Lab 1 Activity

Lab 1 consists of 3 main parts:

• Go through the SolidWorks online tutorial; at least lessons 1, 2, 3 on parts, assemblies, and drawings (optionally advanced design and lofts)
• Pick (or dream up) a part you want to design, and build a 3-d model in SolidWorks. Be sure to first ascertain which units the part was designed in. The measurements will tend to cluster around "round" values in one system or another. In doing this, you will get a feel for the actual tolerances achieved. Design to the intended dimension, where obvious, rather than the actual measurement. Use the part's design units in SolidWorks. Be aware that hole sizes may be expected (if drilled) to follow standard drill sizes.
• Make a 2-d dimensioned, toleranced drawing of the part, suitable for a machinist to replicate the part based on the drawing alone

Tips

Here are some tips that may be useful:

• For tapped holes, use the hole wizard to create the hole. The tapped hole selection (picture) shows the profile of a drilled hole surrounded by a dashed line (crudely indicating extent of tapped threads).
• To ascertain thread type, try machine screws from the back room until you find one that fits (don't use force or a wrench!). Then measure its diameter and thread pitch. Compare this to a thread chart in inches, or, less likely, a metric chart.
• Also check out the hole wizard for counterbores, countersinks and other common hole types.
• For multiple holes of any type, create one, then use the linear pattern tool in the features toolbar. The tricky part is selecting a direction: just click some edge that runs in the direction you want to expand into.
• For dimensioning holes on the 2-d drawing, use the hole callout feature of the dimension toolbar. You can edit the text-box associated with the callout (once created) to remove unnecessary information. You'll see that things like the hole depth symbol are represented by things like <HOLE-DEPTH>, etc.

Write-Up

The write-up may consist of the following things:

• A description of the part you modeled: the detail will vary depending on how much external knowledge you have of the part's function. If it's a part you designed yourself, you will clearly know what it does. Look at this parts list for some more information about the part function. Include at least the label chosen for the part (if selected from one of the pre-made parts) so it is properly identified.
• A statement about the "natural" (design) units for the part, and roughly how precisely the part was made (in comparison to obvious design targets).
• A brief rundown of the procedure for building the 3-d part in SolidWorks. Don't tell the story of every mouse click, but describe the process at the level of what sketches, extrusions, cuts, holes (whether sketched or hole-wizarded), fillets, linear patterns, etc. you employed.
• Optionally, any reflections on the hard parts, the fun parts, etc.
• A print-out of the 3-d model in some favorable viewing angle to show it off well.
• A print-out of the 2-d drawing with all appropriate annotations.
• If you want to ice the cake: include SolidWorks computations regarding the part, like volume, mass. You'll want to specify the material in the design tree (at left of the part model) to get the mass right. You can even compare the computed mass with the actual mass for kicks (a balance scale is provided in the back room).
• For the bonus round, (to be considered optional), describe how the part would be machined: what tools, what orientations, what order of operations. Aim for a level similar to the dash-bullet level of the machining description in Lecture 2 (not the very most detailed level, but the one above). The goal is to get you to think about how your part might actually be produced.