topic Re: Am I missing something? BOM Descriptions for McMaster parts in Fusion Design, Validate & Document Forum

Am I missing something? BOM Descriptions for McMaster parts

k.wildman — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 00:12:40 GMT

I can't seem to find a clear answer, so perhaps someone can clarify something for me.

When inserting a McMaster-Carr part, I find that the parts do not have any sort of part description attached, just a part number. This is reflected in the BOM. They also insert as the default material for the project.

Is this normal, or am I missing something that fills in this missing info? If this is normal (hooray for me), I have a LOT of small parts to edit properties of (assembly of over 500 total parts, if all together). Awesome.

Thanks!

Re: Am I missing something? BOM Descriptions for McMaster parts

jeevesme — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 02:35:46 GMT

I hope you're missing something because ive wondered the same thing. Ive scoured the forums , videos, and how-tos and haven't seen anything other than it takes the part number from McMaster Carr and places it as the component name.

Re: Am I missing something? BOM Descriptions for McMaster parts

k.wildman — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 17:18:04 GMT

Not to mention, unless you go edit the Description right then and there after inserting the part, you have no way to tell a washer from a nut from a bolt based on the part number and name. That is, unless you happen to have notes somewhere to refer to, or you want to spend time confirming descriptions through the McMaster website.

Re: Am I missing something? BOM Descriptions for McMaster parts

innovatenate — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 02:35:22 GMT

If you right click on a component in the model browser and select properties, there are some fields for the name and description. This is where the BOM in the drawings is pulling information from. Unfortunately, the add-in is basically importing the CAD file format you select (STEP or SAT). This meta-deta (part number, name and description) doesn't usually translate with these file formats. This is a known limitation of importing STEP or SAT files from other sources and the McMaster Add-In.

You could add a feature suggestion in the Fusion 360 Ideastation to be considered for future development efforts. If you add this one to the Ideastation, please let me know so I can vote it up, too.

I hope this helps clarify what is going on here. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,

Re: Am I missing something? BOM Descriptions for McMaster parts

eellenburg — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 03:38:11 GMT

If you use SAT instead of STEP it will have a description as part of the name. You can then copy it to the description field.

Re: Am I missing something? BOM Descriptions for McMaster parts

innovatenate — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 05:22:13 GMT

Wish I could kudos that post more than once... I didn't notice that! Thanks for pointing that out!!!!

Re: Am I missing something? BOM Descriptions for McMaster parts

k.wildman — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 17:31:29 GMT

Thanks! This is a helpful in-between step, though when I tried to insert a SAT file format part, I was met with an error (Error: Autodesk Translation Services failed to translate the sat file, please make sure the sat file isn't corrupt!) and wouldn't insert the part. Back to STEP files, I guess.

Based on the screencast, it still doesn't show the size of the fastener, such as length and diameter. This is the data that I wish would import in.