Re: Pro E to SW

Easier to go from ProE to Solidworks than the reverse in my humble opinion. Many of the concepts are the same. Much less reliance on datum planes, sketch references and some other things than ProE. You can leave sketches not fully constrained, so be careful there. Quicker to get concept models done. In the hands of a skilled user, Solidworks can do everything ProE can do. It can do many things much easier and faster (you'll learn to like the Hole Wizard, Toolbox, and the quickness of the sketcher over ProE). Swks is much more flexible and more easily configurable than ProE.

I've used Pro-E for mold design in the past. I'm currently being pursued > for a mold design job at a company that uses Solid Works. > > > > Has anyone here made the same transition? How painful was it? > > > > All of the part models that I would be using are native SW, so that will > help. > > > > Thanks, David >
Reply to
madcadman
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David FYI, Be careful with Solidworks automated partingline generator(where it generates a radial surface around the part), if you have a (for lack of a better word) curvy up and down partingline. Solidworks will not generate a flat parting surface in places, it will be angular relative to the draft on the cavity wall and many times un-machineable(depending on the contour). I usually do my splits manally using assemblies and the"cavity" routine. I then use "Cut", "up to next" in the cavity block, this will leave "standing high" material in place as it cuts across the cavity block.

Good Luck Mike

Reply to
Michael Eckstein

Thanks Mike,

In Pro-E I use a combination of automatically created parting lines and manually created. Can SW do something similar?

David

"Michael Eckstein" wrote in message news:F5x8j.8$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe06.lga...

Reply to
David

The answer is yes, you can do a combination of both. Personally, unless it's a really simple split/parting line,.. the times I've created mold splits on my own designs or for other peoples work, it is by far easier doing it manually. Manually, you know what you want or have more control,.. no surprises, no wtf's!?

Also, IMHO,... INSERT PART is your initial friend for creating your base scaled part, splits and shutoffs (also drafts if needed). That is, using INSERT PART, isolates it from the original feature intent... it's dumb body and easier to work with but,.. it's still linked (good and bad depending on the complexity and control) So, if you want to insulate yourself further from the parametrics,.. do a Parasolid export and import the x_t body/faces/surface for your mold design.. you can always reimport (just like in Pro/e) if changes occur.

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Reply to
zxys

For instance, let SW generate a split surface, what you don't like you can always trim away and clean up manually using lofts/fills/sweeps (and of course any curves which are needed for those patches) then stitch back together your split surface.

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Reply to
zxys

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