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Thread: Solidworks Spline tool not a smooth line when exported as 2D drawing

  1. #11
    Here is a site that shows how to make what they in marine call "ducks", though I alwys heard them referred to a "mice" to locate a spline for shapes much bigger than any ship's curve or French curve could follow. https://duckworksmagazine.com/06/howto/splineweights/index.htm This site shows them used to make guitar bodies. http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/TipsTricks/DraftingWeights/draftweights.html Here is a more total form of history which includes the "ducks." http://www.alatown.com/spline-history-architecture/
    Last edited by 2ndsegment; 06-25-2020 at 05:12 PM. Reason: expand the sources

  2. #12

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    Spline tool issue resolved
    Last edited by North_roll; 06-26-2020 at 08:01 AM.

  3. #13
    cwilliamrose's Avatar
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    I do much the same as do others. It 'works' for us. If you have specific information about why you feel SWx splines "do not work" (a very broad statement!) how about letting the rest of us in on it. If your comment is based solely on the printed output I have shown how to improve the output -- a solution you agreed looked good. So SWx splines are fine by your own admission and it's only a resolution issue using the SWx Save-as PDF. That is my take on this. You want better output, download and use a high res PDF printer. Problem solved (unless there's something you haven't mentioned).

  4. #14

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    Spline tool issue resolved...
    Last edited by North_roll; 06-26-2020 at 08:00 AM.

  5. #15
    cwilliamrose's Avatar
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    SWx can be quirky sometimes. The solution to the quirkiness is sometimes less than elegant but there's almost always a solution. It's not just splines, it can happen to almost any operation. Chamfers and fillets can behave oddly and the solution is usually to change to order they are created or separate them into several chamfer/fillet operations. Why does this happen? I don't know but it has been that way forever. Those commands work perfectly 99% of the time so I wouldn't say they are broken but they don't handle every conceivable situation in a straightforward way. In the developer's defense they can only test the normal stuff and then turn it over to beta testers to see what they find. That still doesn't cover all the possibilities because there are an infinite number of them.

    As for my use of PDF-XChange, that dates back to the time when SWx didn't have a Save as PDF function. I still use it partly out of habit and partly due to the level of control it provides. But the only time I have ever used 2400 dpi output was the test I did for you. In my normal use the output defaults to 300dpi and that works fine for me, even when printing templates. The segmented curves don't vary more than a few thousands from nominal so they are small enough to ignore. Cutting and sanding the shape takes care of any smoothness issues the print may have had, at least in my experience.

    When you generate a plot of the 23012 airfoil do you do the target (final) profile and then offset for the tooling? Are the splines fully defined (or fixed)? I wondered that about the sine wave example you linked to as well. If I was that user I'd try making a master sketch and doing the wave extrusions one or two at a time instead of all at once. They could be merged a few at a time once you did that. He/she could also try cutting those features into the part instead of adding them. Anyway, asking for too much at once can often be a problem in SWx for some reason.

    My experience also shows that making a 'perfect' form block is only a starting point. Once the realities of spring-back and technique come into it there will be a development effort for each tool. The end result is often nothing like what you thought it would be to create the part........

  6. #16

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    I'm very grateful for the time you took to get me to a solution....you're all volunteers here .. Doing it out of love and passion

    I'm going to delete my posts on this issue ... I have a solution...and everyone here put in top notch effort to try to get things to work for me

    consutants are $100s an hour and got the benefit here of your efforts..I appriciate your time

    hope you have a good day

    Michael
    Last edited by North_roll; 06-26-2020 at 08:36 AM.

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