Hello,
I am very new to SolidWorks and am literally learning on the fly with no formal training. So if my descriptions or terminology is wrong, I apologize as I hope to communicate effectively!
My problem is:
I have created a basic assembly from several different part files that have been mated together along a common axis. I've created this assembly with some initial trial and error, and have used the process for quite a few assemblies to create drawings. All other assemblies and the drawings I have created from them have worked out fine. The assembly consists of several sections of a shaft, of varying lengths and diameters. To create a "new" assembly, I first saved the original assembly as a copy. I then renamed it to the new file name. Working with that new file, I would like to add, for example, an extension to the end of the shaft. It seems easy enough. The process I use is to click on the component, edit component and create an extruded boss. I am aware that it actually changes the original referenced part, although not currently opened, adding the new boss. This is normally fine, but I want to create multiple assemblies using the basic parts. Problem is, if I click the "No external references" button, it still modifies the original referenced parts. This of course screws up my other assembles using these same part files. SolidWorks help states that I can break or un-lock external references by simply right-clicking on the individual component in the design tree, but I can't see that option available to me. I simply want to add new features to my assembly WITHOUT changing anything outside of the current assembly. I appreciate any help with this seemingly simple, but troublesome problem. Thank you.
I am very new to SolidWorks and am literally learning on the fly with no formal training. So if my descriptions or terminology is wrong, I apologize as I hope to communicate effectively!
My problem is:
I have created a basic assembly from several different part files that have been mated together along a common axis. I've created this assembly with some initial trial and error, and have used the process for quite a few assemblies to create drawings. All other assemblies and the drawings I have created from them have worked out fine. The assembly consists of several sections of a shaft, of varying lengths and diameters. To create a "new" assembly, I first saved the original assembly as a copy. I then renamed it to the new file name. Working with that new file, I would like to add, for example, an extension to the end of the shaft. It seems easy enough. The process I use is to click on the component, edit component and create an extruded boss. I am aware that it actually changes the original referenced part, although not currently opened, adding the new boss. This is normally fine, but I want to create multiple assemblies using the basic parts. Problem is, if I click the "No external references" button, it still modifies the original referenced parts. This of course screws up my other assembles using these same part files. SolidWorks help states that I can break or un-lock external references by simply right-clicking on the individual component in the design tree, but I can't see that option available to me. I simply want to add new features to my assembly WITHOUT changing anything outside of the current assembly. I appreciate any help with this seemingly simple, but troublesome problem. Thank you.
External references are created when you relate a sketch entity to an assembly. The part then becomes driven by the assembly. This is just one example of external references.
When you get comfortable with configurations of parts, if your assemblies are similar enough, you can do configurations of assemblies also.