Hole tool -feature

3dcad

What do you people think of separate hole tool?

Which would be simply for making holes quickly, click hole tool, set diameter and depth, set hole type (threads etc.), set pattern values, set reference & mirror, select edge 1 and dimension, select edge 2 and dimension. Include hole library with all or some of fields auto-fill.

Tool should be similar to 3-ax wood-working cnc machines default editor which takes only seconds to create a bunch of drillings.
Doing same in cad takes half an hour creating circles, dimensioning, extruding, making patterns.. and the pain of checking/editing dimensions in dozens of dialogs.. 
I will add some screenshots of the most usable drilling dialogs in our machines if this gets any attention.

This would save tons of my time but does anyone else need it?

+1 for hole tool

james_mcpherson11762

I never "got" the hole tool feature. I haven't figured out how it's better than a sketch with a pattern then extrude. I'd love to see how you use it with better effect.

3dcad

@James_McPherson11762  If you're referring to Alibre's hole tool, it doesn't have built-in pattern which makes it useless for me. I found round shape working better because I like to have dimensions in same place for easy editing.

coleman

Hole tool would be very handy.  I use it often in SW.  
It allows me to visualize drill point angles in blind holes and selecting drill sizes is quick. I don't have to lookup what diameter a number 7 drill is for a tapped hole, then sketch the correct diameter circle for an extrude cut.  

Plus 1 for hole feature tool. 

berne

Most of us from the SW world use the hole tool with regularity. Great time saver.

3dcad

Does SW hole tool have built-in linear and circular pattern?

jonathan_stedman

+1 from me.  Like Coleman, I can never remember the correct sizes for all the different types and the different c'snk etc.  Use it all the time in SW

julian_leland

+1 for hole tool as well. Very useful in SW, and it's been frustrating every time I try to put a hole pattern in a part in OS to have to look up the hole geometry, sketch it out, revolve a solid, circular/linear pattern, Boolean cut...

A few hole tool-related suggestions:

• Custom hole geometry creation: In SW, you are allowed to choose between a number of different hole types (csk, cbore, tapped, clearance, etc.), or define your own hole geometry. The "define your own" method is unfortunately pretty weak - I've always wished it would automatically open up the hole's sketch and let you actually draw out the hole profile, define which segments should be used for "through" holes/threads, etc. I know you can *kinda* do this by manually editing the hole sketch, but it's always been buggy for me - would love to see it implemented more cleanly.
• I've been bitten a few times by SW defaulting to metric fine threads instead of metric coarse threads. Please default to coarse, or - even better - force the user to first pick their thread diameter, and then pick their thread pitch (don't automatically select a pitch).
• For tapped holes, being able to see both the tap drill diameter and major diameter of the hole is really useful, as is having the "thread" decal on tapped holes.

mark_biasotti

@3dcad
Ditto for Hole Tool (wizard) and pretty much reiterating what Julian mentions:
Holes are indispensable in my work since most of my work in product design requires attachment points and fasteners.  Holes are much better than creating extruded cuts because they provide the designer with a library of standards which can be switched up at any time in the design process (i.e. can change a thru hole to a tapped hole) which leads to a much more accurate model for either prototyping or manufacturing. Additionally hole's information is automatically passed thru to the drwg further completing the description for manufacturing. Also holes (in SW) can be 3D meaning that you can apply a single hole feature at many differing planes on the part (super valuable for sheet metal.) 

chris_aicher

+1

devon_sowell

The SW Hole Wizard and Hole Series tools are invaluable to me. I use them on a daily bases. I teach SW at Palomar College and when the students realize the value of these tools, their productivity goes up. I'm a stickler about using the standard hole sizes for manufacturing and these tools help with that also. As Albert Einstein said — "Never memorize something that you can look up."

brucebartlett

+1, some kind of hole wizard/auto hole tool is a must. I would mainly use tapped holes/ though and blind, accurate tapping drill size is a must, a lot times I will laser cut a through hole for tapping, no thought or charts required just the CAD tool. 

Alan B

+1 on the hole feature. Both SW and Inventor have good ones to reference. I guess some people don't really need a hole feature, but like a parachute, if need it, you REALLY need it...:-)

kinsleymark

+1 as well!

The ability (in SolidWorks) to specify a hole and add a csink, cbore, tapped hole, etc -- and then automatically add the relevant information in a 2D production drawing has been a huge benefit for me.

caradon

+1

Hole tool/wizard/feature... is indispensable.

Dries

kevin_quigley

I know OnShape are working on this but I really hope they implement a thread tool as well as a hole tool. By this I mean a tool that automatically creates an accurate modelled thead to the various standards, as well as custom threads and thread profiles for moulded threads (incorporating lead in and out etc).

time was that you just needed a 2D annotation and simple hole in 3D. Not any more. With the growth of direct manufactured parts (3D printing, certain types of CNC) we need the option of modelling threads as part of these tools.

