Mechanical Toolkit (Setup & drawing Hex Bolts)
This Tech Tip demonstrates how the Mechanical Toolkit facilitates the drawing and annotation of some common mechanical components.
Note: Make sure that the drawing units are set to "mm" (millimetres) before using the mechanical toolkit functions.
The first step is to define the defaults that the toolkit will use.
Toolkit Menu › Mechanical... › Setup
| Configuration
file path |
This tells the Mechanical Toolkit where to
store it's settings data. The mechanical toolkit will not work correctly if
this file has not been specified. AllyCAD is supplied with a standard file
"ISO Mechspecs.ini" situated in your
CAD user directory.
If you wish to switch to an alternate configuration file, you can browse
for it by clicking on the "browse" button. |
| Solid Line
Type |
Specify the line type and pen colour that will
be used by the mechanical toolkit to draw Solid lines. |
| Hidden Line
Type |
Specify the line type and pen colour that will
be used by the mechanical toolkit to draw Hidden lines. |
| Centre Line
Type |
Specify the Line type and pen colour that will
be used by the mechanical toolkit to draw Centre lines. |
| Annotation
Setup... |
Press this button to display the Annotation
Setup Dialog. |
| Welds Symbol
File |
Specify the AllyCAD symbol file that will be
used to draw the weld symbols. This file must be specified before you can
draw welds. A default symbol file containing weld symbols according to the
South African Steel Construction Handbook is supplied in the Symbols
directory. |
| File Open
button |
Press this button to browse for an alternative
weld symbol file. |
| Weld
Annotation Layer Name |
This is the name of the layer that the weld
annotations will be drawn on. If no such layer exists in your drawing, it
will be created when you draw a weld annotation. |
| Tolerance
Annotation Layer Name |
This is the name of the layer that the
geometric tolerance annotations will be drawn on. If no such layer exists in
your drawing, it will be created when you draw a tolerance annotation. |
| Surface Finish
Annotation Layer Name |
This is the name of the layer that the surface
finish annotations will be drawn on. If no such layer exists in your
drawing, it will be created when you draw a weld annotation. |
| Symbol scale
factor |
Use this value to adjust the relative scale
with which the annotation symbols are drawn. |
| Text Size |
Specify the text size in points for the
annotation text. |
| Arrow Length |
Specify the length of the arrow head in the
weld annotation. |
| Arrow Width |
Specify the width of the arrow head in the weld
annotation. |
Drawing Fasteners
Toolkit Menu › Mechanical... › Fasteners › Hex Bolts
The following dialog will appear:
• Select a bolt from the drop-down list, or fill in the relevant data.
• Select whether to draw the top view, the side view, or both.
• Select the line type (solid or hidden) to use for the top and side views.
• Press OK to draw the specified bolt.
Using the repeat function:
The repeat function is used to draw multiple equi-spaced
copies of the bolt.
To draw multiple copies of the bolt in a straight line:
• Select "Linear"
• Enter the number of bolts you want to draw in the input box labelled "Number"
• Now enter the distance between the bolt centres in the spacing input box below
that
• Click on the OK button, and follow the prompts
To draw multiple copies of the bolt in a circular arrangement:
• Select "Polar"
• Enter the number of bolts you want to draw in the input box labelled "Number"
• Select either "Spacing" or "PCD" from the list box
• If you select "Spacing", then enter the distance between the bolt centres
• If you selected "PCD", enter the PCD of the circle on whose circumference the
bolts will be arranged
• Press OK, and follow the prompts
Adding and deleting bolt definitions:
Note that the side view will not be drawn if you
select the Repeat Polar function.
You may add your own bolt definitions by clicking on the
"Add" button, and then entering the relevant data. The bolt definition will then
be saved when you click on OK, or when you select another bolt definition from
the list.
Warning: If you modify
an existing bolt definition, you will be asked to save it. Select "No" to avoid
changing the original bolt definition.
Drawing the side view:
The side view will only be drawn if the
"Side View" checkbox was checked.
If you also checked the "Automatically align
the side view" checkbox, then AllyCAD will prompt:
Indicate the position of the Bolt side view (auto align)
In this case, the bolt side views will be drawn aligned to an existing line.
Click on the thread side of a line as illustrated in (1) below.
The bolt will then be drawn as illustrated in (2) below (i.e.: it will "snap
to" the nearest line).
If you did not check the "Automatically
align the side view" checkbox, then AllyCAD will prompt:
Indicate the position of the Bolt side view
In this case, the bolt side view will be positioned where you indicate on the
drawing, and you will be prompted to select the rotation of the bolt from a
pop-up menu.
To accurately position the cursor, use the snap functions.
Drawing the top view:
If the "Top View" checkbox was checked then AllyCAD will prompt:
Enter Bolt centre for plan view
Indicate the position for the centre point of the bolt plan.
AllyCAD will prompt:
Enter a point on the Bolt plan view centre line for
rotation
Indicate a point on the centre line of the bolt plan view. This point will be
used to rotate the bolt plan drawing.
Note: that if you click on the same point as the bolt centre, then the
bolt will be drawn with no rotation.
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