Showing Machining Steps in Drawing

[mmadetzke]

I have casting models that first get a rough machining and then a finished machining. We are interested in showing the individual processes in a multi-sheet drawing. Right now, merge the casting and then remove the material from the casting in the same manneras our machining process. Then when it is done, I create a family table and suppress the cuts corresponding to the processes that have not yet occurred. There are around 8 total processes and 8 sheets in the drawing.


The problem I'm having is that when I need to change or update a cut, some features are failing in the family table instances for no apparent reason (axis, cosmetics, and even some of the cuts). When this happens, I have to go into the family table select yes for the correct cuts and features and then open the instances and regenerate them from there (I never need to modify these failed cuts because there is never anything wrong with them).


My questions: 1) Is this the best way to show the machining steps for a part? 2) What could becausing these features to fail?

 

[mdemers]

Hi,


I admit my reply commes rather late, and I hope, for yourself, that you've already found an alternative.


If not, one alternative I would suggest you would be to use inheritance features :


Your finished part could be used as an inheritance feature in as many other parts as you have machining steps. Then, when inserting the inheritance feature individuallyin every part, you'd select dimensions to vary, features not to appear, etc. that are specific to that step.


I've tried it once, for a casting too, and it worked fine. Plus, if you use or are planning to use Windchill one day, you'll see that inheritance fetaures are much easier to manage than family tables.


Good luck,


Mat

 

[appinmi]

I use family tables a lot to create "process" models & drawings. They too, show the process from start to finish. It is best to have the family table in the part, assembly cuts are somewhat unstable. The one thing that you must do is not have something cut in a later operation ahead of anything before that operation. (ex: cut done in operation 90 references a feature done in operation 110). If you "turn off" the cuts done in operation 110, that feature in operation 90 will have some serious issues to contened with.


When you modify the dimensions, it helps to modify them in the "generic" instance.


Also there is a config.pro option that used to cause us some problems. Make sure that read_famtab_file_on_retrieve is set to "NO". This causes any file retrieval to get the information from the "mother" file and not from the "instance" file.

 

[BONES1369]

I do something very similar. I have the exact same issue with cuts failing for no reason. Here is what I found works best. I create my generic model and set up my family table including all base parts and featureswithout cuts. Then I open every instance. Once each instance is open, I activate my first operation, or first instance. I make all of my cuts at the instance level. What this does then is creates the cuts only in the instance active. If you open the second instance, the cuts will be there, but suppressed. If they are supposed to be there I resume them, if not needed, I delete them. This takes care of the generic too, in the table it will include the features created, and place an appropriate Yes or No for each instance depending on whether or not the feature was resumed ordeleted.


So far doing it this way has for some reason made the cuts a little more stable. It also makes managing the generic considerably easier for large scale models.

 

[denisvragolan]

Hi.


I didone job some 8 or 9 month ago and I used, if I remember well, "process plan". You remove material from stock model throughsteps defined in "process plan" and in the drawing you only have tochoosethestep you want to present.


Hope this helps.

 

[GOFORAWILDRIDE]

Another way is to create seperate models and have the casting as the first model and merge the next step to the casting and the next step to the previous step and so and so until you reach your final model.


Then when the casting is revised or an intermidate step is revised all you need to do is bring up the following models and regen them to get an update on what the previous model changed.


You then create the final model drawing and add all of the models to that drawing.


Then before you insert a new sheet you set which model you want to use on that sheet and add the views and dimensions that you wish to view.


Do this for all sheets always remembering to SET THE MODEL before creating a new sheet.


This method eliminates family table woes.

 

[jbuckl]

MMadeTzke,


How about:


step1


Create your casting.prt


step2


create your machining_1.prt as a 'copy geom' from casting.prt ; add 1st stage machining features.


step3


create your machining_2.prt as a 'copy geom' frommachining_1.prt add 2nd stage machining features.


note1


using this method needs different file names for each stage as does family tables. whereas inheritance can use the same part number,I think.


note2


a skeleton is the preferred method to include machining 'parents' for casting 'children' if these are necessary. (but its simpler to stick to machining features driven by separate parents in the machining model, or casting model parents, which is more like reality)


Note3


avoid assembly cuts unless the operation is really made in a subassembly machining operation.


Note 4


to update a machined part where a casting change has been made requires redefinition or edit definition of the copy geom, but once in the edit definition the model will update without any further picking ie click cancel when in edit redefine. (ie regeneration does not automatically update the copy geom, it has to be triggered by a redefintion without actually redefining anything)


Note 5


Use family table instancesfor 'staging' a model when it is modified without machining and the part number remains the same. say for assembly instances where the assembly process affects the shape of the parts.('Inheritance' can achieve a similar result, but without the instance filename extension.)


Regards Jbuckl