Solid Works import and edit

[Anonymous]

I'm a CAD enthusiast and new to Fusion 360.

Several years ago a modeled a dollhouse with lots of individual parts in SolidWorks. I still have all the original files but I no longer have access to SolidWorks.

The model imports into Fusion 360 well, but apparently without measurements/constraints? I'm not sure how it can do that and still show a completed model, so maybe I'm just doing something wrong but I can't find a sketch to manipulate.

Recognizing that I don't have access to SolidWorks at this time, and so cannot export it in a more Fusion friendly format, how do I go about generating the sketch with dimensions and constraints for all the parts? Or am I (please no) starting over?

Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

I'm a CAD enthusiast and new to Fusion 360.

Several years ago a modeled a dollhouse with lots of individual parts in SolidWorks. I still have all the original files but I no longer have access to SolidWorks.

The model imports into Fusion 360 well, but apparently without measurements/constraints? I'm not sure how it can do that and still show a completed model, so maybe I'm just doing something wrong but I can't find a sketch to manipulate.

Recognizing that I don't have access to SolidWorks at this time, and so cannot export it in a more Fusion friendly format, how do I go about generating the sketch with dimensions and constraints for all the parts? Or am I (please no) starting over?

Thanks in advance.

[TrippyLighting]

No CAD Software I am aware of can read another CAD software native files including all the design history or feature trees etc.

what you’ll get as you’ve already discovered is dumb solids and/or surfaces.

No sketches, no construction geometry.

[TrippyLighting]

No CAD Software I am aware of can read another CAD software native files including all the design history or feature trees etc.

what you’ll get as you’ve already discovered is dumb solids and/or surfaces.

No sketches, no construction geometry.

[cekuhnen]

@Anonymous@TrippyLighting@Anonymous

U can use OnShape to load further model or export the design

onshape is based on SW

[cekuhnen]

@Anonymous@TrippyLighting@Anonymous

U can use OnShape to load further model or export the design

onshape is based on SW

[cekuhnen]

@Anonymous

I forgot to mention that the design loaded int OnShape can be perfectly exported to Fusion so you can continue working with Fusions better UI and workflow.

[cekuhnen]

@Anonymous

I forgot to mention that the design loaded int OnShape can be perfectly exported to Fusion so you can continue working with Fusions better UI and workflow.

[schneik-adsk]

@cekuhnen Onshape will also load SolidWorks models as dumb solids and surfaces. Onshape is made by ex SolidWorks employees. It is not based on SolidWorks.

There is some expensive software from Theorem Solutions that can convert between native parametric models. It does require you to have access to the native cad apps to do some of the transitions between formats.

@bendegeit@TrippyLighting@nuning2631 None of this helps you in your original question.  There might be one tool you can use to get some intelligence back into your models. After you import your solidworks model. Under the modify menu there is a tool called find features. This will not create parametric features but it will try and make some smart direct edit features.g

I would suggest turning off mirror and pattern the first time you try this tool so it will work faster. 

You can get a bit more edit-ability out of imported solids this way.

[schneik-adsk]

@cekuhnen Onshape will also load SolidWorks models as dumb solids and surfaces. Onshape is made by ex SolidWorks employees. It is not based on SolidWorks.

There is some expensive software from Theorem Solutions that can convert between native parametric models. It does require you to have access to the native cad apps to do some of the transitions between formats.

@bendegeit@TrippyLighting@nuning2631 None of this helps you in your original question.  There might be one tool you can use to get some intelligence back into your models. After you import your solidworks model. Under the modify menu there is a tool called find features. This will not create parametric features but it will try and make some smart direct edit features.g

I would suggest turning off mirror and pattern the first time you try this tool so it will work faster. 

You can get a bit more edit-ability out of imported solids this way.

[cekuhnen]

@schneik-adsk Ops thats true - I missed that.

However the best answer to the OP is import SW model and reverse engineer from scratch with Fusion if OP wants a parametric model again.

@Anonymous So what you can do is after importing into Fusion use the geometry to project edges into sketches you created like you did in SW before.

This way you can easily reverse engineer what you need. And with the sketches remade you can drive your geometry with Fusion's modeling tools.

Also sorry for the confusing posts, pacifying my baby girl, working on a client project and responding to threads seem not to work well - multitasking failure !

[cekuhnen]

@schneik-adsk Ops thats true - I missed that.

However the best answer to the OP is import SW model and reverse engineer from scratch with Fusion if OP wants a parametric model again.

@Anonymous So what you can do is after importing into Fusion use the geometry to project edges into sketches you created like you did in SW before.

This way you can easily reverse engineer what you need. And with the sketches remade you can drive your geometry with Fusion's modeling tools.

