Assembly to part?

I have a design that consists of a flat plate with a variety of small
elements protruding from both the top and the bottom. I've tried
modelling this as a multi-body part where each type of element is
driven by either a table or a sketch and it simply isn't working very
well. The file size grows at an alarming rate and the individual
protrusions (which have complex shapes) become lost in a sea of
features....it'll be very hard to maintain this part.

If, on the other hand, I model the individual protrusions as separate
little parts that I then join together with the baseplate in an
assembly all is well. The individual parts are easy to maintain and
document and the overall assembly easy to understand and modify.

So, the question is: What's the best approach to saving a fully
connected homogenous assembly like this as a part just for the purpose
of having a job-shop be able to generate toolpaths for machining?

Thanks,

-Martin

 

Save as --> Part (selection box at bottom of dialog box, same box
where you would select parasoli/iges/etc.)

 

Right. I guess I was hoping for a secret way to turn it into a single
solid rather than a collection of surfaces. But, if this is the only
way.

The follow-on question might be: Is this sort of assembly-to-part
result understood by toolpath generation software without problems?

Thanks,

-Martin

 

Possible solution is to use a procedure I use to mirror assemblies, just
don't do the mirror. You would end up with a single body part file, that
would automatically update (unless you add a new part). Do a Google search
on me or Neal about mirrored assemblies on this newsgroup. On Monday I can
repost my little procedure when I get to work.

Keith

 

Possible solution is to use a procedure I use to mirror assemblies, just
don't do the mirror. You would end up with a single body part file, that
would automatically update (unless you add a new part). Do a Google search
on me or Neal about mirrored assemblies on this newsgroup. On Monday I can
repost my little procedure when I get to work.

Keith

 

My machine hiccupped!

 

You could insert a new part into your assembly and then add a "combine
feature" to your new blank part.

Insert - feature - Combine


Al Whatmough
www.Inspirtech.com
Video Based SolidWorks Training