The CAD thread

[gromitdj]

Looks good! Keep it up!

On another note... Anyone know if theres a way to xClip an OLE object? I have some scanned documents I need to put in some sheets as OLE's and the dang things wont clip

You can clip PDF's using the "pdfclip" command, or if you want a link that will update when you update the excel file, you can do the following.

The only way I know to do it is to:
1. Open the file in excel and select the cells you want displayed in AutoCAD.
2. Copy to the clipboard (Ctrl-V, or similar)
2. In your CAD file select paste/paste special from the home panel.
3. In the dialogue box that comes up select the "Paste Link" radio Button.
4. select insertion point.

These are the directions from AutoCAD 2015, but 2006 should not be much different.

 

[dkwolf]

Old autoCAD haha. the office is updating to the latest version after the new year but for now we're using acad2006. And the tables are in excel. We've also scanned some images and imported those

You have no idea the learning curve you're about to get thrown into. So much new has been introduced since then....

 

[dkwolf]

You can clip PDF's using the "pdfclip" command, or if you want a link that will update when you update the excel file, you can do the following.

The only way I know to do it is to:
1. Open the file in excel and select the cells you want displayed in AutoCAD.
2. Copy to the clipboard (Ctrl-V, or similar)
2. In your CAD file select paste/paste special from the home panel.
3. In the dialogue box that comes up select the "Paste Link" radio Button.
4. select insertion point.

These are the directions from AutoCAD 2015, but 2006 should not be much different.

Was rtext an option in 2006? I don't remember.

Edit: Home from longer than I planned at the bar.... rtext might not work for excel documents.

 

[kev211]

Was rtext an option in 2006? I don't remember.

Edit: Home from longer than I planned at the bar.... rtext might not work for excel documents.

Rtext was/is a part but wont work for excel correctly

You have no idea the learning curve you're about to get thrown into. So much new has been introduced since then....

Ya, luckily I have a student version of more recent versions so have been able to kinda keep up, but you're right. It's gonna be crazy moving to it full time. With that being said, the boss is gonna give us a week to just play with it and get familiar with the new curveball

 

[dkwolf]

It's been long enough since I've had to use it, I forgot about the program, but we used to use an add-on called XL2CAD to link excel spreadsheets into CAD. If I remember right, you could select a specific area of the spreadsheet, and it would insert it into CAD and link it to the original document.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Well. It's one of those days. The one where the HATCH command decides to ruin your life. I'm about to delete my entire computer and throw it into the Niagara River.

 

[Rhumbline]

Well. It's one of those days. The one where the HATCH command decides to ruin your life. I'm about to delete my entire computer and throw it into the Niagara River.

I hear you, I swear that HATCH has gotten worse in the most recent releases. Are you trying to hatch an object, or by picking an internal point?

 

[TheCADJockey]

I hear you, I swear that HATCH has gotten worse in the most recent releases. Are you trying to hatch an object, or by picking an internal point?

Internal points. Our parts are intricate, so hatching is really hit or miss. Throw in a mil-spec thread and it is more often a miss, or causes my computer to freeze up completely. I had to trace the entire thing in a polyline to get it to cooperate. That was nearly a crisis. So frustrating.

 

[Rhumbline]

I understand.

What I've frequently had to do is chop the entity into smaller sections with lines that I erase after hatching. It's not something I'm proud of, but I've wasted too many hours insisting that it should work.

I've also found that zooming in can help, but you have to have the entire outline visible on screen of course.

If you're still having problems, break the entity up by drawing a line through it to give you a sub set. try to hatch each section.

For some stupid reason, this seems to work. if you find that you can hatch one part but not the other, draw a line to break that part up as well. Repeat as needed.

 

[TheCADJockey]

For some stupid reason, this seems to work. if you find that you can hatch one part but not the other, draw a line to break that part up as well. Repeat as needed.

Those are all steps and tricks that I use before tracing with a polyline. None of them worked this time. Normally, the zooming in works just fine for me. The parts are often naturally divided up with hidden lines and detail callouts that make it easy, sometimes it just does not want to have it. The only other thing I like to do is remove as many little pieces as possible to get them away from the hatched area, before putting them back.

Today was a severe case. If it had locked up on me, I would've thrown myself to the machine shop and just given up. They're like wolves back there man. With all their, wrinkly, dirty hands and what not. Scary place.

 

[kev211]

Internal points. Our parts are intricate, so hatching is really hit or miss. Throw in a mil-spec thread and it is more often a miss, or causes my computer to freeze up completely. I had to trace the entire thing in a polyline to get it to cooperate. That was nearly a crisis. So frustrating.

why not just use boundary to create a polyline and then use that to hatch? Internal point picking for hatching hurts my soul, and usually my keyboard, or mouse, or whatever else I start bashing over my desk

 

[TheCADJockey]

why not just use boundary to create a polyline and then use that to hatch? Internal point picking for hatching hurts my soul, and usually my keyboard, or mouse, or whatever else I start bashing over my desk

I've done both, it's just a terrible, horrible command in general. I'd rather grab a t-square, 45 and just do it by hand.

 

[Rhumbline]

why not just use boundary to create a polyline and then use that to hatch? Internal point picking for hatching hurts my soul, and usually my keyboard, or mouse, or whatever else I start bashing over my desk

It's been my experience that when HATCH can't find a boundary, neither will the BOUNDARY command.

 

[kev211]

I've done both, it's just a terrible, horrible command in general. I'd rather grab a t-square, 45 and just do it by hand.