Also sorry for the confusing posts, pacifying my baby girl, working on a client project and responding to threads seem not to work well - multitasking failure !

[Anonymous]

Thanks, guys.  I was kinda already arriving at the idea of having to recreate each part and hoping to do it in the least painful way possible. My model has roughly 230 separate pieces (though a handful of them are multiple instances from a common template) and lots of sharp angles and miter cuts.

My fantasy is to get to where I can cut the pieces out of wood sheets using a CNC router, but where this is not my industry I've no idea how to best do that. I don't know CAM at all but I am thinking that I still need to have measurements, etc., not to mention if I ever (always) want to change something later on.

Ironically, it is indisputable that all of that stuff has to be there already, on the deep inside of the existing model, or fusion wouldn't even be able to show it to me with all of the parts, etc. in their correct places. I can even assign materials to each part. And if I try to create a drawing based on a part the correct measurements seem to be there as well. It is merely the human interface part that is missing.

Most recently I have tried to recreate one part, using the original geometry as a sample. Hiding all of the other parts, I started a new sketch on the original plane, tracing the existing part. As I did so all lines except arcs came in pre-constrained, so that if I tried to dimension them it threw an error. These constraints appear to be attached to the original 'body.' 

How would I severe these constraints? And how do I delete the dumb body once I have a new part sketched and created?

Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, guys.  I was kinda already arriving at the idea of having to recreate each part and hoping to do it in the least painful way possible. My model has roughly 230 separate pieces (though a handful of them are multiple instances from a common template) and lots of sharp angles and miter cuts.

My fantasy is to get to where I can cut the pieces out of wood sheets using a CNC router, but where this is not my industry I've no idea how to best do that. I don't know CAM at all but I am thinking that I still need to have measurements, etc., not to mention if I ever (always) want to change something later on.

Ironically, it is indisputable that all of that stuff has to be there already, on the deep inside of the existing model, or fusion wouldn't even be able to show it to me with all of the parts, etc. in their correct places. I can even assign materials to each part. And if I try to create a drawing based on a part the correct measurements seem to be there as well. It is merely the human interface part that is missing.

Most recently I have tried to recreate one part, using the original geometry as a sample. Hiding all of the other parts, I started a new sketch on the original plane, tracing the existing part. As I did so all lines except arcs came in pre-constrained, so that if I tried to dimension them it threw an error. These constraints appear to be attached to the original 'body.' 

How would I severe these constraints? And how do I delete the dumb body once I have a new part sketched and created?

Thanks again.

[lichtzeichenanlage]

This might be interesting for you.

[lichtzeichenanlage]

This might be interesting for you.

[cekuhnen]

@Anonymous

well if the design is done in SW and you import it into Fusion as a DM model you can turn body by body into components to be used for the CNC.

I am not sure if you need to re create the complete parametric design if you goal is to CNC what you build.

On the other side you projected from a body an edge into a sketch and cannot then add a dimension because the line is projected.

You have to break the link so the line becomes editable.

As a fair warning it will take you some days / weeks to adjust - CAD is just not easy as eating pie.

[cekuhnen]

@Anonymous

well if the design is done in SW and you import it into Fusion as a DM model you can turn body by body into components to be used for the CNC.

I am not sure if you need to re create the complete parametric design if you goal is to CNC what you build.

On the other side you projected from a body an edge into a sketch and cannot then add a dimension because the line is projected.

You have to break the link so the line becomes editable.

As a fair warning it will take you some days / weeks to adjust - CAD is just not easy as eating pie.

[Anonymous]

@lichtzeichenanlageThat is a beautiful forecast of the future and very likely the exact utility that I need. The only question is: how far away is that from implementation.

@cekuhnenCNC of the parts is the end-goal. Before that I want to be able to modify and continue to improve the model. For that I need parametric data.

As for the learning curve, it is expected and not intimidating. I merely wish to avoid the avoidable. If I had to start over from zero I could do that too.

[Anonymous]

@lichtzeichenanlageThat is a beautiful forecast of the future and very likely the exact utility that I need. The only question is: how far away is that from implementation.

@cekuhnenCNC of the parts is the end-goal. Before that I want to be able to modify and continue to improve the model. For that I need parametric data.

As for the learning curve, it is expected and not intimidating. I merely wish to avoid the avoidable. If I had to start over from zero I could do that too.

[cekuhnen · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous

Well in that case you just have to rebuild it in Fusion from scratch but fortunately you can use the imported SW file as 3D blueprint.

[cekuhnen · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous

Well in that case you just have to rebuild it in Fusion from scratch but fortunately you can use the imported SW file as 3D blueprint.