ductwork made easy in solidworks 2

[jbohrer]

Hi everyone,
I'm pretty new to the forums and solidworks and was wondering if i could get a little help.

Basically what I'm trying to do is make ductwork in solidworks with the right seams/connectors etc. which is easy enough, but time consuming when I am handed 20 fittings in the morning and am expected to have them cut out with the plasma by lunchtime.

I have most of the parameters set in the design tables (length, width, radius) but I need the height to be adjustable in the table too. I used a seperate plane to put a sketch on the top, and then used the lofted bend feature to connect the top and bottom.

TLDR, I was wondering if there was a way to adjust the height of a custom plane in a design table. I attached one of the said files for reference.

also I would like to be able to adjust base flange/tab height from a design table too if anyone knows how to do that, I'll attach my elbow file as well so you can see what I mean.

Thanks guys!

 

[sldwkmin]

You may want to look at DriveWorksXpress. This can be more powerful and user friendly than design tables in a lot of cases. This will allow you to enter your desired dimensions and it will automatically create a new model and drawing.

Cole M
CSWP, CSWST, CSWI, CPDM
Certified DriveWorks AE

 

[jbohrer]

Thanks Cole,
That would work great, only all it lets me do is change the file name and not any of the dimensions/features etc.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Double clicking the plane will expose the offset dimension, which can then be referenced into a DT or Equation.

http://help.solidworks.com/2012/Eng...e.htm?id=756bdf1e22334f30a1fba6cdf8935d17#Pg0

 

[sldwkmin]

Jbohrer,

Check out this link

http://www.driveworksxpress.com/index.php/training

It has tutorials that will show you how to properly set up a DriveWorksXpress project so you can control dimensions and features. Also since DriveWorksXpress is part of the standard SolidWorks product your VAR should be able to help you out as well.

Cole M
CSWP, CSWST, CSWI, CPDM
Certified DriveWorks AE

 

[jbohrer]

thank you guys, for now I just used sldwkmin's suggestion, but I will definitely look into setting up driveworks for this.

 

[NTME76249]

The way i adjust the distance of a plane is to first put in a construction line and then set the plane on the vertex. it makes it super simple to name your dimension and just link it up in your design table. If you have a good understanding of excel, design tables can be super powerful and very customized.

Michael McMillan

http://cadtechie.blogspot.com/

 

[jbohrer]

Thanks NTME, I actually did exactly what you said. I contacted my local Solidworks tech and he guided me through it. I am pretty proficient in excel so this makes it extremely easy now that I understand it a little better

 

[NTME76249]

We take our design tables one step further and put in input and calculations tabs just to simplify the design table. It will reference tables and pull part numbers and create descriptions. The possibilities are pretty much endless once you get into them. Good luck and have fun.

Michael McMillan

http://cadtechie.blogspot.com/