“These holes don’t line up” – Sound Familiar?

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The biggest problem with 2D CAD software is still that when you go to assemble parts holes just don’t line up. If you are using 2D do you ever have problems with interferences due to misaligned holes or incorrect fastener callouts on your BOM? If you are using 3D do you refuse to show hardware in your assembly because it’s a pain in the neck to assemble each fastener on-by-one? Do you want the holes you create to be shown in the part?

If you said yes to any of the above, then you need to know more about the SolidWorks’ Hole Series functionality. Hole Series lets you create holes and place fastener stacks all at once. The holes that are created actually show up as part level features and the fastener stack is automatically assembled through Smart Fasteners functionality.

The Hole Series in SolidWorks allows you to select whether or not you want fasteners to be added automatically, and easily locate and create your holes per standard. Hole Series can automatically determine correct holes in the other componets, but it also allows you to tweak settings manually through various options (i.e. counterbore diameter, head clearance, middle plate hole size, threaded or blind, etc.). Once defined, the fasteners can be assembled automatically. You can select top stack and bottom stack hardware such as washers, lock washers, nuts, etc. Only the standard hardware that is appropriate for your fastener stack is displayed.

Using SolidWorks and the Hole Series will allow you to know your hole will always line up across parts.

For more info on Hole Series see “Hole Series” under Help>SolidWorks Help Topics .

Fielder Hiss

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