FWIW Autodesk Fusion has a very neat trick. Model a part in SolidWorks, create a hole with the hole tool (which in Solidaworks just gives a plain hole and adds a note). Open the file in Fusion and boom. Fusion models the thread for you automatically. Very clever.

in general, Inventor and Fusion are well ahead of SolidWorks in this area, but the best I've used was the old VX thread tools. So, I'm waiting to see what OnShape come up with.

chrisjh777

+1 for hole wizard.  Use it all the time in SW.  

I design small stuff with not much material between features, so to be able to view the drill shaped bottoms of blind holes in relation to other features is invaluable.

Loris

+1 for hole wizard

i studied measures of threaded holes many years ago and I still have a wall poster in my office but... we are talking about time saving. Hole wizard save a lot of time. 

Meccanica

+1 for hole wizard

We always use this tool in SOLIDWORKS to define threaded holes, counterbores, through-holes and countersinks. Many of these features can already be replicated in Onshape, but the hole wizard streamlines the process.

lonnie_1

+1 for hole wizard.  I use it all the time in SW.  Please include tapered pipe threads!

pete_yodis

And please add tolerance information to the hole tool feature.

michael3424

+1 for a hole wizard, the more fully featured, the better, but at least give users the basic features ASAP, like hole type (csink cntrbr, etc) and common thread formats.  I'm close to dead in the water until that happens.

Repairman

++1 For hole wizard tools ala SolidWorks.

I would also love to see the ability to create linear & circular patterns from existing features. I tried to do it yesterday and was surprised how difficult things became.

charley

Hole wizard please

mark_biasotti

Desperately needed (in my top 5)  

cadtoolbox

Why in the world would this not be a feature on day 1 of a new 3D modeling platform is perplexing. This isn't an advanced feature a select set of users use... it's a basic requirement for any viable modeling tool to have. We shouldn't have to ask for something like this. For those of you that are going to argue that it's free or it's in beta I say pishposh.... OnShape is running up against Fusion360, be better or you won't make it. 

It's my own personal pet peeve of software that promises the world before launch and garners a huge anticipation and then fizzles at launch with missing features... who has patience anymore to wait for basic features to be implemented later?

Take it or leave it, just my opinion.

3dcad

cadtoolbox said:

... who has patience anymore to wait for basic features to be implemented later?

Take it or leave it, just my opinion.

I have. I prefer robust and well thought fresh solutions over quick copies of what sw, fusion or any other cad has..
I think it's brilliant solution to have public beta before all features are built, this way it's going to be as close as possible to what users request.
There is already multiple cad solutions available, why not use some of those in the meantime? I won't be using OnS in production before it's better than my current solution, but I like to follow and learn it from the beginning because for some reason I'm expecting it to be better some day.

julian_leland

I think the value of early release and nimble, responsive development can't be overstated. Instead of relying on a tiny group of CAD weenies in a focus group to provide feedback on the basic parameters and functionality for the hole tool, OS lets all of us - from people who still aren't quite sure what "CAD" stands for, to grizzled veterans who started out on drafting tables - dream away about how we'd like to put holes in parts and provide immediate feedback to the devs when they have questions come up. Instead of thinking of this situation as "missing features at launch!", I think it's more accurate to think of it as though you got to walk into Autodesk/SW HQ a year before the launch of an open beta and see what they've got put together. Indeed, even that isn't really on the mark, because the changes that established systems make between versions are essentially incremental: they're tweaking the functionality of existing tools, rather than completely rebuilding from the ground up.

Also, following on to @Kevin Quigley - being able to automatically model threads would be great, but it would be important to be able to toggle thread display on and off (checkbox in the feature creation menu?) to reduce computational overhead.

(Finally, no offense meant by "CAD weenies". I include myself proudly in that group, even if I'm only a junior-grade CAD weenie...)

andrew_troup

I am firmly in the camp favouring patience, especially with respect to capabilities like Hole tool, where

a) we can make holes without it (admittedly tapped holes are very laborious)
and 
b) the Hole tool will require a sophisticated user interface, whose design will need deep understanding of how parts are best constructed in OnS

Onshape's approach involves a paradigm shift, particularly in respect of assembly mating.
Because of that, I think it is not obvious exactly how it will be used.
For instance, there's a possibility (remote, but it's an example of things currently unknowable) that it is desirable to have an option whereby certain types of holes (particularly dowel or spigot holes) automatically insert a mate connector.

A public beta phase with rich interaction, as we see here, can provide that degree of understanding of how the new product will be used.
It is a very different beast from a product launch, and I think it's a category error to expect a comparable degree of completion for both.

brucebartlett

Maybe the Hole Tool should also have a check box to add a mate connector. 

david_sohlstrom

What happens if the hole tool adds threads to holes that are tap drill size. Will your CAM program ignore the threads and just use the tap drill size for tool paths.

Dave