Solidworks Parts Library

[Lorin Cupples]

Alibrary feature is a frequently used feature, or combination of features, that you create once and then save in a library for future use. Most feature types are supported, some with certain limitations. Library features usually consist of features added to a base feature, but not the base feature itself. Because you cannot have two base features in a single part, you cannot insert a library feature that includes a base feature into a part that already has a base feature. However, you can create a library feature that includes the base feature and insert it in an empty part.

3D ContentCentral is a community of both users and suppliers. Library features are available on 3D ContentCentral for users of SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD software along with millions of supplier parts and assemblies that have been certified by the manufacturers of these commercial, off-the-shelf components, SOLIDWORKS 2D blocks, and macros.

On 3D ContentCentral, you can perform any of the following tasks, thereby saving you precious design time that you would otherwise spend designing 2D or 3D CAD models of supplier components from 2D catalogs (PDF or DWG files):

One of the many benefits of SOLIDWORKS includes design libraries. By using a design library, users can reduce the amount of repetition when creating documents and help eliminate unnecessary searches for files that are often used. A design library provides a centralized location for reusable elements such as parts, assemblies, sketches, blocks, annotations, and features. Users can even build smart features into their library components to further help cut down on the time required to design. SOLIDWORKS has a default design library that can be used or added to. This guide will take a closer look at how to set up a design library.

After adding any design library folders through the System Options, the new additions should show up in the design library tab in the task pane on the right. The names of each referenced library should appear in task pane.

Once items have been added to the design library, using them is as simple as a drag and drop from the design library tab in the task pane to the graphics window. Library components with smart mates make it simple to snap things into place on the fly, smart features can further improve design time by including features associated with the component.

I know you can create them in SW with the library but my supervisor has taks me with finding pre-made fasteners per spec (ANSI/ISO/Etc) with materials and properties all pre-assigned to "eliminate" any human error.

I do apologise as to where I got this but its the way to go, just have your properties open when you click on it. Just keep googling lots out there. Convert some to dynamic would be the way to go 1 nut, bolt, washer etc.

This is the first time I've heard this request actually. Most of my clients download the actual hardware from the MFG that they use. For example if you want a Mil Spec SHCS you can find it on Mcmaster and download it as a Solidworks model with feature history(because they are all done in SW). It will have Custom properties for the bolt but will not have material(in most cases)applied. The benefit to this is that the part number is the file name so in BOMs it will show up as the Mcmaster number(still using them as an example since they actually have SW files). I guess it depends a bit on how you track part numbers internally and how they show up on BOMs for you guys. if you use a PDM system and have randomly assigned part numbers how would you track where the hardware came from if you are using a generic hardware library?

I use the manufacturers models if available and McMaster-Carr. Some things will need to be added, in your case I would strongly suggest you make your own from scratch. The manufacturer files will sometimes still have errors.

Exactly to your point. Every model had to be created by someone at some point. If you are already creating a simplified version you could easily setup a file that can be used to create all sizes of a specific bolt. You can use the Property Tab builder, Driveworks Xpress or some custom file to create a new file, fill out properties etc. My suggestion would be to setup this up as a design table since you can enter custom property columns. As long as you have the format correct(make one bolt and export it) you can have it fillet out, checked and double checked and then reconnect it to solidworks to build out all the files. If you do this with either VBA in a solidworks macro or even just in Excel VBA you can set it up so there are checks and balances in place. Driveworks is great for this type of thing but Xpress has its limitations(can't delete configurations for one), Solo or Pro has a lot more bells and whistles.

I have used the Toolbox almost exclusively for almost all of my fasteners. It's generally easy to create custom fasteners (i.e. wood screws, lock nuts, etc.) and still use the Toolbox. I have all of McMaster's numbers and descriptions included in the Toolbox so our BOM's populate with all of the correct information. I even have it set up so we can select different material specs and finishes and each option changes the part number accordingly. Personally, I consider it a bit daft to not use the Toolbox, but that's just me. I have found that a lot of McMaster's parts have a lot of cosmetic features that only make the part bloated and tends to drag down the efficiency of the model, so if you're going to do that make sure you delete or suppress the pretty stuff and only use what you need to.

SOLIDWORKS Electrical comes with a huge default library of common parts right out of the box, which is very helpful in getting started right away. However, there could come a time where you will need to expand this library with more parts that better fit your project needs. Fortunately, there are different import options that allow you to easily add data to your SOLIDWORKS Electrical libraries. In this article, we will go over how to download, import and manually enter new part data.

You can download data into SOLIDWORKS Electrical by using the Electrical Content Portal. To access this portal, click on the Help tab in the ribbon menu. Then, click on the Online content portal icon.

A web browser will open and bring you to the login page to the portal. You will need to make an account, which is free if you have an active license. Once logged in, click on the Catalogs option towards the top left of the screen. This is going to list out all major manufactures and their associated files you have access to download.

Once you find your data set you will download the .tewzip file, then, unarchive the file in SOLIDWORKS Electrical by clicking on the File tab in the ribbon menu and selecting the Unarchive environment icon. Choose your downloaded .tewzip file and go through the unarchive wizard and then your data will be added to your library.

Select .XLS in the file or data source field. Then, select the Excel file that holds your data. From here, you will see a preview of your Excel spread sheet and you can click Next following the prompts in the window.

Before it adds the new data, it will do a comparison of the data that already exist in the library and notify you if there is any duplicated data. Once it does the comparison you can then click the import button and the data will be added.

The third option to add data to your library would be to enter it in manually. If you choose this method, you are going to want to make sure you have the part spec sheet handy as you will need it to fill in the property fields with this information. First, click on the Library tab in the ribbon menu and select Manufacture parts manager. Click the icon that says Add manufacture part and the manufacture part properties window will open.

Whether you need to add individual or multiple pieces of data to your libraries there are several easy options available to you in SOLDWORKS Electrical. Library data does not need to be project specific and can remain in your seat of software until it is deleted. Once you add the data it will be there for use in all current and future projects.

The Toolbox is a collection of several powerful tools built into SOLIDWORKS; it can increase productivity and decrease the time required to complete a design. The Toolbox contains a vast library of standard hardware components that can easily be dropped into a design at any point. These components can be configured to easily populate Bills of Material with part number descriptions or any other custom information that needs to be easily displayed to the user.

There is one major deciding factor to determine if moving the toolbox to a network location would be advantageous. If the intent is to customize the toolbox with part numbers, custom properties, or add hardware restrictions a network-based toolbox would likely be beneficial. There are several infrastructure restrictions to having a network-based toolbox. The first is all users will need to have constant access to a network location. This location will also need to have low latency. Any slowdown in data over the network will negatively affect program performance during operations that involve toolbox components.

Once the toolbox has been checked in the PDM system has to be configured to manage toolbox components. To configure these settings, open the administration tool and select Toolbox. Select Manage SOLIDWORKS Toolbox in the vault and define the path to the root of the toolbox.

Once this has been completed see the PDM information in the section Toolbox File Type for information on how to configure settings in the toolbox that will optimize it for use in a PDM environment.

(SolidWorks Corp could be named slightly different, it could have numbers at the end of corp, if so choose the largest number. If the folder was renamed during installation, then it will show by the specified name.)

The toolbox can populate bills of material, contain materials, and automatically be added to assemblies. These functions, though powerful, must be configured by the user(s). Ideally, these would be set up before rollout. As compared to having an incremental implementation.

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