little trig on it. So much easier if I could simply set a distance for top and bottom while maintaining the current pivot point and if it can't keep the distance in the middle to give me the top and bottom dimensions alert me and do the math figuring out what it needs to be to make both top and bottom fit my dimensions. Maybe I am expecting too much but I don't think so know the power of SW.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2012 07:42PM by Dark Alchemist.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

Have you considered using your license to garner official support from Solid Works?

xiando Wrote:
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> Have you considered using your license to garner
> official support from Solid Works?
I would but this started out as something I thought would be simple but I see it isn't and SW's support isn't all that and a bag of chips. Get more support from the users than any official that I have seen regardless who wrote the question.

I suppose I should go over there and ask but frankly I would rather wander in the darkness than ask them anything. Now let my product have bugs and I am, and have been, all over them reporting them as I find them though I feel they are lackluster there as well.

Great product lousy support department.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

if the two parts will end up as one part, just start with one part.
constrain the two bodies to eachother with sketch dimensions.

Don't create the two bodies, then move them.

Create one body
Then in the sketch of the second one, use dimensions to place the sketch/body in relation to the first.
You'll end up with two bodies, with a dimensioned relation that can be modified easily.

I'd do all the tutorials as a priority.
You will have so many advantages, with very low effort and short commitment in time.
You can quickly waste a lot of time moving down deadend alleys, looking in the help, looking at youtube, asking stuff in here, etc.

Slow down to speed up!

Well, I am about to give up as I already have wasted many days and end up in dead ends. My mirror didn't work as the parts skipped out of alignment (I know this because the middle of that A was find in one and the other was off when using extrude to surface.

So, I am not sure this can be done without a tremendous amount of work.

Basically make a ladder, a real world ladder in Solidworks to see what I mean. Each rung, and step with the slant angles of all sides of the A as I sure can't get it done in SW. In a 3d poly modeler no worries.

I am sure it can be done by a master but that is sort of crazy because take a 2x4 in SW and slant it where the top is 33.5cm from each other and the bottom is 54cm from each other now take a second set of 2x4 and slant that so the top is almost touching and the base is 104cm apart. Stuff like that I can't do very easily in SW yet.

Frustrating.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

You mean like attached?

I drew the first trapezoid(long part of ladder), extruded it, then 1 step, used a linear sketch pattern to make more, and extruded the steps. Then drew the final trapezoid and extruded it.

Only took a few minutes. 1 part, not an assembly.

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Thingiverse ID Alan1279

I can get to that point, though it was rough as I am still learning, but I can take my sketch and extrude it and even say how far apart each sketch is at the bottom but how in the world do I take the top part of the extrusion and tell it I want that to be 33.5cm wide? As I said I can tell it at the bottom (where the two drawings are in the one sketch) to be 54cm but how do I do that at the top?

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

You want the 'rails' of the ladder not parralel? Closer at the top than the bottom?

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Thingiverse ID Alan1279

Exactly, where the top of the ladder is 33.5cm and the bottom is 54cm (outside wall to outside wall). It literally is an A with each rung being slightly shorter than the previous one starting at the bottom.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

Like this?

Really not hard, go through the tutorials about extrude-cut and extrude-boss.

This time I started with a box, and cut away the excess.

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Thingiverse ID Alan1279

Oh, wow going extremely old school now? We used to do this before we had more sophisticated tools in Cinema4D back circa 2001-2002. and I do know how to use extrusion tools I just never thought of doing this using such archaic means. Are you sure this is the only way of doing this as it is really using a sledge hammer to do the job when I would have thought a more eloquent way would be in SW?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2012 10:35PM by Dark Alchemist.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

Dark Alchemist Wrote:
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> Oh, wow going extremely old school now? We used
> to do this before we had more sophisticated tools
> in Cinema4D back circa 2001-2002. and I do know
> how to use extrusion tools I just never thought of
> doing this using such archaic means. Are you sure
> this is the only way of doing this as it is really
> using a sledge hammer to do the job when I would
> have thought a more eloquent way would be in SW?

Well excuse me, I should have realized you were a condesending know-it all from your other posts. Now I'm sorry I wasted my time offering up help. There are many ways to do it, I presented a simple one.

Sorry you can't figure out how to do it, but I strongly suggest taking the tutorials again, maybe you will eventually figure it out on your own, and more elegantly. I doubt with that attitude you'll get more help around here.

Dark Alchemist Wrote:
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....
> So, I am not sure this can be done without a
> tremendous amount of work.
......
> I am sure it can be done by a master.......

Well, it can be done by a someone using 'archaic means' with very little work. And certainly not a master, I've just started using Solidworks a few months ago......but it took me about 10 minutes to draw.........

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2012 10:58PM by Dad911.

