Drawing my chassis

[Lambo]

Hi Guys, Maybe someone here has an answer for an absolute beginner, i have a drawing that was originally drawn in Autocad it was in imperial and a friend converted it to Metric with Autocad, the dimentions are fine and come out in metric.
But if i edit the above drawing add a line and dimention it it does nothing but diplay the dimention lines and D1@sketch1 in very small print,
If i draw a brand new drawing and a rectangle and dimention a line it calculates the length and displays it, another friend looked at it and said it was because the original drawing has a dimention style called SQUIRES-STD, but i can not find anywhere in Solidworks to change the dimention style to this SQUIRES-STD.Also would it be possiable to grab the end of a line stretch it out and have the dimentions change automatically.
I am trying really hard to draw a car spaceframe, is it possiable to draw 2 parallel lines 38mm apart at the same time, any help much appreciated

Best Regards
Lambo

 

[Pro]

send it to me in R12 DXF - [email protected]

i'll draw it up in AutoSketch and save it as an R14 DXF for you. it will be completely metric for you - cm or mm.

alternatively i can draw it in 3D and give you some ooh-aah pics back - but you won;t be able to view it in 3D. just the blocks/symbols i create.

 

[xirforever]

what version autocad are you using?

Can you try to be more clear in your problems? Im having a hard time trying to understand whats the problem. So when you edit the drawing by adding a line, when you try to dimension that line the line disapears but the dimension shows up? Then when you said you tried to draw on a new template, you did a triangle. you then tried to dimension one of the lines i assume and you say it shows up? Whats wrong with that? im confused.

If you just want to extend a line you can do that, on the right side there should be a toolbar running virtically. the icon looks like this " ---/ ". Or you could simply delete the line, click where you want it to start, then make it the specific length you desire by typing (length for example... 5 and i want it to go horizontally to my right) @5<0 and if i wanted it going to my left, or west, it would be @5<180. Not sure if you know this or not but i thought id throw it out at ya. Next if you want to make to parallel lines 38 mm apart thats easy. There are a couple of ways of going about this. If the parallel lines are the same lenght, then you draw your first line. Next there is a button, once again on the right side of the screen a virticle toolbar, and you will click it, lol, it looks like... well i cant describe it but its the 3rd from the top. If your drawing is in all mm then after you click the button you type 38, then you click the line you want your new line to be parallel to, then you just click on which side you want the new line to go to in respect with the original line and it will do it. You could always just use some geometry, draw a line 38mm from the original line then draw from there. But they OFFSET button can be quite useful sometimes.

 

[xirforever]

wait, are you viewing this in autocad? and i didnt know that autocad and autosketch can both view the same files the same way... either way your a step ahead of my pro240

 

[Lambo]

Thanks guys for your help, it amazes me that what goes through my head does't always come out right when i type it out. The original file of a chassis was created by persons unknown with Autocad and the layers were locked,i could not unlock it so i sent it to a friend who unlocked them with Autocad and converted them from Imp to Metric, he then returned the file to me, in Autocad format.
I am trying to use the unlocked file as a starting point, to save having to start from scratch, but a lot of the measurements will need to change as i go along.
At this point in time i have installed Solidworks and can import the imp/mm converted Autocad file, Solid Works converts and saves to SW format.

If i attempt to edit this file,with SW and say add a line,anywhere, when i go to dimention the added line, it i get D1@sketch1 in very small print, where the dims in mm should be.
Another friend looked at it with Autocad and said it was because the original drawing has a dimention style called SQUIRES-STD, but i can not find anywhere in SW how to change the dimention style to this SQUIRES-STD.

If i create a brand new drawing on a blank page in SW with SW defaults and draw a single line,dimention it, it calculates the length and displays it correctly in mm.

In SW is it possible to draw 2 parallel lines 38mm apart at the same time, as i have only just started to learn SW if someone thinks Autocad would be easier i could go that way. I also could install another product called Progecad it also saves in Autocad format, and its free.

Best Regards
Lambo

 

[Jafa]

To tell ya the truth I have used both Autocad and SW, and i would never go back to Autocad even if my life depended on it!:smile:
You can do so much more and visualise the job so much better when working in 3d. I would say forget the autocad drawing, with all its associated formatting problems, and start over in Sw. Do all the tutorials in SW if you are a n00b, they are really good, and you will pick it up in no time. Another advantage with Sw is if ya need anything milled up on a CNC, the parts are generally able to be imported into CAM software directly. I machined all the bits for the rear disc setup on my 'Lux straight from the Solidworks data.
Now I am not knocking Autocad coz in its day it was a fantastic product, but that day has gone. 3d is the way!
Send me the autocad drawing and I'll whip it up in SW to show ya what can be done.
[email protected]

 

[Lambo]

Thanks Jafa, The drawing in Autocad has many layers and would have taken someone a long time to draw up,but it does have errors in it according to someone who tried to build a frame from it. The bom is incorrect.
Because i was going to be modifying the chassis quite a bit i started to think it may be easier to start again, i like the idea of a BOM that would make creating the chassis so much easier, if i could figure out how to draw the lines 38mm apart easlily i think i would start again,there seems to be a lot of parameters saved in the drawing ie Squires.std for the Dims, Solidworks does not give me an option to select this, i tried Progecad and it displays the Squires.std and is selectable but can get the dims to work at all, i will send the 2 files over for you to have a look, but i am starting to think they have to many imbedded things to make them usefull.I'll do the Tutorial today if i start again i have to get my head around how i produce one layer ie the floor, and get that to line up or be shown grayed out when i say look at the side view.

Best regards
Lambo

 

[Pro]

look, send it to me.

i'll open and see what the prob is.

cheers.

 

[Pro]

okay, i got the dims to show up - it must have been drawn at like 1:1 or something coz the text was so small i couldn't even zoom in and find it.

i changed the whole DXF to metric, scale 1:50 and changed the text to 2.0 and it all became visible.

also someone had physically changed the text to read feet and inches, instead of metric. so it looks like it was a metric drawing to begin with! so i made it default (<>) and it all came back to mm.

now, don't reply to the email that i sent, because i won't be there after today. keep replying to [email protected]

i hope i helped.

 

[Lambo]

Thanks so much Aaron, i have send a email to the address above.

Regards
Lambo