Cosmetic threads not carrying through asseblies.

[OKCMET]

I'm suddenly having issues with cosmetic threads not carrying through all of the assemblies. I'm running SW 2012 SP1. Here is a breakdown of what's happening.

-Part 1 contains internal cosmetic thread from hold wizard and thread callout. Both the line resembling the major diameter and the shaded threading are visible.
-Assembly 1 (made from Part 1), the major diameter circle is visible but not the shaded threading.
-Drawing 1 (made from Assembly 1), dashed lines which would represent threads are not visible nor are the major diameter circles.

I've rebuilt, closed and opened, and checked the system properties. The two check boxes for cosmetic threading are both checked. Also, on the model files "All Annotations" is selected in the view menu. What else might be causing this?

I just build half a dozen parts and drawings with thread callouts just the other day and they worked fine so I am extremely confused and frustrated. Thank you ahead for any help.

 

[SnowCrash]

Some option under View?

--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2011 SP 4.0
HP Pavillion Elite HPE
W7 Pro, Nvidia Quaddro FX580

 

[OKCMET]

I don't believe that is my issue. I tried to recreate the problem and semi-successfully did so. The only difference between the original and recreation is that the cosmetic thread showed in the assembly on the recreation. I'm guessing that for some reason Solidworks assumes that if the threading is in the part, then there is no need to the annotation to be in the assembly because the operation should already be done by this point. This does make since for most cases.

Here is what I'm trying to accomplish. We manufacture relief valves and for this particular valve series we have up to 5 flange configurations for each body size. The only difference between the 5 flange configurations is the flange dimensions. All of the tapped holes and internal profiles are the same. Prior to now, each fully machined body was it's own part file and there was absolutely no referencing. If a dimensional change was made, it would only effect the 1 part being worked on unless every part was opened and changed. I'm trying to fix that to where the fully machined bodies are actually assemblies of semi-machined bodies so if a change is made then it effects all related parts. I'm making it to where we have a cast part, a semi-machined assembly then a fully machined assembly. All of the machining dimensions will be on the fully machined drawing. I'm also trying to utilize the hole wizard for threading because it would speed up the process compared to what we've been doing which is phycially making all of the threads using revolved cuts. That is where the issue is, because the annotations are not carrying through from the semi-machined to fully machined assemblies.

That method was the best that I was able to come up with. I don't have very much in depth SolidWorks experience and neither do any of my coworkers. I at least took a couple classes in college whereas they primarily learned from previous coworkers as they used it. This has created some bad modeling habits because that's just the way they learned it. Is there maybe a better way of accomplishing what my goal is? I've never used configurations before, would that get me there? I'm fortunately at a point where I am able to completely change this and overhaul our file management, at least for this valve. I appreciate an input.

 

[EEnd]

You should experiment with configurations. They are frequently used to generate a family of models from a single file. Among other things they can control dimensions and the suppression state of features.

There are several ways to manage as-cast and as-machined versions of parts as well.

One is to model the as-cast geometry and then add features to get the as-machined geometry. Configurations can then be used to suppress the machine features to return to the as-cast geometry.

An other is to create a part with the as-cast geometry and insert that part into an empty part file and add the machining features to the second part file.

Eric

 

[OKCMET]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't update because I didn't want to double post. I actually started using the configuration feature and I cannot believe that we've never used this before... It's EXACTLY what I was needing. Using the configurations, I was able to reduce potentially 6 files, using the same method that our company has been doing since using SolidWorks, into 1. It also solved my problem with the cosmetic threading. Now, if I can only get everyone else at my workplace to start using this we could really cleanup our mess of a models drive.