Knowledge Base
There are multiple LogoPress functions that can be used to create inserts within a tool assembly.The LogoPress “Add an insert” function creates an insert using the SolidWorks “Split” feature. Another method to create inserts uses the LogoPress “Form Punch and Form Die Insert” function. A third method is to create an insert using the “Add a plate” function.
While in an assembly, the fastest way to open the drawing for a part file within that assembly is to simply right click on the part whose drawing you would like to open and select Open Drawing from the popup menu. The drawing file for this part will immediately open.
There are two little secrets to ...
A very simple and useful yet unknown option in Logopress3 is to be able to “drag and drop” fully constrained/fully mated plates in the x, y or z axis. From the Logopress3 help file:
You can move a plate by “drag and drop“. Click the plate with the left button of the mouse. While you press ...
This is a big one folks if you don’t know about it yet – and many don’t! It’s a super-simple one. Keyboard selection filters. E for edge filter and X for face filter. It’s that simple. (There are many others, but typically these are the two most commonly used.)
Many SolidWorks users make ...
After you start the Convert Entity command and select the entity or entities that you want to convert, note that the cursor changes to a picture of a mouse with a green check mark on the RH mouse button in the pick. This is telling you that if you are finished making your selections, that you should...
A common need is to be able to send a die set model or a die set drawing to the die set manufacturer that contains only the burnouts and nothing else. (You may wish to also include the lifting holes, any custom milling, etc…) But oftentimes you don’t prepare this drawing or model until the die ...
WorkFlowy is extremely simplistic, but also extremely helpful. Below are a few things that I’ve copied from the folks at WorkFlowy that help describe it:
>> “WorkFlowy is the world’s best tool for taking notes and making lists.”
>> “Workflowy is an organizational tool that makes life ...
This new functionality in SolidWorks 2013 is something I’ve been wanting for a long time. It has finally arrived! Search the SolidWorks help file for Copying and Pasting Appearances. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of it, but once you understand how it is used it works great!...
As you can see in the before and after pics below, the top picture has annoying looking white areas on some edges of the model. Here is the simple setting change to clean this up:
Go to SolidWorks System Options, Display/Selection, Anti-aliasing, and change the default “Anti-alias edges/sketches ...
I’m embarrassed to say that I am guilty of not using this very simple tip very much myself over the years, and so I suspect there may be others like me that are overlooking this same thing.
Whether you are in SolidWorks or in LogoPress, when you are not sure how to do something, or if you just ...
LogoPress has added an extremely helpful warning regarding Splines, Ellipses & Parabolas (AKA nasties). This new warning is displayed when validating the property manager of the Annex part if it finds any nasties in the Blank section sketch. (When creating the Annex part, LogoPress automatically ...
In AutoCAD there was such a thing as a Construction Line. In a sketch that is in a SolidWorks part file, a sketch entity (lines and circles are the most common ones) with a centerline linetype are always considered construction geometry. So you may see or hear some reference to a centerline as a ...
The names for LogoPress Station Marks are automatically generated by LogoPress as they are inserted. The name that is automatically generated for the very first Station Mark is 010 STATION MARK, the second one that is inserted gets named 020 STATION MARK, etc.
We strongly suggest not to change the...
If you have a LogoPress hole table already done for a part, and then you add or change some holes in the part that this hole table references, when you open that drawing file containing the hole table you will get the SOLIDWORKS message saying:
The document has changed:
Do you want to update the ...
Many people are unaware of how powerful and yet simple the Shift and Ctrl keys are when using SolidWorks.
In a previous post I’d told you how to use the Shift key to quickly override the selection through transparency option, simply hold down the Shift key as you make your selection. Note that ...
In order to create a “V-Form” progressive strip layout, one where the part is v-formed at the end of the die as the part is cutoff, you must use a split line in the middle of the bend and then you should unbend the part on each side of the split line. That is the key in order to have this ...
Most of the time we receive parts from customers that have the coordinate system off in space someplace, or the Z is not facing up like it would be in the die, or it is just not where we’d like it to be on the part. (Often I want to change this origin so that the Z is facing up and in a logical ...
A great and often used System Option in SolidWorks is found under Display/Selection and is called “Enable selection through transparency”. If you have a model that is transparent, or actually semi-transparent (we encourage you to take advantage of transparency when using LogoPress) you will ...
We’ve been using SSDs (Solid State Drives) instead of HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) for a couple of years now. Our most productive customers have also been using them for years. The difference in performance is quite dramatic. For years we promoted high end Western Digital Raptors and later VelociRaptor...
