2004 Materials Libraries

[rusty763]

We've been using Material, Finish and Heat Treat as Custom Properties and actually have start parts for common materials with these Custom Properties defined. The density and color is also defined in our start parts. Over time, we've added more materials and are finding it cumbersome to sift thru all the Material "start parts". Also, it takes some time to change the Material Custom Property, density and color of the part if the material is to change on the fly.

With the new Material Manager in 2004, we would like to create our own smaller library instead of the comprehensive list of SolidWorks default materials. We've done this already. Now we've linked our Custom Property called Material to this library but would like to add Finish and Heat Treat. The Material portion works very slick. Simply edit the Materials in the part and the Custom Property changes and the BOM is updated.

If possible, we'd have only one start part in place of many and we'd have the flexibility to change the material on the fly. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[slorandy]

Please let me know what you find out. We want to use the same approach. I've started creating a new material database but adding materials and their properties is quite a big job. I wish there was an easier way to create the original database.

 

[TheTick]

This sounds like an ideal job for a macro (or API VB or C) program.

"Great ideas need landing gear as well as wings."--C. D. Jackson

 

[slorandy]

Any solution ever found for this?

 

[rusty763]

It appears that we are getting close to a solution with this. We are working with our VAR(Alignex/Bloomington,MN rocks!). I'll let you know what we come up with.

Ross

 

[Bouke]

How are you able to change to custom-property after you have given the part a new material?? Do you have an macro running al the time at the background that will pick up the "material-change"-event, or do you have to run a macro after you've changed it. Maybe some other way. I'm very intressed in the subject since i'm working on kinda the same-thing at the moment. (next to my regular job being a mechanical engineer... )