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bobby_hamill

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I have a 3d part drawn with solidworks 2011 and need to split the part in half and save each part as a individual part file

OR

have a mold constructed from the part

I worked on the problem 4 hours last night and 5 hours today

and my grey hair is getting thinner by the hour :-(

Bobby
 
I haven't worked with Solidworks so my help will be limited.

Is this a time problem, technique problem, or technique problem that has become a time problem?

Is it possible to post a pic? How many parts are there? When you say split, an actual cut down the middle or a division in a logical parting area?

Does Solidworks have a macro/programming language to help process the parts?

Greg
 
I can handle this in native solidworks. I will have to reinstall 2011 since if I open it in 2016 in it will no longer be openable in 2011.
 
Greg

Thanks for your help .
I may need the 0.0000 precision as the 2 parts will be used to carve a mold so I can cast the fin with Alumilite
 
How long is the fin root?

If the fins are big (like the fin root is longer than a foot) then it may make sense.

If the fin root is a few inches and unless you are milling to +/-0.0001", you will never miss it.

Greg
 
bobby, you may be aware of this already, but here is how I handle making two parts from one part in SolidWorks...the use of configurations is pretty powerful. As stated in the attached you could "Save As" to save each fin half into it's own file.

I don't work with surfaces, so I had a hard time trying to create a solid from your STL surfaces. I just made a demo for the tutorial. I am using SolidWorks 2014.

View attachment SolidWorks_FinSplit_Demo.pdf
 
David

Thank you for taking the time to work up the demo .
I think I was close in trying the split but it would only extrude cut the 3 bottom tabs but not the fin body
I will give your demo a try later on on Saturday and let you know the results

again thank you !!

Bobby
 
Greg

Thank you for taking the time to make 2 equal halves of the fin !
As soon as the mold is carved I will post photos of the casting process for all to see


Greg I dont know if you know this but I read where if one is a veteran a student version of Soldiworks 14 can be had for 20 bucks !
And for 20 bucks the license can be renewed each year.

This will defiantly help me out a lot

Thank You !
 
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Greg

Thank you for taking the time to make 2 equal halves of the fin !
As soon as the mold is carved I will post photos of the casting process for all to see


Greg I dont know if you know this but I read where if one is a veteran a student version of Soldiworks 14 can be had for 20 bucks !
And for 20 bucks the license can be renewed each year.

This will defiantly help me out a lot

Thank You !

Always glad to help out where I can.

Greg
 
Greg

I ran into a snag last night . I realized that the middle and rear fin tabs had leading and trailing edges that were not perpendicular to the sides of the fin
I hope this will be the last time I need to bother you for a while , Could you split and mirror this STL file like you did the last one ?
Good thing I caught the error before the person started carving the mold


Thank You in advance !

Bobby

View attachment GOOD FIN NO ERRORS flat.STL
 
Greg

Thanks for your help .
I may need the 0.0000 precision as the 2 parts will be used to carve a mold so I can cast the fin with Alumilite

If you need to hold such a tight tolerance, keep in mind that Alumilite has a shrinkage factor of .0025"/1". You'll need to scale your model up before creating the mold halves.
 
Dennis

Thanks for pointing out the shrinkage of .0025"/1" for the Alumilite
I am hoping during curing there wont be a problem with heat for the remboard mold
it will be sealed with mold release, wax. and another product that I don't have the name of in front of me
This will be for "sport scale" so .00 thousands will be fine

Bobby
 
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