Thanks very much to Todd from Penn United Technologies for showing me this great tip. I am always amazed when I learn something that seems like I should have known it years before!
When editing an assembly for whatever reason, and when the flyout FeatureManager becomes active, it has always been ...
Of course one of the most powerful things about CAD has always been the ability to reuse data. LogoPress has a very powerful command called “Save as… with new project name“.
First of all, note that when you start a new tool in LogoPress, it includes the ability to create a “project ...
As a reminder for LogoPress users, the “Reference part” is the part that you are designing the die for. It is what the strip and the tool revolve around, so to speak, and it is the one part file in the strip and tool that does not get a project number. The “Annex part” is the part whose ...
From the Dropbox website: Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again!
Dropbox is another one of those super-popular programs out there today. What makes it popular, it serves a real need for most of ...
Locate files and folders by name instantly.
“Everything” is an incredible piece of free software that has gotten a lot of publicity lately. Besides being free, it is incredible how small of a file it is to download and how quickly it installs. But the most incredible thing, besides the fact ...
SolidWorks has come out with a very nice new tool for 2011 called the SolidWorks Performance Test and it is found right in your Program Files menu under SolidWorks 2011, SolidWorks Tools, Solidworks Performance Test. You can run this test to determine how fast your computer is (mainly your CPU – ...
Frankly, I’m surprised that I’ve written three (3) posts before this one in the “Software we use” category talking about 3 different pieces of software we use before I mentioned Snagit! Snagit is definitely one of my all time favorites and it is one I use on a daily basis. It is a ...
When you insert Standard Components (screws, dowels, springs, etc.) with LogoPress using either our free SolidWorks Gold Certified 123GO or with our 123GO Advanced you will find some times when you are not able to make a flat-bottomed hole (or a counter-bored hole) as deep as you would like to....
We all know that PDF is a very standard format today. Of course most folks have Adobe Acrobat Reader to read PDF files since it is a free product. Some folks have Adobe Acrobat, either Standard or Professional, so that they can also generate PDF files.
But if you’re like many folks, you rarely ...
Starting with LogoPress 2010 SP1.3, the “Item Number” custom property name has been replaced with “Key Number”. This has been done to eliminate confusion with the SolidWorks “Item Number”, which is something very different from what the LogoPress “Item Number” referred to....
If I talked about a SolidWorks Custom Property called “CompanyName” or “Weight” or “PartNo” you wouldn’t have to think very long or hard as to what the evaluated values of these custom properties would end up being since they are quite descriptive.
As said in previous posts, ...
You may recall from a previous post that there is a LogoPress custom property named “NumberNomenc” and the LogoPress Bill of Materials (BOM) module automatically manages this custom property for the purpose of sorting balloons in an orderly fashion.
In the past, most people have assigned ...
First of all, to get something straight and so that we are on the same page, when we talk about ballooning we are also talking about the BOM (bill of materials). The two are linked together and perhaps this is obvious, but it is worthwhile noting.
I’d like to point out just a few of the ...
As long as I’m on a roll this month talking about balloons and how they work with the LogoPress BOM, I figured I might as well show you a few details about the LogoPress BOM and describe them. As mentioned below, there are many options making it very flexible and useful.
In the picture above, ...
For those of us that were accustomed to using software in the past that automatically sorted the balloons so that they were in numerical order in the drawings, it was a real disappointment losing this ability when switching to 3D. With dozens and dozens of balloons on one sheet, or even over a ...
It is very surprising to me that more tool and die companies don’t work with part numbers as the file name as opposed to the name of the part (the description, really) as the file name. I think the reason they don’t is because when most companies start out using 3D CAD, they start by naming ...
At some point you may run across a scenario when you try to access a help file within a program, but the help file doesn’t open. Typically you will get a screen similar to the one below saying “Navigation to the web page was canceled” (Windows 7) or “Action canceled” (XP). I believe that ...
Sometimes you will find that after inserting your BOM, you have the identical Standard Component listed more than once, rather than combined into a single line. Below is an example of a BOM that has 3 different item numbers for what could be a single item number for an identical pilot, as well as 5 ...
(3/31/2013 – The post below was written in 2010 and since that time LogoPress has put in place something to automatically warn the user about splines, ellipses and parabolas if he or she forgets to do what is recommended in the post below. See related post dated 3/31/2013 named “LogoPress ...
Ditto is a great program for increasing productivity, regardless of what you are using it for. Even simply for filling out forms or whatever, I use it often.
