Drill Hole Dimensions on prints

I have looked .. our design engineer has/is looking..
We would like to be able to put the drill size designation on the shop
prints instead of the decimal size that seems to be the norm for SW'.

I.E.
Hole size shown as 'A' on print not 0.234. We have some old' cranky
machinist to work with and I would like to see the drill designation on
prints so I don't have to go do a lookup.

Have tried to create a new 'Standards Name' derived from the ANSI Inch
Standard then modifying values, etc. Nothing seems to change even the 'real'
decimal values in the prints.

?Anyone? We are using 2006Sp2

jb..

 

I think SW answer would be that ANSI says to use the decimal callout.

One of the problems with cranky machinists is that there is no
standardization. It is very unusual to find two cranky machinists who
will agree on everything. No excuse, just an observation. Software
should be able to accommodate cranky machinists as well just for
diversity's sake. Now I suppose a macro could be written to go through
dims on a print and replace the value with letter drill sizes. Or you
could do this manually.

 

You could buy your cranky machinist one of those charts that shows decimal
to drill size conversion. A lot of suppliers will give you one for free or
you can download it. Your shop probably has one hanging up already.

 

Old cranky machinists that are worth employing already have the drill
chart memorized along with the correct pilot drill for a given tap.
That's been my experience. Tell them to do their job.

 

When I got my journeyman's machinist card more than 20 odd years ago
any machinist worth the title kept his Starrett drill card close at
hand.

 

For drilled fractional holes: clt-select those dimensions you wish to
modify, right click and select properties, then clear the checkbox that says
"use document units", hit the units button, select fractional, make the
denomenator 64, and hit the round to nearest fraction button.

This also holds true for tapped holes larger than 1/2-13. For smaller
tapped holes I usually leave the drill diameter off of the print. Smaller
holes often have different pilot holes, depending on the drill chart/tap
type/tap mfg/material ect. Leaving it off the print makes the machinist
take those variables into account rather than blindly following the drawing.
I'd rather rely on experience than on what SW determines to be the proper
hole diameter.

All of our drill indexes have the decimal equivelant stamped into them.
We also have 2 2'x4' signs with metric/english conversions and all common
tap pilot holes prominately displayed in our machine shop.

 

Every machinist I worked with (including myself) probably would have
found it downright humiliating to have to ask "What size drill is
this?". A sure way to call one's lack of competence to attention.

Machine OPERATORS, maybe, but a machinIST is a craftsman, and knows
where to find out (most often from memory).

 

Well..... Thanks for the feed back.. Let me first fess-up as I am the cranky
old machinist, but I also have spent some time doing design work.
I/we do tend to screw with the new guy's... we have a newer design engineer
in house trained on most other software not SW. Doing great work... but ...
well I do have to 'teach' him something..

When I was brought up though the training 'machinist' in the 70's and 80's
it was "Always follow the Print" no matter what you might think or think you
know.. So when a hole 'on print' says .234 I think .234. not .234 +-. 005 or
+-.015..
Now on the other hand a callout of 'A' drill will give you the tolerance
needed to use an A drill..

Yes most of the tap drill sizes are in my head... though some don't like to
shake out to fast any more.. note to the draftsman{oops designer/engineer}.
If you want a specific class thread put in on the print.. most of the taps
on hand are 2b.. ;P

Thanks Tin Man this might be what we were looking for.


jb..

 

I feel sorry for you lot, still working away with decimal inches, which
can't easily be related to anything much in the real world, because you
were all brought up on fractions. Here in the rest of the world, we
are still waiting for you to catch up so we don't have to dual
dimension everything.

Sigh...

 

Are you talking about that little mm the engineer keeps putting on all my
prints? I've been waiting to go to them since around 1977 or so.. Been so
long I can't even remember when the 'gov' said we all would make the
conversion in five years...



jb..

 

jb,

Make sure you look at what other variables you can use from the Hole
Wizard too. To see what I mean, go to one of your Hole Callouts in a
drawing file:
-RMB the callout
-Choose (Dimension) Properties
-Click Modify Text (button at the bottom)
-Now click the Hole Variable button at the right. If this button is
*not* enabled, then that means that the callout is not on a standard
Hole Wizard created hoile.

Maybe one of these would possibly be better than the Hole Description.
Ken

 

The gummint isn't going to force the conversion. It'll happen when the
last American manufacturer is bought by a foreign investor.

aw