Once you go through the setup, there are a lot of time savings on the back end.  For example, the DimXpert dimensions that you apply to the 3D model will allow you to get away without making a drawing.

You can even publish an eDrawing and it WILL display those dimension, so that you can send a part out to quote or to manufacturing.  However, the fun doesn’t stop there.  You can re-purpose these dimensions on drawing documents.  An option appears when making a new drawing view of a part that has DimXpert dimensions that allows you to bring them in.

Another great thing that you can do is link the title block “Unless Otherwise Specified” to the default DimXpert settings.  To set that up, open up a blank part, and then choose Tools… Options… Document Properties and then go down to the DimXpert node.  At the top of the DimXpert node, choose Block Tolerance.  This tells SolidWorks that you want to specify default DimXpert title block tolerances based on the number of decimal places called for.

After setting this, we can set the rules for different types of dimensions.  When using the Auto dimension tool or any other manual DimXpert dimension method, it will determine what type of manufacturing feature you are touching, all done behind the scenes and on the fly (amazing)  It is like FeatureWorks or even CAMWorks, where the model is dissected into manufacturing features, like notched, counter bores, slots, etc…   It will do this on imported Solid Bodies as well as natural, feature based models.  So you want to set the default tolerance to “Block” for each type of manufacturing feature SolidWorks recognizes.  Here is a screenshot of manufacturing features of size.

Once you set the options up, the next cool thing you want to do is link the “Block” tolerances to Custom Properties.   This will then let you link the “Block” values to custom properties.  Use the Value/Text Expression drop-down list and near the bottom you will fink special links ready to go.  Give the property a name and you will have a linked custom property.

Save this file as a Part Template and now the settings will be available the next time you build a part.  Next, go to your drawing template.  Here you can edit your Sheet Format to create an annotation link to the “Model specified in view properties” for each line of your title block tolerances.

Now, let’s get a little crazy here.  Once you  have Custom Properties, you now have smart data you can build reports from in SolidWorks Enterprise PDM.  You can now search for all the parts in your database that have 4 place tolerances that are ready to be released to manufacturing and schedule them for the CNC machine that can manufacture to that level of detail.

Please contact me or add your comments to this blog entry is you have any ideas relating to how you might use these methods!

Tolerance Stackup with GD&T Orientation Factored

I have just posted the PowerPoint slides for the CAPU presentation that Shuvom Ghose and I performed this afternoon for our customers. Anyone who currently performs “manual” tolerance stack-up analyses, designs high precision components that require strict adherence to tolerances to function properly or anyone who must correctly dimension and tolerance designs because of particular applications such as military, Department of Energy (nuclear), etc. should view this presentation. To look at the slides, go to http://tinyurl.com/ybsragf or view a video of the screncast here: DimXpert with TolAnalyst