Haven’t you found yourself wanting to copy something to the clipboard by using Ctrl+C and then realizing – “Wait, I also need to copy ...
There’s an awesome and often overlooked feature in SolidWorks that some of you know about and I believe others would really benefit from. It is the filter that SolidWorks added to the topmost part of the FeatureManager tree a couple of releases ago.
As you begin typing, the graphics area updates ...
Hopefully, if you have the occasion to use locking tabs in your die designs you’ve taken advantage of the automated Punch Locking Tab function in LogoPress. If you haven’t, make sure you search the LogoPress help file for “Punch Locking Tab”.
I’ve just realized today that the help file ...
Punch Mismatches are one of many really cool and fast automation tools in LogoPress. But first of all, they need a little room in order to complete properly and secondly, they don’t like extra entities getting in their way.
Below are my personal preferred settings for my punch mismatches. If...
You can read more about turning off vertical sync (VSync) if you like by searching on the Internet, but frankly it’s not very interesting reading. The bottom line is that you should definitely do this to increase performance. To turn it off on systems with NVIDIA graphics cards, follow the ...
Sometimes you find that after you’ve created a strip layout you are left with a sliver, or shniblet as they say, that that is sitting at die level in each station of the die. Often times, usually that is, the sliver is the result of an angular bypass mismatch on a radius. This would happen if your...
This is, without question, the most important post in our knowledgebase.
Changing a strip layout and even a complete die design is a very easy process with LogoPress if the correct steps are followed. In order for it to be an easy, automated and painless process it is important that you make these...
The Magnifying Glass is new to SolidWorks 2009 as I recall. I think it’s a tool that slipped under the radar for a lot of people, including myself. It was not until I started writing this tip that I realized I was missing out on some of its key features.
You’ve already got the Magnifying Glass ...
After writing about the Magnifying Glass previously, I felt compelled to immediately post this tip about what I feel is a very efficent means of zooming in and out of areas of your model. While the Magnifying Glass is interesting, I don’t think it’s as efficient as this.
First of all, F is for ...
Here’s a great and fast way to help determine what your stretch webs should look like. Some folks have been doing this for many decades and others have never heard of it. I can assure you, most people are very skeptical the first time they hear it, but I can also assure you that it works great! ...
This is a great and very simple command that I wasn’t aware of for the first couple or few years that I used SolidWorks. I used to use Fill Surface to accomplish this and as you can see by watching the YouTube video below, the delete hole functionality works much better and faster.
...
These commands, particularly the Delete face and Move face commands, are extremely important to the die designer using SolidWorks. I use the Delete face command quite often, especially when processing a part for a strip layout. I use Delete face a lot for removing gussets before unbending for ...
Sometimes when you open an Iges or Step or other non-native file that you received, it has an error next to the imported body feature in the tree. Very often times you can simply do a Save As and save the file as a Parasolid and then reopen it and this will cause the error to disappear....
You’ve probably seen files in your file folders with tildes (~) in front of them like this:
If you’ve always wondered what these files are, read on. From Wikipedia: “The tilde symbol is used to prefix hidden temporary files that are created when a document is opened in Windows. For ...
Every die designer that starts to use SolidWorks runs into this issue. And there are several different methods that we see people use to try to get around it. I will never forget when I experienced it – how frustrating it was. As you start to draw a rectangular die block on the Front plane so...
The LogoPress help file recommends that when using “Unbending by steps”, you should pick the inside radius. But in reality, it really doesn’t matter which you pick. I almost always pick the outside radius myself, because it is always obviously a bigger target and is always closer to you. But ...
I’ve had this chart shown below for well over a dozen years. I’ve found it to be very useful for quickly adding a symbol to the document you are working on; particularly when working with emails describing things such as diameters and plus/minus dimension and angles. The trick is to simpy hold ...
3D CAD software certainly requires more overhead than 2D CAD software that simply draws lines and circles. After purchasing the right software and proper training, the next part of the equation is certainly the most overlooked in my opinion. The disappointing part of it being overlooked is that it ...
Topics
- -IMPORTANT-1- info for LP users
- -IMPORTANT-2- info for LP users
- LP 123GO Light
- LP 123GO Full
- LP How-To's for users
- LP Standard Components
- LP tips & tricks
- LP Unbending
- LP Warning messages
- SolidWorks tips & tricks
- General tips & tricks for all
- Windows tips & tricks
- A great use for WAX (stretch webs)
- Computer performance
- Computer benchmark
- Software we use
- FREE software
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