Application differences between blocks & wblocks Autocad 2000/2000i

[hinged]

I am a new user to Autocad 2ooo/2000i.
I am looking at the creation of blocks and the difference for the block & wblock commands.
We have a number of the same components used in several different assemblies. I would like to make these into blocks. Some of these are fasteners.
WHat advantages does one method have over the other with block creation?
The individual components will not change or be updated so as to effect the existing assemblies. The Block would be used similar to a template and then be revised for the current drawing only to create a new assembly.
Any and info is welcomed and a thank you in advance for your assistance.
Hinged

 

[mrka]

The block command creates a block that is only accessible to that drawing. A wblock creates a new *.dwg file which you can insert into other drgs. Using wblocks you can create a library to save yourself future redrawing.

Ka

 

[Adrian2]

Dear Hinged;

If you have a series of parts to be inserted for which the geometry does not change, blocks would be a good choice. There are other options however you should be aware of

One potential problem is that you may need to explode blocks within assemblies so that you can edit linetypes to provide an accurate view. For example if you have a side view of a nut & bolt (both blocks) holding 3 plates together, you might not want to see the bolts as solid lines going right through the plate, you would want to see hidden lines.

AutoCad Mechanical 2000 solves this problem with its Power Pack add on, any fasteners inserted using power pack automatically adjust for the view they are being inserted in and also retain attributes for use in automatic bill of material creation.

Blocks also increase the size of your drawing file quite dramatically when you use a lot of them. Xref's might be better if you have to insert many instances. Xref's have the added advantage that if they ever get changed, all the drawings in which they are referenced will get their instances updated too. If you ever did change a standard block you would have to remember all the drawings you stuck it in over the last few years and go in and reinsert it in each one.

Wblock is what you do to create a block from geometry within the drawing you are working in. If you had a single drawing of many different kinds of fasteners, you could use wblock to make each fastener a seperate drawing file.

In version 2000 you also have the group command. This allows you to create sort-of-blocks whose geometry can be changed without the need to use explode command. groups unlike blocks can only exist in the drawing in which they were created. If you have a complex machine base for example you could make it a group and be able to edit its size without accidently erasing or messing up all of the other parts of the machine.

When you create your blocks make sure you use the same drawing template as the assembly you intend to insert them into. Your block drawings should have all the same layers and linetypes as all of your drawings. Otherwise everytime you insert a block, your assembly will get unmanageably large numbers of layers and linetypes and will make future edits more and more difficult.

I hope I have given you some options here. Blocks are quite useful but they have limitations.

Regards Adrian