Welder looking to be more efficient using FreeCAD

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NormandC
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Re: Welder looking to be more efficient using FreeCAD

Post by NormandC »

bejant wrote:I think using the Part WB is more complicated for doing this. Using Part Design instead
I agree, but with one caveat, the produced solid cannot be moved/rotated to a new position, you must operate on the sketch itself.
looo wrote:maybe my little workbench is of any help for your task:
If it was actually properly documented, and if your video wasn't going crazy fast using a separate add-on. :roll:

I tried your module a couple of times in the past and never succeeded in making one single thing work. The Report view output is unhelpful. After clicking on a profile, it's still telling me to "choose the profile". Well I just did! Now what? It's only once I click on a second sketch I made for the path that "choose_path" appears. Then nothing happens. Again, now what?

It's only after watching your video again that I thought that there might be a final step that is not mentioned in your README, and after some tries I found it: a right-click to terminate the command (Enter on the keyboard doesn't work). But this also opens the contextual menu which needs a left click in the 3D view or hitting Escape to be closed, which is annoying.

The README does not talk about the other tools. The tooltips don't even give a description about what they do, they just repeat the tool name. At this point I had lost the motivation to continue further.

My conclusion is that your module is unfinished. I noticed it is not listed in the FreeCAD Add-on macro (now integrated in 0.17), but to be brutally honest in its current state I don't think it should either.

That being said it is nice that the produced beam is a parametric object and that if the profile and path are changed, it updates accordingly.
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looo
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Re: Welder looking to be more efficient using FreeCAD

Post by looo »

thanks for the feedback. Actually there were some things that never worked (sweeping / extending / ...) So this is not ready for sure. Also I belive part-design will come up with something better...
Readme is updated. Hopefully this helps a bit. Why you never created an issue on github, as you have known the issues? :D
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NormandC
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Re: Welder looking to be more efficient using FreeCAD

Post by NormandC »

looo wrote:Readme is updated. Hopefully this helps a bit.
Thanks for your fast response! I'm sure it will.
looo wrote:Why you never created an issue on github, as you have known the issues? :D
I should have, but, have you looked at what I'm already doing in regard to the FreeCAD project? My number of posts here on the forum? And they usually take me a lot of time to write. Not to forget my current PPA packaging work, and some wiki/tracker work... At some point I can't simply do more and I need to choose where I use my time. If your module was something I was interested in heavily using I would have talked about it sooner, but the truth is I spend so much time doing the things I do right now that I don't have any left for personal modelling projects.
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bejant
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Re: Welder looking to be more efficient using FreeCAD

Post by bejant »

NormandC wrote:
bejant wrote: I think using the Part WB is more complicated for doing this. Using Part Design instead
I agree, but with one caveat, the produced solid cannot be moved/rotated to a new position, you must operate on the sketch itself.
@Montoya88, maybe simplest way is to still make the Sketch, but instead of using Part Design WB > Pad use Part WB > Extrude (tick Make solid to true). This way the resulting solid can be moved directly.
20170318b.png
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20170318c-HSS_2x2x0.125.fcstd
(14.76 KiB) Downloaded 36 times
OS: Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS
Word size of OS: 32-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 32-bit
Version: 0.16.6707 (Git)
Build type: None
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-16
Hash: 5465bc47c95db45e0be85dc0e2872419efadce0f
Python version: 2.7.12
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 6.8.0.oce-0.17
Montoya88
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Re: Welder looking to be more efficient using FreeCAD

Post by Montoya88 »

bejant wrote: Change any of these values to your liking, and save the changed FreeCAD file as a new document. I started with a model of HSS 4 x 3 x 1/4 and it only took a few seconds to change it to HSS 2 x 2 x 1/8 as shown above and attached below.
I actually prefer this also think about creating a library of all the common structural shapes I work with.

Thank you for the files and the radius for the edges, I've tried to change the values, however an error message popped up "changing the dimensions will cause conflicting constraints"

Also I've been trying to replicated what you've done the the sketch workbench, so that I can build experience with FreeCAD.

Also I will use the extrude.
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bejant
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Re: Welder looking to be more efficient using FreeCAD

Post by bejant »

Montoya88 wrote:Thank you for the files and the radius for the edges, I've tried to change the values, however an error message popped up "changing the dimensions will cause conflicting constraints"
You're welcome and I was unclear in my reply. I should have written that I was referring to changing the outside corner radius on the file I posted (I see that you haven't downloaded it yet):
bejant wrote: I attached the file in my last post
20170318c-HSS_2x2x0.125.fcstd
(14.76 KiB) Not downloaded yet
There are only three Length Constraints in that Sketch:
Height, Width, Wall Thickness.
Montoya88
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Re: Welder looking to be more efficient using FreeCAD

Post by Montoya88 »

bejant wrote: There are only three Length Constraints in that Sketch:
Height, Width, Wall Thickness.
I can't figure out how to put an image so I've attached a file (screenshot.Png) of error. I'm still get this error message when I try to change the value of the dimension constraints.

I'm also including a file of a sketch of square tubing I currently need for a drawing, it doesn't have the same constraints from your file. I can create a pad from it however it has under-constrained by 1 degree.

OS: Windows 8.1
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.16.6704 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-16
Hash: 0c449d7e8f9b2b1fb93e3f8d1865e2f59d7ed253
Python version: 2.7.8
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 6.8.0.oce-0.17
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Willem
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Re: Welder looking to be more efficient using FreeCAD

Post by Willem »

Hi,

I found in your file 1 redundant constraint, the horizontal constrain of the blue construction line. In fact the construction line can be deleted.
The missing constraint is the radius.
It is more efficient to add an equality constraint to an horizontal and a vertical line an a symmetry constraint. Now the dimensions are reduced to 3 dimensions
Schermafdruk van 2017-03-21 07-56-18.png
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bernd
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Re: Welder looking to be more efficient using FreeCAD

Post by bernd »

have you had a look at BOLTS, it does exactly what you are looking for. I have myself extendend BOLTS to support nearly all european profiles. http://www.bolts-library.org including all these hollow ones ...
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bejant
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Re: Welder looking to be more efficient using FreeCAD

Post by bejant »

In addition to the link bernd gave, the FreeCAD wiki page is here:
http://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/index.ph ... acro_BOLTS

To make the inside radius equal to the wall thickness, create a Construction Geometry (blue) line segment from the center point of an inside arc to the endpoint of the same arc, then apply an Equality Constraint between that new line segment and the existing Construction line segment.
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