Adding part to toolbox??

[monkeys]

hello all,

I have had a look through the FAQ - but cannot find what I am looking for.

Does anyone know how to add in standard parts into toolbox? In this case i want to add in a round bar into the toolbox - so i can use this in an assembly rather than making up seperate parts.

thanks in advance,

Callum

 

[CADGemini]

Why not just add the part to your design library, then add configurations of that part for different lengths that are needed.

I attempted to create a toolbox item one time and failed misirably. I was trying to create an item that would act as a toolbox item, with a pop-up window that you could specify length, dia, etc. In my opinion it is easier to throw the part into your design library and create seperate configurations as needed.

Maybe some other user's in this forum have better ideas. But the design library works best for me.

Best Regards,
Jon

Challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Solidworks 2005 SP3.0

 

[Beggar]

I did it awhile back but it wasn't easy and I can't give you a step-by-step recipe. However, here's basically what I did.

I started by creating a new data standard. From there I opened one part in the new library, turned all the existing entities into construction ones, and then drew my new shape (I was adding bars). The tricky part - which I'd have to work through again - was going into the actual database and creating new records to have the new standard dimensions I wanted.

It did work, and quite well, but it took a bit of massaging. Fair warning: SWX does not support user access to the TB database and they won't point you to the correct table or record so you need to have some confidence working in Access. Neither did my VAR have any light to shed on it.

Of course, their refusal to help made my life more interesting and more meaningful (I kinda like Jon's tag line).

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[Standing]

Jon is right in putting it in the design library. This is what it is for.

Bradley

 

[smcadman]

Jon is right in putting it in the design library. This is what it is for

What is the difference between the Design Library and Pallette Parts? I have been saving my commonly-used parts such as sheet metal hat-sections, z-channels, etc. in Pallette Parts.

Flores

 

[Standing]

Flores,
I see no difference between Design Library and Palette Parts. They both work the same as far as I know. You should use whatever you or your company standards are.


Bradley

 

[Beggar]

I like the way the pop-up window for toolbox works for things like structural parts -- I just wanted to be able to have it work for my own shapes and dimensions. That's why I did it the way I did. To me, it's preferable to the design library...JMO

--------------------
Bring back the HP-15

http://www.hp15c.org

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[macduff]

What's the differece between Design Library and Toolbox? They pretty much do the same thing, no?


Macduff
Senior Designer/Checker
macduff's SW page
Dell Precision PWS370
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SW2005 Pro SP 1.1
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NIVIDA Quadro FX 1300

 

[Beggar]

I must confess that I don't have much experience with Palette Parts (is that what you mean by Design Library?). That said, from using the packaged parts, it just pops up a dialog box that lets you pick a configuration.

For structural shapes, toolbox seems to be cleaner. It's nice to be able to grab the shape from the list of available shapes and then just type in whatever length you want -- configurations are created automatically. If you want to make a change, right-click and edit the toolbox definition.

It's quite likely that it's just my limitation in using the software but palette parts don't seem nearly so flexible as that.

--------------------
Bring back the HP-15

http://www.hp15c.org

--------------------

 

[ctopher]

I use DL because I can add to it much easier and quicker.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP2.0 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site
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[LOKi42]

Beggar

Hope you are still fallowing this thread

You mentioned being able to “just type in whatever length you want – configurations are created automatically.” I have figured out how to get properties from that dialog box to the properties of the configuration but how do you link a size you type in the dialog box to the object size you are looking to change?