Solid edge

Introduction

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In this unit ...

• Welcome to the Drafting Overview unit. Click this link to see a video introduction. VIDEO-01
  
  Some of the topics covered in this unit are:
  - Drafting documents.
  - Detailed drawings.
  - Property text.
  - Object linking.

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Completion Time: 20 minutes

Drafting Overview

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Overview: In most industries, the main method of communicating designs to manufacturing or other vendors is to create a drawing. Drawings contain information such as size requirements, materials, general practices, and surface textures. The Solid Edge Draft module quickly creates drawings of parts, sheet metal parts, assemblies, and weldments. Play the video for an overview of drafting. This file contains sound, so be sure to adjust your volume accordingly. VIDEO-02

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	Template
	The file extension for a drawing is *.dft. Opening a *.dft document places you in the Draft module. This environment provides you with all of the tools necessary to create a complete drawing. You access the template by selecting File | New from the main menu.

Working Sheet

You add Drawing Views, dimensions, symbols, and any other annotation unique to your model in Working Sheets. You can add sheets at any time, each with its own paper size and background. The Working Sheet Setup dialog has a Background tab that lists the different background sheets contained in the Draft template. When you need a different paper size for a certain drawing, you can select one of the Background Sheets from the list. Remember that different backgrounds correspond to different sheet sizes.

Background Sheet

The Background Sheet is a special layer in the Draft application, which holds information common to every drawing that you create. Typical items stored on the background sheet include title blocks, revision block, and any other information that is common to all drawing sheets. The Background Sheet is on a special layer so that when you are working in a drawing, you don't make unintended changes to this information.

Drafting Workflow

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Overview: This topic is intended to provide you with an example of a typical process for creating a drawing in Solid Edge. While the specific order of the following process is not required to successfully create a drawing, it does provide you with a general guide for most parts or assemblies. Play the video for an overview of a drafting workflow. This file contains sound, so be sure to adjust your volume accordingly. VIDEO-03

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	Drawing File
	The first step in the drafting process is to create a drawing file. As mentioned earlier, Solid Edge uses a template file with a *.dft extension, and supplies you with many draft templates for both English and metric units.

	Sheet Setup
	Most default templates come with an 'A' size through 'D' size background sheet for English templates, or an A1 through A4 background sheet for metric templates. To set the size of the sheet, select Sheet Setup and select the Size tab at the top of the dialog. The sheet size can be defined by a standard size or using a custom size.

Add Views

There are a couple of ways to add views to the part and establish the master model link. The first is to use the Drawing View Wizard. This wizard walks you through the process of selecting the part, and defining the views you wish to add to the drawing. This wizard can add several orthographic views onto a drawing at once. The other method is to use the Parts Library function on the EdgeBar. Simply drag and drop a part onto the drawing. This method creates a top, front, and right side view on the drawing.

Supplemental Views

For simple parts, this step may not be required. For complex parts, this step is necessary to obtain the correct view orientations to detail a feature. The auxiliary view option is used to define a view that is projected from a fold line. A detail view can be used to enlarge a portion of a view containing small details. Section views are used to show internal details by defining a cutting plane through a parent view, and creating the section view based upon that cutting plane.

	Symbols
	Symbols include items like bolt hole circles, linear centerlines, and center marks. These items are associated to the view and can be added automatically when views are created. They can be dimensioned as well.

	Dimensions
	The dimensions are associated to the geometry; therefore any changes to the model are automatically reflected in the drawing. Dimensions also have several styles and options. You can create dimensions with tolerances, appended text, and inspection symbols.