Advice for 2023

[ceving]

I try to assemble some parts with Item and Rexroth profiles. Something like tables for example:

assembly-example.png (41.79 KiB) Viewed 1185 times

I am mazed by the different assemble add-ons available. Can anybody give me an advice, which is currently (2023) suited best for my job?

[Haavard]

https://ondsel.com/blog

[wakyct]

I am mazed by the different assemble add-ons available. Can anybody give me an advice, which is currently (2023) suited best for my job?

To expand on Haavard's link, there recently was a series of blog posts by the company ondsel that discussed the workflow of all the assembly add-ons you might want to use.

IMO each has a particular workflow and if you're not familiar with any of them and just want to do a basic assembly it's unlikely that you're going to care about the specific pros/cons that matter to an expert user. So just try a couple out and see what works for you.

Also I think it's important to note, you don't need an assembly workbench to make a simple model like some tables.

[ceving]

IMO each has a particular workflow and if you're not familiar with any of them and just want to do a basic assembly it's unlikely that you're going to care about the specific pros/cons that matter to an expert user. So just try a couple out and see what works for you.

I found a quote, which exactly reflects my thoughts:

“I haven’t explored any of the assembly benches as there is a big curve to even selecting one of them” (Reddit)

But the articles do not give an answer. They just come to the conclusion that some work has to be done.

Also I think it's important to note, you don't need an assembly workbench to make a model with static parts like a table.

I think I am doing this right now, but it requires to calculate all positions of all items manually. Right? This results in a pretty confusing spreadsheet.

Just look at the table and think how to calculate the y-position and length of the short 45° struts. It is something like this:

Code: Select all

y: table_depth - (table_height - foot_height - plate_thickness) - profile * sqrt(2) + 52 mm * sqrt(2) - 12 mm / sqrt(2)
l: ((table_height - plate_thickness - foot_height - 2 * profile) * sqrt(2) - 52 mm - 12 mm - profile) / 2

[wakyct]

I think I am doing this right now, but it requires to calculate all positions of all items manually. Right? This results in a pretty confusing spreadsheet.

Just look at the table and think how to calculate the y-position and length of the short 45° struts. It is something like this:

Code: Select all

y: table_depth - (table_height - foot_height - plate_thickness) - profile * sqrt(2) + 52 mm * sqrt(2) - 12 mm / sqrt(2)
l: ((table_height - plate_thickness - foot_height - 2 * profile) * sqrt(2) - 52 mm - 12 mm - profile) / 2

I think a spreadsheet is definitely a useful tool in a model, but I suggest looking into making master sketches as well. For example,

master_sketch_example.png (155.96 KiB) Viewed 1035 times

example_sketch_frame_pattern.FCStd

(4.28 KiB) Downloaded 43 times

The blue measurement lines are reference constraints -- they update based on the red horizontal distance constraint. The orange measurement line is calculated from the length of the horizontal line in an expression (note I renamed the horizontal distance constraint to lengthRef).

So, if you change the length of the horizontal, the vertical and angle lines will automatically update. IMO it's nice to work this way than with spreadsheets (which are useful, don't get me wrong).

[chrisb]

I think I am doing this right now, but it requires to calculate all positions of all items manually. Right? This results in a pretty confusing spreadsheet.

I don't think that an assembly workbench will do the arranging in space do all by its own. I would strongly recommend to use appropriate Attachments. For such a - seemingly not very complicated - table that can well be sufficient.