Solidworks Project: Learning the Ropes - Entry #8

 Lesson 3 - Drawings

This entry is a continuation of the basic theory conveyed in SolidWorks Project: Learning the Ropes - 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.

Entry #8 covers Lesson 3 - Drawings, which is the last lesson in the Getting Started section of the SolidWorks tutorials before moving onto the Basic Techniques section. The lesson starts out with signposting what can be expected from this tutorial as follows:

In this lesson, you create a multi-sheet drawing of the parts and assembly from Lessons 1 and 2.

This lesson includes:

• Opening a drawing template and editing a sheet format

• Inserting standard views of a part model

• Adding model and reference annotations

• Adding another drawing sheet

• Inserting a named view

• Printing the drawing 

As with previous tutorials, this one begins with setting up new files and familiarization with various settings (Figs 1&2).  Once this is setup, the Drawing workspace is ready to play with and can be seen in Fig. 3. Text is manipulated in the next steps, which consist of adding a company name to the drawing sheet as seen in Figs. 4 & 5.

The next step is to open the Tutor1 file, which was the original part that was created at the start of this series, as seen in Fig. 6. Once this file is opened, one must navigate back to the drawing sheet where the PropertyManager will allow the part to be selected. Choosing the Model View as seen in Fig. 7, it is now time to place the drawings of the part, then rearrange them to fit the area of the drawing sheet they are desired to be located in as seen in Figs. 8-10.

The next step is Adding Dimensions to a Drawing. The Model Items tool is selected for this task, and after adjusting some settings in the PropertyManager, the dimensions used in the original part tutorial are displayed on the drawing, albeit rather jumbled within the drawings themselves, and can barely be made out in Fig.11. Dragging the measurements to more desirable locations allows them to be read significantly easier, as seen in Fig.12. This prompts a save point.

The next step is Modifying Dimensions. This is a very simple task of double clicking the dimension to be modified which prompts the Modify dialog box to appear, then inputting whatever new dimension is desired.  In this case, the depth of the boss extrusion is increased to 40mm as seen in Fig. 13.  While still in the Modify box, clicking the “rebuild” icon rebuilds the model to reflect the new dimension, as seen in Fig. 14. A new “save all” is required for saving the file at this particular point.

Moving right along, we come to the Checking the Part and Rebuilding the Assembly section. This begins by going back to the Tutor1 part window and selecting the Boss-Extrude feature, which is the same feature we modified the dimension of in the drawing workspace. As seen in Fig. 15, the dimension has been updated in this file as well. 

Adding Another Drawing Sheet is the next section of the tutorial, and another sheet is added to the drawing. This is where it seems a step was missed- the tutorial seems to expect the Assembly part we wrapped up in the last entry to be opened already, and after this part is opened, it should be rebuilt to also reflect the new dimension of the extruded boss. Once the new sheet is added, the Standard 3 View is selected, which adds the 3 main views of the part all at once, as opposed to doing so individually as we did in the last sheet.

A final view is inserted into the drawing which provides an isometric view of the assembled part as seen in Fig. 17.  This completes the drawing and the only thing left in this tutorial is the instruction on how to setup the file for printing, which is seen in Fig. 18.

In conclusion, the only real hangup was the unclear instructions on opening the second file. Also, I will note that this section took much longer than the estimated time for the tutorials. While I wasn't keeping track very well of the prior estimates vs real time investment, this does seem to be a bit of a theme- someone who is experienced might get through the tutorials in the estimated timeframe or less, but new users should expect to spend more time than the estimate. This case was more on the extreme side of this notion.

Fig. 1. Opening a new “Drawing” file.

Fig. 2. Choosing the correct file formats.

Fig. 3. The view of the Drawing workspace.

Fig. 4. Modifying the text of the Drawing sheet.

Fig. 5. Entering text to indicate the company name of the project.

Fig. 6. Opening the old Tutor1 file in order to make a drawing of it.

Fig. 7. Returning to the Drawing sheet workspace and preparing to create a Model View.

Fig. 8. Placing the part onto the sheet.

Fig. 9. Multiple views of the part can be very easily added to the drawing.

Fig. 10. Once all the views are placed, they can be rearranged.

Fig. 11. Dimensions are added to the drawing, but very jumbled up.

Fig. 12. The dimension labels can be dragged into place to make it far easier to read the details of the drawing.

Fig. 13. The Modify dialog box makes it easy to change dimensions of the part.

Fig. 14. The “rebuilt” model reflects a deeper boss dimension.  

Fig. 15.  The dimension modified in one workspace is reflected in the original.

Fig. 16.  Three views can be populated at once using the Standard 3 View tool.

Fig. 17. Another view is added to complete the drawing.

Fig. 18. Further instructions on how to properly print the drawing is provided.