Transfer intellishape depth to 2D drawing for DXF export

[LSMITH]

Is there a way to transfer the depth of a pocket in a part to a 2D drawing or DXF export to be sent to CNC tool pathing? After exporting DXF's of panels that have slots or pockets cut in them that do not go all the way through the panel, I will always have to come back to the 3D scene to find out exactly what the depth was in order to set that depth in the tool path. Is there a way to automatically have the depth of a pocket or intellishape be transferred to the DXF or to the 2D drawing to be exported to DXF? I've tried using the smart dimension but it will not show in the front view if the depth is going the same direction. I can add a PMI annotation but I still have to manually type it in versus having it populate. It would be nice to have a tool like the hole callout tool that will automatically give the depth.

Is there a way to automatically have an intellishape create parameters when it's dropped that could be mapped to custom properties of the part and display them in a BOM type of table in the drawing?

Smart dimensions shown in 3D:

Transferred to drawing in 2D view only in certain orientations:

 

Just looking for ways to increase the speed and efficiency when detailing for production. 

Speaking of efficiency, is there any way to "flatten" every part in a configuration so that the Z value is facing the same direction or to have selected faces all facing front without having to use the triball to rotate each piece individually or using the Positioning tool to move? Sort of like the 'ICMech-Create exploded' tool will expand everything either from center or z direction, you could select every face you want to be pointed towards front and then apply to flatten in one move. 

Example below:

Panel assembly-

 

Exploded-

Flattened for export-

 

Thanks all

-Logan

 

Edited April 17 by LSMITH

[Jonas@Solidmakarna]

Hi Logan,
Is the Panel part or the Pocket feature ever being reused? Do you create new parts and features every time, or do you use a catalog to store them or do you open old files and make the changes (then save as a new file)?

If you reuse them (dropped from a catalog or save as new file) you can standardize this in several ways. There are probably more than these two.

1) Use the Smart Dimensions which are being transferred to the Drawing, like the ones that you have on the images. But as you say, I don't think you can (currently) show the dimension on the Front view.

2) Create parameters which are read as Custom Properties that are transferred to the Drawing. Then show the Custom Property info in a text block or in the BOM in the Drawing. In one way, even if it adds some clicks, this is pretty fast to to for any new feature if it saves time in the end. If this sounds interesting I can record a video later.

 

You can control the direction of each part using the Front View Direction option on each one.

Is the Drawing showing all parts in one View or do you create a View per Part in the same Sheet or do you create one View (or more) per Part in one Drawing file?

Using the Bulk Drawing Creation tool could maybe save you some time here, and I think it can do any of those three choices above.

Edited April 18 by Jonas@Solidmakarna

[LSMITH]

Thanks Jonas,

I do reuse parts and panels and have catalogs for my reused parts and such so I do have a lot of things memorized. I'm the one who programs the files for CNC anyway so I don't usually have to call these things out. I have another guy who does this as well and we're about to train a new person so eventually I'm hoping I won't be creating the actual CNC files for much longer so this would help give those details to whomever is. 

Mostly what this would be used for (the depth callout) is on unique items where I'm slotting pieces of plywood together to minimize the assembly time. When someone doesn't have to measure off, mark, place, and staple and can instead put the panel in the slots and know that it's exactly where I want it to be, saves a ton of time. I also have some situations where I have to bury a threaded insert flush to a piece of ply so it can be sandwiched against another. These depths can sometimes change depending on the part used.

I tried the parameter method yesterday, creating a depth parameter from the hole block intellishape but didn't experiment with the best way to get that mapped to the drawing. Adding a custom property from the sizebox info was a hassle because it has to be edited once it's added in order for it to turn from "=Shape2\Sizebox\Height" to 0.25 but I didn't try getting the parameter itself to map. I'm sure I could set a hole block in a catalog that already has that parameter in place and would update as a reference when changed. The sizebox property would be an issue too because the shape number would change depending on where in the process it was added. I'll give the parameter method a shot and see how that goes mapping to a title block or something. 

For the drawing, when doing the flat files for CNC, I usually have all parts for one "unit" of the project being in one view. That way when I drop a view into the 2D drawing all of the parts for that unit are grouped together. This helps when exporting to DXF because I can add the Name or a Note to the view to help keep me organized when in Enroute adding the part numbers to the pieces which I typically have to do manually. I'm experimenting with a custom BOM and item bubbles with no frame, knee, or leader that I can associate to each part in the view. Even if I have to add the numbering manually again in Enroute since I can't rotate the item bubbles vertically.

I've messed around a little with the front view orientation per part but in order to do a bulk drawing and have a sheet for every part means each piece has to be exported to DXF and imported one by one in Enroute. Having one page with all of the views on it that I can export and import as one file with names of the units speeds things up a bit. I only use the flattened configuration for exporting 1:1 DXF's and that page isn't one that's added to a package for the fab shop.