Ya, Ill agree with that. I had a roof hatch on a building almost crash my computer just because I waved my crosshairs over it. That was fun waiting for autocad to un-freeze itself for 5 minutes in the middle of a deadline...

 

[kev211]

It's been my experience that when HATCH can't find a boundary, neither will the BOUNDARY command.

Could be, but I feel like theres been times when hatch cant find a boundary so I do that BOUNDARY command, walk away for a few minutes and have a boundary when I come back.

You mentioned chopping up an area into smaller areas to get the pick points to work... Was that because you were getting the "hatch spacing too dense" error?

 

[gromitdj]

Well. It's one of those days. The one where the HATCH command decides to ruin your life. I'm about to delete my entire computer and throw it into the Niagara River.

Funny.. I just accidentally picked an xref while hatching and it completely crashed ACAD without any warning. I'm Browsing HBT while it loads back up.

I might throw mine in the Niagara too. All the way from SoCal.

 

[TheCADJockey]

I might throw mine in the Niagara too. All the way from SoCal.

Is that so, Uncle Rico?

A lot of times, the assemblies I'm working on are full of polyline wires and pcbds. There's a 50/50 chance my computer will freeze, lockup then blue screen if I try to hatch around those electronics. My quick save game is strong.

 

[kev211]

Funny.. I just accidentally picked an xref while hatching and it completely crashed ACAD without any warning. I'm Browsing HBT while it loads back up.

I might throw mine in the Niagara too. All the way from SoCal.

Our office is right by the beach, Niagra is too far. But if I fling it just right I could probably knock out a surfer too . I was browsing HBT while waiting for my computer to etransmit all the files

 

[Rhumbline]

Could be, but I feel like theres been times when hatch cant find a boundary so I do that BOUNDARY command, walk away for a few minutes and have a boundary when I come back.

You mentioned chopping up an area into smaller areas to get the pick points to work... Was that because you were getting the "hatch spacing too dense" error?

No, I'll have a closed complex entity, often using Splines, and I get the "Unable to find valid boundary" error or whatever the wording is.

I use AutoCAD to do artwork as a hobby and so the drawings can get really complex. And AutoCAD HATES using Splines as hatch boundaries.

Oh, and I turn off all that dynamic popup tool tip nonsense.

 

[TheCADJockey]

And AutoCAD HATES using Splines as hatch boundaries.

The fact that you even attempt to hatch anywhere near splines just gives me the most severe anxiety. Did I mention the computer they gave me is probably of legal drinking age?

 

[gromitdj]

Is that so, Uncle Rico?

I have got to watch that again!

Our office is right by the beach, Niagra is too far. But if I fling it just right I could probably knock out a surfer too . I was browsing HBT while waiting for my computer to etransmit all the files

Yeah, I'm up in Orange County. Maybe the Santa Ana River is more realistic. It might actually have some water in it today.

 

[Rhumbline]

The fact that you even attempt to hatch anywhere near splines just gives me the most severe anxiety. Did I mention the computer they gave me is probably of legal drinking age?

I've been there...

 

[Rhumbline]

I have got to watch that again!



Yeah, I'm up in Orange County. Maybe the Santa Ana River is more realistic. It might actually have some water in it today.

I have a choice between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. Salt or Brackish?

 

[NickTheGreat]

CAD dude here too! Use AutoCAD a lot, but 90% Solidworks. Can't live without that z-axis

And don't say AutoCAD 3D.

 

[dkwolf]

CAD dude here too! Use AutoCAD a lot, but 90% Solidworks. Can't live without that z-axis

And don't say AutoCAD 3D.

Mechanical Desktop

 

[gromitdj]

I've modeled plenty of buildings in AutoCAD for rendering in 3D Studio. So I can attest for the fact that AutoCAD indeed has a Z axis.

 

[kev211]

I have a choice between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. Salt or Brackish?

Brackish. Always brackish. It's the best of both worlds!

 

[ScrapRoomBrewer]

Ugh....hatching.

I once had a drawing that would crash every time I tried to add hatching. Eventually, I had to make a separate drawing with just the boundaries and hatching and then xref that in. But if I recall correctly (it's been a while) if you turn off and freeze all the layers that do not pertain to your boundary and hatching, the crash rate goes WAY down.

 

[treacheroustexan]

I could use some assistance guys. I'm working on an assignment where I have to draw a sprocket.

I'l try to explain as best as I can:
So far I have a 12.25 diameter circle and then I have an 11.25 diameter circle inside of the larger circle. The larger circle is for the sprocket teeth. I drew one line from the center point up and then offset it to .1875 on each side. I trimmed it to fit inside of the circles. I then created a polar array, and set my items to 50. From this point on, my plan was to use trim and that would complete my sprocket teeth and I could move forward. Whenever I create my polar array, I end up with this (see attached picture) What am I doing wrong? I tried extending the lines instead of trimming them before creating my array, and then my plan was to trim from there but it won't allow me to do that :/ Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Rhumbline]

I could use some assistance guys. I'm working on an assignment where I have to draw a sprocket.

snip...

that's an easy one. just to be certain,

1. delete all of the lines and the outer circle, leave the inner circle.
2. offset the inner circle out by the depth of the teeth.
3. use the QUAD Osnap to draw a line from the 12 o'clock position of the inner circle to the 12 o'clock position of the outer circle.
4. using the array command enter the number of elements in your final array.
5. for origin, make sure you use the "center" osnap and pick one of the circles.
6. proceed as before.

you didn't select the center of the circle as your origin, that's what messed up the array. It's possible that the two circles weren't concentric, but they look ok. it's also possible that the line wasn't properly aligned, but that also looks ok.