When learning Machine Tool Design, CAD Drafters should become familiar with how tapped holes are made. How deep should the hole be drilled, how deep should it be tapped for a screw or bolt? What is a bottom tap and when should you use it. Check out this weld fixture design 101 lesson on tapped holes for how to calculate the drill diameter and depth of a tapped hole. Deepen your knowledge of how things are made.

A quick run down of the best machine tool design blog topics of the year. The Queen of lean machine design shares images, links and pictures from the best blogs so far on Weld Fixture Design 101. Lessons included on clamping, fastening, and detailing.

*** Revisions in Weld Fixture or Machine Design What is a revision in machine design?  It is a change to the production machine or weld fixture that is made after the drawings have been “released”. When the drawings are released that means the shop can start machining parts and putting the machine together.  So any changes to the drawing and design are now being made after the metal is formed.  Changes are even made after the machine...

Dimensioning an angled surface that has critical features on it can be challenging if you don't know where to begin. Let the Queen of Lean Machine Design give your some pointers to help you get better and CAD Drafting for Machine Design.

  Detailed drawings of machine tools need to be easy to understand. Features must be dimensioned in views that face the reader of the drawing. A beginner in Drawing up Machined Parts needs to know how to lay out views so that the machinists that is going to make the part understands what they are looking at.  Auxilary views in Pro/E allow the Detailer to lay out a view of an angled cut so that the face of the cut is parallel to face...

Just learning CAD Drafting? Beginning Machine Designers can learn the easy to remember "Rule of Thumb" for laying out views of a part in a drawing. Are you an old Pro at Pro/Engineer and CAD Design? How can you make detailing faster and easier? Watch the video and set up an isometric view of a part or assembly using Pro/E Wildfire 4.0.

Will 3D CAD Drafters Work Become Less About Drawing and More About 3D CAD Modeling? Increased integration of the design and build process through CAD/CAM, 3D printing, and file sharing between engineering and the shop has some businesses analyzing and even dropping their use of complete detailed drawings in machine design. What is your company doing to move forward and take advantage of the new technologies? I have found in the past that...