SolidWorks Project: Learning the Ropes - Entry #2 - Drawing a Part (Pressure Plate): My First Drawing

 This entry is a continuation of Entry #1, where a 3D model of a pressure plate was created. As stated in Entry #1, the theory being tested in this blog series is based upon the internal tutorial program embedded within Solidworks which is rumored to be all that is needed to reach intermediate to advanced level understanding of the software, with additional sources only needed for specialized uses or integration with other programs such as Blender for 3D printing. This series will document the progress of a first year engineering student with no prior experience with computer aided engineering design to weigh the theory based on outcomes. 


The process demonstrated followed the tutorials presented through the software itself, with no external assistance from other instructional sources.

This tutorial is entitled “My First Drawing.” Through this process, the previously created part, the pressure plate, will have a drawing made from the 3D design. Engineering instructor, Professor Wayne Smith, noted that there seemed to be a discrepancy in the instructions for this tutorial, so it may not be able to be fully completed.  


Execution of the pressure plate drawing began with opening the original pressure plate file, as seen in Fig. 1, to convert the original 3D part design into a drawing and specifying parameters/settings for the drawing. A number of issues were discovered in the first page of the tutorial instructions, and without a method for finding and correcting these previous issues, work pressed on in hopes of it either not mattering, or being able to correct the issue later in the tutorial. Unfortunately, this was not the case and the tutorial failed at this point, unable to be completed.
SolidWorks was contacted, and it was confirmed that the tutorials simply had not been updated since the last major feature update. This tutorial was corrected, which was confirmed upon the successful attempt at completing the “My First Drawing” tutorial, as demonstrated in this blog entry.


Starting with the 3D pressure plate in Fig. 1, this image is converted to a drawing of the top view of the pressure plate, as seen in Fig. 2. After this initial conversion to 2D, Fig. 3 depicts the creation of a cross-section view, which is then flipped as seen in Fig. 4. SolidWorks automatically created a name for the cross section, as well as for the expanded detail view that was created in the next step as seen in Fig. 5. Once the detailed view was placed correctly on the drawing, an isometric view of the pressure plate was added in Fig. 6.


The next steps involve adding markings to the drawing, starting with center marks in a tall boss. Once the center mark had been placed in one tall boss as seen in Fig. 7, it was very easy to propagate center marks on the remaining tall bosses, as seen is FIg. 8. These center marks did not carry over to the cross section and detailed views, so centerlines were added to both views.

The final steps in this tutorial consisted of adding dimensions to the pressure plate drawing. Starting with the top view, the tutorial instructed users to select


 a tall boss and begin adding Smart Dimension labels, which start with Fig. 10 and Fig. 11.  Fig. 12 shows dimensions made for the detailed view of the cross section. After modifying the dimension labels, “My First Drawing” was complete.


In conclusion to Entry #2, this tutorial was able to be completed after SolidWorks corrected their tutorials to reflect recent updates to the software. So far, the theory being tested remains in the affirmative.






Fig. 1. The 3D model pressure plate from the prior tutorial entry.





Fig. 2. The initial drawing conversion of the top view of the pressure plate.


Fig. 3. Creating a cross section view.


Fig. 4. Flipping the cross section view.





Fig. 5. Creating an expanded view of a cross section detail.
Fig. 6. Adding the 3D Isometric View to the drawing.








Fig. 7. Adding Center Marks to the tall boss.


Fig. 8. Duplicating center marks to all of the tall bosses.

Fig. 9. Adding centerlines to the cross section and detailed views.



Fig. 10. Placing dimensions onto the drawing.







Fig. 11. Placing measurements to the top view of the pressure plate.


Fig. 12. Placing detail dimensions to the cross section detailed view.



Fig.13. Modifying the dimension labels, and the final product.


Comments

  1. Nice work! So glad you were able to sort out software issues and continue with this project.

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