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Thingiverse ID Alan1279

Damn it, I was not condescending (I hate posts because I figured you would take it that way) I was just surprised to see this technique from so long ago in my past today. I really didn't mean to offend (this is like email where people can't tell what people mean). This is why I asked you if you were sure it was the only way so you would get the gist I wasn't being an asshole. Apparently it didn't work.

edit: Due to your edit:

Dad911 Wrote:
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> Well, it can be done by a someone using 'archaic
> means' with very little work. And certainly not a
> master, I've just started using Solidworks a few
> months ago......but it took me about 10 minutes to
> draw.........

Archaic isn't a bad thing as it sometimes is the best, or fastest way.

Again, I wasn't trying to come off as an ass hole I was just taken back by seeing that technique in a 2012 product. If it gets the job done cool I just bet there is another way is all.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2012 11:02PM by Dark Alchemist.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

Another way to do it is to sketch the front surface of one side rail in the front plane and set the horizontal distance from the origin to the bottom and the top to what you want and extrude. Mirror the object. And then, extrude a sketch of the rungs (rectangle) in the yz plane in two directions up to the surface of each rail.

brnrd Wrote:
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> Another way to do it is to sketch the front
> surface of one side rail in the front plane and
> set the horizontal distance from the origin to the
> bottom and the top to what you want and extrude.
> Mirror the object. And then, extrude a sketch of
> the rungs (rectangle) in the yz plane in two
> directions up to the surface of each rail.
LOL, you know I just now did some of that before I noticed I had a response as my mind is telling me this is the best way to go but I am tired and will be shutting down in a minute.

What I did was sketch a leg and make a plane half the distance between the legs. Then I made the mid point the origin and mirrored it and the other leg seems to have taken but that is as far as I have gotten though I used the right plane if that will end up mattering I am not sure.

What I am not understanding is how can I get the legs at the bottom to be farther apart than the legs at the top? I suspect a move with angle on the 3d body is what is needed.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2012 12:15AM by Dark Alchemist.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

Sorry. I meant to sketch the front surface of one rail as a trapezoid so it's already slanted the right way: horizontal distance from the origin in the bottom corner to be half of the spacing that you want and horizontal distance from the top corner to the origin also at half the distance.

Dark alchemist, you should put up a paint drawing giving some rough dimensions. I can't seem to visualize what you are trying to explain, Dad911 seemed to show you exactly what you are asking for (A ladder with the two sides slanted inwards), so why not just use his method?

Are you adding dimensions to your sketch or just moving them manually? Add dimensions with the dimension tool from the leg to the origin. In your case, you input 27 as the distance which adds up to 54 sine its mirrored. Same method for the top. I use solidworks a lot, i can take a stab at it later today.

gyronictonic Wrote:
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> Are you adding dimensions to your sketch or just
> moving them manually? Add dimensions with the
> dimension tool from the leg to the origin. In your
> case, you input 27 as the distance which adds up
> to 54 sine its mirrored. Same method for the top.
> I use solidworks a lot, i can take a stab at it
> later today.
On my way out but wanted to answer this one quickly. Dimension tool seems cool but seems is in 2013 in 2012 we only have the dimension palette ( [www.google.com] ).

I am in 2012, as I said, and I can find no way to easily dimension the top and the bottom where both are different (giving a slant inward from the bottom up).

Not ignoring the rest just gotta leave now.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

PomeroyB Wrote:
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> Dark alchemist, you should put up a paint drawing
> giving some rough dimensions. I can't seem to
> visualize what you are trying to explain, Dad911
> seemed to show you exactly what you are asking for
> (A ladder with the two sides slanted inwards), so
> why not just use his method?
Back now so I will answer your question.

His technique is archaic but let me say it is the oldest technique in the history of man. Michelangelo used that technique when removing the excess stone to reveal the sculpture that was buried beneath. CNC machines are subtractive like that and faster than an additive machine (3d printers). So, a very viable technique but...

I am on a quest now to see if there is a new way of doing this that fits with using a parametric modeler. Now if I can't find the way (I can hear the SW instructors in the back of my head pounding on it telling me to make it more parametric) then I have this technique, that I had forgot all about, to fall back on.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

A paint drawing of what you're trying to achieve would be helpful.

Are you trying to do something like this?

Yes, and no. I suck at 2d drawing but lets see what I can wrangle out.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

Alright, here is the best I can do. The object on the far right is what each leg is like as it is not a solid piece.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

i'd like to think that this is what you are looking to do. it's a rather simple idea which solidworks can handle in MANY different ways. this is just the 1st way i thought of how to do it.

Evogenius Wrote:
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> i'd like to think that this is what you are
> looking to do. it's a rather simple idea which
> solidworks can handle in MANY different ways. this
> is just the 1st way i thought of how to do it.
That is what I am after but after I loaded it up I got lost. I see the sweep (novel approach as I was using extrude) and the dead fish head but where are the dimensions being used at? I see them when I click the fish head but frankly I am lost as I see nothing they are driving.

Can you explain a little, please?

edit: I see what you did as I deleted the sweep to bring everything out and I must say that is just a damn novel way of doing it. High-Five and two thumbs up as that is not anything I would have thought to do.

Brilliant.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2012 02:17PM by Dark Alchemist.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.