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feature suppression w/o iLogic

8 REPLIES 8
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Message 1 of 9
cadman777
468 Views, 8 Replies

feature suppression w/o iLogic

Dear Anybody,

Do you have a method, absent iLogic, to suppress part features in an assembly?
For example: You have an assembly (= weldment w/o using "weldments") comprised of a number of parts in their 'as-welded' condition. You want to do machining on that weldment. Some of the weldment parts are thicker and have undersized holes in them. But in the Part itself, you have all the 'as-machined' holes and thicknesses which you can 'turn-on' in the assembly.


Currently, I create an assembly w/all the parts 'as-fabricated' (= thicker and w/undersized holes). Then I use a derived part to do all the machining operations. But this always isn't the correct work-path, and the other method (= suppressing features at the part level) would work better.


Got any suggestions?

Thanks for your input.

... Chris
Win 7 Pro 64 bit + IV 2010 Suite
ASUS X79 Deluxe
Intel i7 3820 4.4 O/C
64 Gig ADATA RAM
Nvidia Quadro M5000 8 Gig
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8 REPLIES 8
Message 2 of 9
cwhetten
in reply to: cadman777

I don't totally understand your workflow, but could you just put the machined features in the assembly, instead of in the parts?

 

Cameron Whetten
Inventor 2012

Message 3 of 9
cadman777
in reply to: cwhetten

Cameron,

 

Thanks for asking.

 

I quit doing that b/c the assembly features drop out of existence when the model is modified after the fact. The resulting waste of time and energy destroys the ROI of a project. That's what makes derived parts better than assemblies for this kind of thing.

 

My goal is to make my models nearly totally dependent on primary sketches, parameters and features in 1 or less than a half-dozen ipt's. That way, when I need to make an update to the model, I change the derived base sketch, and it propagates down to every last child, including the idw. The reason I do that is to prevent wasted time and energy on edits due to broken parts, assemblies, features and drgs.

 

For example, a recent project had around 40 sheets of drgs (d-size). The customer changed it at least a 1/2 dozen times AFTER the drgs were "issued for fabrication"(!). Each time, the amount of "hardware chugging" was deplorable. The reason is b/c they made chances at the fundamental level, which required full-updates of everything from the base sketches. The lesson I learned from this project is to NEVER use "muscular modeling" at the base sketch level, and ALWAYS use sketches and parameters only, at the base level. That's what happens when you make models so that everything will update from 1 to a half-dozen base sketches.

 

In the past I would attempt to communicate my desires to Adsk to fix their software. But since they have repeatedly demonstrated to me that they don't give a **** about my needs as a 'power user', all's I can say is:

 

I used to care, but I don't care anymore." - Bob Dylan

 

Hence, I come in here to see if anybody knows of a way to accomplish what I've been unable to do myself. I'm always willing to admit "I don't know", and will be grateful to benefit from the experience and knokwledge of other 'power users' in here.

 

Cheers ...

... Chris
Win 7 Pro 64 bit + IV 2010 Suite
ASUS X79 Deluxe
Intel i7 3820 4.4 O/C
64 Gig ADATA RAM
Nvidia Quadro M5000 8 Gig
3d Connexion Space Navigator
Message 4 of 9
blair
in reply to: cadman777

Almost sounds like Multi-Body modeling might work for you.


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Message 5 of 9
cwhetten
in reply to: cadman777

So you are looking for a way to activate the part-level features from the assembly, is that right?  I suppose that just opening or activating each part to turn the features on and off is not an option for you?

 

Or are you wanting to make it so that when you create a derived part, you can include or exclude certain features from the derived part?

 

Cameron Whetten
Inventor 2012

Message 6 of 9
cadman777
in reply to: cwhetten

Cameron,

 

I want to suppress/unsuppress features of parts from within and assembly.

 

I want to see how that helps my work-flow.

... Chris
Win 7 Pro 64 bit + IV 2010 Suite
ASUS X79 Deluxe
Intel i7 3820 4.4 O/C
64 Gig ADATA RAM
Nvidia Quadro M5000 8 Gig
3d Connexion Space Navigator
Message 7 of 9
cadman777
in reply to: blair

Blair,

 

I can't use MBP's b/c the parts need to be detailed, and there's too much involved with an MBP.

 

I use MBP's for small weldments. But that always requires turning them into an assembly. The result is a lot of down-line work, b/c there aren't enough functions in MBP's to customize how they create assemblies. So I use MBP's sparingly.

Plus, MBP's don't work w/sheet metal parts (in my case, formed plate).

... Chris
Win 7 Pro 64 bit + IV 2010 Suite
ASUS X79 Deluxe
Intel i7 3820 4.4 O/C
64 Gig ADATA RAM
Nvidia Quadro M5000 8 Gig
3d Connexion Space Navigator
Message 8 of 9
cwhetten
in reply to: cadman777

There isn't any out-of-the box functionality for controlling part-level feature suppression from the assembly level.  That said, it sounds like iAssemblies might provide some of the functionality you are looking for, but it would be a significantly different method than what you have now.  Regardless, it may be worth investigating, if you haven't already.

 

Even without iLogic, you could still approach this with programming.  Would you be opposed to a VBA macro solution?

 

Cameron Whetten
Inventor 2012

Message 9 of 9
cadman777
in reply to: cwhetten

Cameron,

 

Didn't think of iAssemblies.

Will give it some thought.

On the surface, it seems a bit complicated for what I want to accomplish.

 

I don't know VBA, and don't think I have the head-space to learn it.

Don't have iLogic, and can't find a way to buy the module for a reasonable price.

Don't want to pay for "Subscription", since it costs me, taking away from my ROI.

 

I learned to keep my work 'out of the box' simple, for the future.

CAD software is notorious for complicating 'add-in' and 'customizatins' with upgrates.

 

Cheers ...

... Chris
Win 7 Pro 64 bit + IV 2010 Suite
ASUS X79 Deluxe
Intel i7 3820 4.4 O/C
64 Gig ADATA RAM
Nvidia Quadro M5000 8 Gig
3d Connexion Space Navigator

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