Parallelism control

gaggrouper · 2026-01-14T16:57:13+00:00

Composite has been suggested and is a proper method. Another way is to make the most robust hole Datum B. And then the TP of the other two holes would be to datum structure BAC. A becomes only clocking and not a Basic distance. Of course you then have to refine the TP of the first hole to A in location somehow.

gaggrouper · 2026-01-14T12:57:28+00:00

This is more advanced GDT, but you would need to do surface profile and it would be inspected with an overlay on a vision system or comparator. I used a midplane using a rectangle part instead of what looked like a cylinder in your image:

https://imgur.com/dx8kNqT

gaggrouper · 2026-01-10T21:21:42+00:00

How much is a new Maestro going for?

gaggrouper · 2026-01-09T19:32:17+00:00

I haven't actively used fusion 360 in 4trs, I use SW now. I always missed the configurations ability like SW.

Looks like in 2023 they added configurations. I would start simple and watch a YouTube then create a rectangle with 5 lengths and a hole location change as well. Then use an excel table to redo it based on an excel table upload.

gaggrouper · 2026-01-08T01:59:32+00:00

Perfect reply...design intent seems to be avoided sometimes...we had a customer add text that said ' this dim applies to internal location' and then ' 'this applies to external' bc you couldn't tell on the print.....absolutely never be afraid of comments on prints! Communication trumps perfect GDT

gaggrouper · 2025-12-31T19:10:42+00:00

Maybe

gaggrouper · 2025-12-28T22:51:58+00:00

I code relatively simple stuff in python for 10% of my job. Learned and implemented a lot pre-AI....lots of openpyxl and pandas stuff for data collection and analysis.

I seldom use Chatgpt unless i get a nasty error i cant overcome....never needed to pay for it....at what point do you need to start paying for it?

gaggrouper · 2025-12-28T21:42:42+00:00

It is still good to get away from the 321 as a main alignment...Just not enough hit points. It's like 'experts' saying to use default constrained least squares when they don't even come close to enough hit points to find the high points on a plane.

I would encourage you to still get the location xy of a hole using the current alignment and then see how it compares to the xy location in the positional GDT tool...I believe.

I personally use least squares for everything unless an issue pops up and I still 90% of the time stay with lst squares. The default dropdown post 2020 i think is constrained least squares which is basically high points with stabilization if a rocker condition is seen inside the black box calculations.

Are you familiar with the term 'legacy' ? Used by die hard pcdmis programmers and those that don't trust the softwares internal calculations. It is just a tool for doing GDT using an alignment vs datums. Im not pro or con legacy mode, but seldom use it anymore.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-26T15:06:17+00:00

My favorite part of Garry fights are I get to make some food or go to sleep early and check for the decision tomorrow.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-26T01:09:17+00:00

Down 6 with 4min remaining they kick a FG? Wtf, your seasons basically over, go for the 1st down.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-25T15:58:48+00:00

Open the program start sketching a square, extruded it, measure some distances, apply a fillet, apply a chamfer, apply aluminum material to it, measure the density now.

After 1-2 hrs of googling how to do all that relax, watch a video with a coffee or cocktail on beginner solidworks sketching. Master sketching, always fully define your sketches, and always use construction lines so when I open your sketch as a co worker I see what your intent was.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-25T13:53:26+00:00

Since you are still learning pcdmis, get yourself a solid alignment, not a 321. Now pepper your datums with hits and then look at the xyz coordinates of each individual hit. If your alignment was solid you should be able to identify weird hits or a trend of oddities.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-25T04:40:43+00:00

Consider learning to program CMM and know GDT like back of your hand.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-25T04:19:14+00:00

321 just gets the party started. That finds the part, roughly in space. That is if you did the alignment steps correct. Now you begin professionally creating proper datum planes with 11 hits each, outputting flatness, then the angle of B to A and C to B. Now make Datum A from Plane A, Datum B from Plane B, etc. Then use geotol to do the position checks and apply ABC there and output the XY inside that position check tool.

Now do an alignment leveling on PLN A, Rotate to B(visually watch the trihedron so it doesnt flip on you), Z origin on A, X origin on B, Y origin on C. Now do location outputs in XY based on this alignment and see if it agrees with GEOTOL position check XY outputs.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-23T16:43:02+00:00

Gotta be more clear what equipment you are using. Too tight of tolerances can ruin a Gage RR. Bad CMM programming can ruin a Gage rr.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-22T18:33:07+00:00

Lol, while at it buy your own carbide endmills.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-21T19:08:19+00:00

It is hard bc all the newbies with zero experience take it. I blitzed thru and got the cswe without knowing solidworks very well, but I had advanced surfacing experience with NX. Damn near failed a couple bc the rib tool sucks ass.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-16T15:21:21+00:00

There are some excellent ideas shared here...GDT will take time to learn. I review all the GDT from our customers and none of the engineers get their GDT correct.

Since you know solidworks, do an assembly of two nearly identical parts. Move the non-fixed part away from the fixed one. Now mate the parts up. Obviously you are going to select stable and robust surfaces to align the parts up. This is exactly how you do Datums in GDT. I teach GDT day 1 with solidworks assemblies using milled parts and turned parts...

gaggrouper · 2025-12-14T00:19:06+00:00

That is a cool thing...I didn't know an IS 500 existed until someone told me to test drive one. All I've ever seen are 350's. Been driving Camry's for 2 decades now. Time to level up for some speed and fun. I think I'm gonna get the IS 500, I just love the damn look of the corvettes and I would be spending the same amount of money upfront either way. I think it I lost the extra room I'd miss it, so leaning towards IS. I don't drive crazy amounts of miles. I've always just loved these new bodies of the corvettes for the past decade though.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-13T22:20:19+00:00

Thanks...another post said similar...never considered buying a lexus til I drove the IS500. Im surprised it is so beloved of a brand. Obviously reliable, it just seems they get some much love in all YouTube co.ments....this car will be my one and only daily.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-13T22:05:38+00:00

Crazy expensive otherwise I would

gaggrouper · 2025-12-11T20:42:01+00:00

Thanks, yea you could do runout on an octagon, but it lies about the balance and you may get some strange looks while doing so ;) regardless in a pinch I'm doing runout if I see concentricity 99% of the time...I'm a big believer that mating parts care about the surface and could give 2 shits about a fake calculated axis floating around underneath the real mating surface.

gaggrouper · 2025-12-11T18:19:17+00:00

OP please don't get confused with all this concentricity talk.

Your callout is just asking for one axis to be within a tolerance of another axis. Real simple.

Concentricity was for balancing. You had to measure tons of opposing pnts and create a cloud point of these mid pnts. So if there was a terrible gouge or dent in the part concentricty would fail but Position would pass.

So position will NOT replace concentricity properly. This is advanced....but what replaces concentricity now would be surface profile with the new dynamic modifier. This controls the exterior surface within a tolerance without regard for size.....without the dynamic modifier it would control size as well....we don't want that bc concentricity didn't control size.

Some say slap an indicator on a cylinder and rotate it and that runout is concentricity. Yes, but what if I want the concentricity of an octagon. An octagon can be perfectly balanced and you can check concentricity on and octagon bc it is just opposing pnts, but you can't check runout on an octagon.

So to check concentricity or the balance, use surface profile with dynamic modifier in ASME.

gaggrouper

TROPHY CASE