Zero angle dimension with tolerance in drawing

[mailR2VS9]

I have a drawing, where the angle between the sides of two components must be zero (parallel edges), but within a zertain tolerance.

Is there a way in "Drawing" to specify an angular tolerance for two parallel edges?

If I rotate one component so the angle between the two edges is not zero, I can specify an anglular dimension with tolerance. As soon as I rotate the component back to parallel state, the dimension in the drawing disappears (together with my tolerance). If I rotate one component away from parallel state, the angular dimension reappears.

As the components are rectanglar one workaround would be to specify a 90 deg angle with tolerance, but that will make it less intutive to read, so I don't like that.

This drawing is part of a specification for mounting some electromechanical components on a PCB.

Is there another way to specify an angular tolerance for two parallel edges?

Thank you.

Best regards,

Carsten

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

You do not use a dimension to show that surfaces of components must be machined parallel, you use GD&T (Geometric, Dimensional and Tolerance) notation.  In my drawing, the GD&T tells the machinist that the two surfaces must be parallel the each other within a tolerance range of .001".  Be careful with GD&T callouts, you can easily specify a tolerance with either has an extreme cost to machine or you cannot machine it at all.  Since is is not an easy process to specify a zero degree angle, it is better to use a parallel note.  If you did have an angle dimension, you can also apply a GD&T note to it as well.

[mailR2VS9]

Hi John,

Thank you very much for your explanation. This is exactly what I was looking for.

I'm an electronics engineer, but work a lot in the boundary between mechanics and electronics.

Best regards,

Carsten