Need a touch of help with Solidworks

[Melvang]

Alright I have for the most part an almost complete part designed in Solidworks.  Now the problem is I want to break it apart into multiple pieces.  It is a custom switch plate done in 3d but I want to break it up into separate pieces by row.  If anyone could possibly explain how I might go about that or would be willing to hop into ventrilo that would be great.  I can hop into the vent server you have or you can jump into mine it doesn't matter.

Melvang

[mkawa]

search for the 'split' or 'cut' command

[Melvang]

search for the 'split' or 'cut' command

Yeah I have looked up that one but not really understanding how to get it to work how I want it to. 

[BLJ Consulting]

as far as i know it depends a lot on how it drawn.  If you are referencing geometry or a single sketch thru out different aspects of the design it may not be feasible to break it into pieces.  I've done a few things where a sketch a concept then build pieces that fit into it, you can save copies and delete geometry until you have the part you want, then do another 'save as', repeat that as much as needed until you have the separate pieces and then rebuild as a new SLDASM file.  can be a pain but makes the mating simple in the assembly file.

[mkawa]

it also depends on whether you want a slice in the final assembly or whether you just want to split a single sketch into two sketches. if all you want is a slice in the final assembly, just draw a new subtractive sketch along the plane that you want to split the object by. if you want to split the sketch, you can either create two new sketches which have the two pieces you want, or you can use the split or cut command. if you think about it, the cut command is just a shortcut to re-creating the sketch as two separate sketches. (in programming languages, this is called 'syntactic sugar')

[Melvang]

Thanks for the info guys.  I think I will try the subtractive method from the original part and just save as to get the pieces I am looking for.  That part hadn't clicked in my head.  But I think this will be the easiest with my very limited knowledge with the software.

[Melvang]

the subtractive method works.  Thanks guys.  I just need to remember to hit "Save As" not "Save"

[mkawa]

awesome!

[Melvang]

Here is a pic of what I was trying to get to from a TKL plate.  And no the Nav block keys are not in the usual spot

[mkawa]

awesome, looking forward to the build log. ping me if you want to do more features like that hard drive status activity led you showed me at keycon. i can show you how to do that in software so that it doesn't require all that hardware (a wire can carry a LOT more data than that) and all that machining

[Melvang]

awesome, looking forward to the build log. ping me if you want to do more features like that hard drive status activity led you showed me at keycon. i can show you how to do that in software so that it doesn't require all that hardware (a wire can carry a LOT more data than that) and all that machining

It's all good mkawa, I actually prefer doing it with hardware instead of software.  That way when it gets screwed up I at least have a chance to fix it without resorting to waiting for someone to reply here.  I am a hardware junkie and the last programming I did was in 2011 on my Ti-86 in my physics class in high school.  Even then it was very simple programs.  I will probably need a bit of help with getting my firmware setup when I finally get my layout and CAD work finalized.