Gi'day Group. How do you model paint onto a sheetmetal part. and how is it detailed. I've been told from our sheetmetal vendor that paint can add .01 inch thickness. Do you add a "paint" feature on the model? If so, how is this done? If not, how do you compensate? Thanks in advance Cheers Frank
The only time I modeled something that needed to be coated and paint would be too thick, I plated the parts. So, to answer your question, I have never modeled paint since I am generally not concerned with that thickness in areas that I have to protect.
I've never done that, but if it will effect assembly of the parts, its not a bad idea.
If you need to be extremely anal about it, there are a few ways you could actually do it:
- create a configuration that uses a different thickness (not a great idea)
- create offset surfaces around the mating faces. I would make these faces a different color so you understand that they are due to a finishing operation, not the real thickness of the metal itself
- just make distance mates in the assembly instead of coincident, and check for clearance instead of interference.
On the part drawing, I would just call it out with a note.
It mainly depends on how critical your fits are. You may also be able to specify some masked areas on the part which do not get painted for assembly tolerance reasons.
As mentioned, dimension for fit, but also design for manufacturability. Sheet metal form/fit tolerances (outside of stamping) are often +/-.03" or greater, depending on metal thickness and machine capabilities. If you design with this in mind paint can be a non-issue. Keep in mind also the tolerances of structural and extruded parts the sheet metal is fitting with too. Your sheet metal parts may also be flexible, which can overcome some of the tolerance stack-up issues.
At our facility, we use an insert gauge of .0175 and with the paint it brings the thickness to .019. We design everything at the .019 since that is the finished size. We don't add a paint thickness to the model as a seperate feature.
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