Need dimensions on reduced scaled views

[w3Leon]

Hello All,
I'm looking for some help/advice with dimensions on a reduced scaled view on a 2D drawing. I make miniature reproduction items and some of my customers like to see comparative the dimensions of various reduced scales. My typical drawing format scales are Full, 1/3 and 1/4 on the same page (see attached file). I'm new to using Alibre Design and I cannot figure out how to make it display the reduced dimension of the reduced scale item. Is there a feature in Alibre for controlling this?

Software: Alibre Design Expert v26

Thank you,
Walt

 

[DavidJ]

Dimensions in Alibre reflect the ACTUAL dimensions used in the design.

If you want to scale the part use part scale/mirror command. As you have Expert, you could have different configurations for each scale applied.

Drawings of the scaled part will then reflect the actual sizes.

View scale in 2D drawings just fits the view in a smaller space, it doesn't alter part sizes.

 

[w3Leon]

Thanks DavidJ,

I just completed several experiments with the "Scale/Mirror Part" command. It appears that "Scale/Mirror Part" will reduce (or increase) the part that has been created and it also changes the original part. Therefore, I tried experimenting with making two copies of the part within the one file and changing the scale of each part, but that didn't work either. Next I tried creating an "Assembly" then inserting three instances of the part and tried changing the scale of each instance....this did not work.

So it appears to me that the only way to show multiple size variations of the same part on ONE drawing is: 1-Create the full size part, then save; 2-Create some "Save-as" versions; 3-Open each "Save-as" file and utilize the "Part Scale" command to resize the part; 4-Create a new Assembly and insert one instance of each scale part; 5-Create a 2D drawing of the Assembly with dimensions.

Thanks again for your time and responding,
Walt

 

[DavidJ]

You can use configurations - set configuration locks so that feature suppression is locked, then you can apply different scale features individually to each configuration. For drawing you can show multiple configurations in a single drawing.

 

[w3Leon]

WOW David, you sent me on a steep learning curve with that response. I started off being lost about "Configurations", I've never used that feature. I kept trying what you were saying and the part image on the screen was changing, but I was expecting to see a copy image. After some frustration and more coffee, I read your message again (slowly this time). Then I realized that the Explorer Menu has a "Configurations" list that I've never expanded. When I expanded the "Configurations" tab I had about 12 or 13 Configurations that I was creating over, and over, and over. Now your instructions were starting to make sense at my level. I kept three of the Configurations, played with the scales, saved the part file and activated the "Make Drawing from Design" feature. After doing the normal view insertion steps and applying what I learned about "Configurations" ........I now have ONE drawing sheet with THREE different scales and correct dimensions for each scaled view (see attached file).
BIG THANK YOU for helping,
Walt W.