I am trying to make a custom profile of an aluminum extrusion. I made my profile sketch and constrained the entire thing so it can not move at all, but when I add it as a structural member as a weldment parts of it blow apart and will not allow the weldment to be created. Anyone know why this is and how stop it from happening?
on the left is when I am adding the weldment, parts of t he profile move. On the right is the profile how it's supposed to be.
Hi Timothy,
In sketch place point mark for location.
Once you complete your sketch right click on sketch & select Add to Library.
And in last save your sketch as a .sldlfp (Library feature part) in library.
I've never seen anything like that. Without seeing the files I can only guess, but I wonder if it has something to do with the multiple closed profiles in the sketch. Can you post the Part and the .sldlfp file?
and it doesn't always blow up the same way when I insert the member.
I tried adding it to a new sketch and it went haywire in a different way.
Here is my sketch I made the library feature from, I made it fully constrained after the first time I tried to insert it as a welment and it went bonkers on me.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/0jwjy25ow8i8ymo/EX-6.zip?dl=0
here is a link to download the library feature and the part I was trying to insert it on.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/0jwjy25ow8i8ymo/EX-6.zip?dl=0
I tried the same thing and got a similar result to yours. I opened the .sldlfp file, edited the sketch, deleted 3/4 of it, Fixed everything, then finished it with two "Mirror Entities" functions, closed the sketch, and saved (see attached). When I tried again it worked fine.
Thanks Glenn
Is it better to use mirrors to make symmetrical profiles for weldments so that it limits the automatic constraints?
Timothy Taby wrote:
Thanks Glenn
Is it better to use mirrors to make symmetrical profiles for weldments so that it limits the automatic constraints?
I don't really know. I'm not familiar with profile sketches with this much complexity. I just thought I'd try it, and it worked. Sometimes I think half the stuff I've learned with SW was a result of something like "Hmm, I wonder if xxx will work?"
Also, next time please attach the files directly. See How can I attach a file to a forum post? for instructions.
(Although my support distractions means Glenn has already solved this..)
See the ( - ) in the tree by the sketch. This means it is not fully defined.
Also, is there some purpose to the undefined construction lines in each corner edge? Edit: Glenn, is this the junk you deleted?
The aluminum extrusions are actually sloped slightly to get more tightening on the outside surfaces, hence the construction lines, but when using the profiles in an assembly it's much easier if the surfaces are flat to mate other things to them. This is my first time trying to use the profile as a weldment though, I figured I would try it.
Tom Gagnon wrote:
(Although my support distractions means Glenn has already solved this..)
See the ( - ) in the tree by the sketch. This means it is not fully defined.
Also, is there some purpose to the undefined construction lines in each corner edge? Edit: Glenn, is this the junk you deleted?
I deleted everything outside the red lines below, added the construction lines and deleted all dimensions (deleting the dimensions probably wasn't necessary, but I was going to Fix everything anyway), Fixed everything, then mirrored about the construction lines.
I tried the same thing and got a similar result to yours. I opened the .sldlfp file, edited the sketch, deleted 3/4 of it, Fixed everything, then finished it with two "Mirror Entities" functions, closed the sketch, and saved (see attached). When I tried again it worked fine.