Show extrusion boundary lines?

[mjjstang]

Forgive me as I am quite new to Pro/e, but I have a rather basic question that I was hoping somebody could answer for me.

I am producing drawings for simple fixtures, and some of these are so simple that I am just producing an assembly as one part, with extrusions etc. most parts are just being welded. Now I know the engineers would probably have a heart attack when they saw that I wasn't assembling and designating every single extrusion as a part with a number yadayada. But let me get to the point.

My end goal is to produce simple drawings so others can fab these up, when I create multiple extrusions, these are "parts" to me, but in pro/e they are just extensions of a single part, and then in drawing I have to put my own lines in to show as separate parts.

Is there a simple option to show these lines that would separate the different extrusions from each other? I understand that I am doing things "wrong" but there is no purpose of me creating actual assemblies for what I am doing.

Thanks for any help!

 

[looslib]

There is a reason to create an assembly...to get the individual parts to show independently in drawing views.

Why try to do things backwards from the way the system was designed to work, especially if you know that you are doing it wrong.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[mjjstang]

I understand the point, but when I am drawing up a table made of square tube, or angle iron that is being welded, it is a lot easier and quicker to sketch, extrude, reference last extrusion, sketch extrude, etc, rather than create new parts and then constrain them. I know there are ways of mirroring, copying etc, that will cut down on the time, but again, with some of these, they are so stupidly simple that it would just be easier. I would never try to do this with anything production or more complex than a few squares and rectangles. Thanks though for the reply, I guess my main question was if it was possible, if not, I am not let down. I feel better actually, that there is not an easier way I am not aware of.

 

[dgallup]

You could leave a .0005" gap. It would look like a line. But you are doing it wrong and assembling the parts is stupidly simple. Plus if you are adding say four legs and you decide to change the length or the section you only change it once and all four legs update automatically. Make your model just like your manufacturing process.

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The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.

 

[peppinu]

Choosing the lesser evil; it would also make sense to work in assembly and creating each part next to each other there.

 

[mjjstang]

Thanks for the additional responses. Personally, I would like to do it the right way, The more I work with this program, the more I am understanding that organization and intent are more important than the actual model itself.
The reason I am looking for these shortcuts, is because I am tasked with creating these drawings quickly, and am already being asked why I am using pro/e to begin with. Well I know it better than autocad (I know it is easy to learn), but my 2014 version is rediculously slow and buggy and I don't like it.

Anyway, this leads me to a point that peppinu made, creating parts in assembly, this is something I want to go to every time, but it seems to create a lot of problems and a lot of people recommend against it. Is there an easy button for this or do you really have to plan your intent out? Can I quickly make references that don't actually reference another part when I am done with the sketch? Rather just reference the state it is at now, but if I change it later, the whole tree doesn't turn red? I know probably another topic, but figured I would ask. Thanks.

 

[dgallup]

You would be well served to take a class in Pro/E. The things you want to do are very simple but you can't learn everything from an internet forum. It is quite important to understand how parent child references work if you want to have robust, controllable models that behave in consistent ways. The tool is very fast for your tasks if you know what you are doing.

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The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.

 

[3DDave]

If you are making weldments, then there aren't any 'parts' when you are done. The items are fused and inseparable.

The main question I would ask is, are the users of the drawings concerned with having details of the individual bits? If not, then you can draw the separation lines on the solid model using datum curves. It doesn't save time over doing this at the drawing level, but it does mean that they will be there for anyone looking at the model.

Building parts in the assembly can have two side-effects. One is that the resulting parts will have references to other parts or the assembly. The other is that dimensions in the part were it stand-alone will not be there because when alignment constraints take their place. Like anything else, if it is built one way and you want to build it another way, there is some work to do.

 

[mjcole]

You should be able to use offset planes named _partname to make grouping them with separation easier. You can also do each component as a surface body so you can apply colors and line styles. If you need mass properties you can multiply volume and density or use solidify. I will try to do an example and test this out as I just thought this up.

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