Threading a pre-existing hole?

[luke1201]

I have an aluminum extrusion. It has a .70" ID hole in the middle of the extrusion. I need to thread both ends of this hole (extrusion is 14" long. I need to thread for a 3/4-16 fitting, .800 deep, on each end of this hole.

When I use the hole wizard, pick all the specs, click next, then click on the center of the hole, the 'point' button will show as depressed, then I get an error message saying: "Points to locate holes are not constrained".

If I click on the 'point' button just before I click in my object, to turn it off, it won't let me click in the object/hole center.

I'm a newb, what am I doing wrong? I have drilled holes in other parts with out problem, but they were solid materials. Here, I'm just trying to thread a hole that is pre-existing.

The profile of this part is drawn in the 'front' plane and I have selected that, before clicking on the hole wizard button. Once I finish with hole master and it prompts me to select the center point for the hole, I am trying to click in the center of this pre-existing hole. Is that wrong?

If I click the outside diameter of the hole, it makes a cut-away type of thing, down and to the left, no where close to where I clicked, centered or otherwise.

I have went through all of the tutorials, but didn't get any practice with threaded holes, just normal holes, which were of course in solid material.

 

[CADGemini]

For applying a thread to an existing hole that you did not use "hole-wizard" to create you should use the Cosmetic Thread feature. Otherwise re-create the hole using hole wizard and tell it to apply the cosmetic thread to the hole.

You can add the Cosmetic Thread icon onto your Annotations toolbar by going through the "Tools-Customize(Commands Tab)" or go to "Insert-Annotations-Cosmetic Thread"

Best Regards,
Jon

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

Solidworks 2005 SP2.0

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The simplest way is as jksolid suggests ... activate the Cosmetic Thread feature, click the extruded hole edge & set the depth & O/D & Callout.

When I use the hole wizard, pick all the specs, click next, then click on the center of the hole, the 'point' button will show as depressed, then I get an error message saying: "Points to locate holes are not constrained".

If you activate the Hole Wizard before selecting a point on a face, you start a 3D sketch. This means that you will have to add more constraints to position your point & orient its axis in 3D space.
It is usually better to select a point ... close to where your hole needs to be ... and then activate the HW. This method starts a 2D sketch where all you need to constrain is the final point postion.
Check holes, 3D sketches in the SW Help files.

Also note that the Ø.700" hole is larger than the ANSI standard tapping drill hole dia (Ø.6875") so unless you change the HW tap drill dia, the HW will think it is not cutting a solid object & will return an error message.


Making the best use of this Forum. faq559-716
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Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of. faq559-520

 

[ctopher]

... and to edit the hole position, edit 3Dsketch under the hole feature, move the point to where you want it.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP1.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site