In working with several customers and preparing for my webcast on SolidWorks for Aerospace Component Manufacturers (watch recording here), I realized how powerful the new DXF/DWG output capabilities in SolidWorks 2010 were. Simply put, a manufacturing engineer can output a DXF file from a SolidWorks model without the need to make a detail drawing. This is handy if you are going to the waterjet, flamecutter or laser with a 2D profile. In this article, I plan on showing you methods for exporting to DXF when you have different manufacturing scenarios.
The first scenario is a part that needs to be flamecut or laser cut and does not need to be bent on a press. Step 1: Right click on the face you wish to create 2D DXF output for and choose “Export to DXF/DWG”, choose a filename. Step 2: Modify the options so that the origin is in the right place for the laser software if you wish and choose “OK”. Step 3: Preview the DXF output image. You may remove unwanted geometry, such as fillet radii or hidden lines and choose “Save”.
In my next blog entry I will show you how to export Sheet Metal parts that need to be bent.
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