cutting off my crosshatching at thread-level, is possible?

Discussion in 'Pro/Engineer & Creo Elements/Pro' started by Thalia, Jul 22, 2003.

  1. Thalia

    Thalia Guest

    Hey all,

    our fastener library is full of screws and bolts that have
    no cosmetic threads. Never saw the need for 'em. We made
    these fasteners down through the years as we went on our
    merry way, and I think about all of 'em exhibit a solid
    cylinder that is the same size as the major diameter of
    whatever thread they were supposed to be. In other words,
    1/4-20 screws always had the main threading body be 0.25
    inches. Not the tap diameter of 0.201.

    As such, in an assembly drawing cross-section, one ends up
    with the crosshatching of the base part coming right over
    the solid edge of our fasteners. And as it's a
    cross-section usually with no-hidden-line removal happening,
    we don't show the inner edge (major diameter) of the base
    part (the hole) which leaves the base part's crosshatching
    hanging in space inside our fasteners . . .

    PLEEEEASE don't tell me to go back and fix our fasteners.
    There's only ten bazillion of the things . . .

    I've tried messing with dtl-file parameters like
    hlr_for_threads and thread_standard and others, too. None
    seem to have any effect on where the crosshatching stops.
    Is there a way to do this? Or should I just bite the
    mascara and start applying cosmetics to the ten bazillion ...

    help, please?
    t'anks,
    thalia

    p.s in case you're wondering, we never had a problem before
    'cause no one ever went over our drawings with a bloody
    magnifying glass before! some people . . . .
     
    Thalia, Jul 22, 2003
    #1
  2. Thalia

    John Wade Guest

    p.s in case you're wondering, we never had a problem before
    That seems to be the source of your problem: anal checking. I think the only
    way you'll fix this is to fix your models, but in what way does this add
    value to your company? Don't waste your time. As long as the drawing is
    unambiguous, it serves it's purpose. In future, model your screws properly,
    lesson learned.

    Unless of course the person saying you need the drawings to look 'right' is
    the parson paying of course, in which case roll up your sleeves and get
    ready for an all-nighter
     
    John Wade, Jul 22, 2003
    #2
  3. Thalia

    Mark Janusek Guest

    Creating assembly cuts that only cut through the hardware is the only other
    way there is. It might not be practical but it would be graphically
    correct.

    I'm guessing you would have one hundred bazillion of those.
     
    Mark Janusek, Jul 22, 2003
    #3
  4. Thalia

    David Janes Guest

    Thalia, let me see if I got this ~ fastener at nominal, part the fastener
    attaches to is tap drill sized, so there is an interference fit in assembly.
    And when you detail it, the cross hatching from the part and fastener
    overlap.

    Assuming I've got it right, this is the 'best' (easiest) thing I can
    suggest. Modify the cross hatching in the drawing. When it prehighlights,
    click on it with LMB to select, RMB for flyout menu and select 'Properties'.
    There's your old, familiar MOD XHATCH menu. Lots you can do with this,
    including adjusting spacing, angle and line style of every component in the
    cross section. Find the menu item labelled 'Next Xsec' and keep pressing
    till you have the fastener xhatching highlighted. Go to the menu above and
    click 'Excl comp'. This will remove the fastener from the cross hatching
    scheme, improve the appearance greatly and possibly satisfy your checkers.
    Since they've started checking Pro/e drawings, which are typically much more
    accurate than hand drafted or cad drafted drawings, they've gotten much
    pickier. But I can't see that they could object to not cross-hatching
    fasteners.

    Other possiblities could include assembly drawings in cross section without
    any fasteners by using simplified reps; I also thought that the MOD XHATCH
    menu, which allows modifying the line style, might let you give it a color
    whith a white, instead of neutral, background. If you can create such a
    color in color.map, it might block out object and xhatch lines behind the
    fastener.

    David Janes
     
    David Janes, Jul 22, 2003
    #4
  5. Thalia

    Leo Weeks Guest

    We model the screws to the size that they represent. Example 1/4-20 screw
    is .25 and the hole is shown to the minor diameter thus showing an
    interference. We also show the cosmetic threads on the models. As far as
    cross hatching goes, is it really a big deal? Most of the time we exclude
    the screw from being cross hatched.
     
    Leo Weeks, Jul 23, 2003
    #5
  6. Thalia

    David Janes Guest

    Try this:
    Select the view with the cross section. Got to the 'Edit' menu, select
    'Properties'. At the bottom of the View Modify menu, select 'View Disp'.
    Then, select the very top option, 'Wireframe'.

    All the lines in the view should appear as solid object lines.

    David Janes

    P.S. Thanks for the jpeg, so nice to not have to interepret writing into
    graphics, which is about as lame as reconstructing a three-view drawing,
    mentally, into a solid.

    BTW, Pro/GOOFY struck again, as your drawing shows the only place in the
    known universe where people try to decipher whitish, grayed out lines (plus
    yellow) on black, instead of what the human race discovered in the days of
    papyrus, that writing and drawing go better, black on white. If you really
    want to shock your cohorts, go to the View menu, find Display settings and
    pick 'System colors', then go to the interface menu called Scheme and pick
    'black on white'. If this is too harsh, modify the background color in the
    menu. When you get used to it (and we all started out with that dumbshit
    black background), you'll find it much easier to tell what's going on. DJ
     
    David Janes, Jul 24, 2003
    #6
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