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anthonyws13-Aquamarine
13-Aquamarine
May 7, 2024
Solved

making a pipe wrap template for cutting compound miters on tubes

  • May 7, 2024
  • 3 replies
  • 4602 views

I  am having trouble creating properly dimensioned drawings of compound miter cuts on HSS square tubes. The annotations are difficult for the shop to interpret. ( see picture attached) So the next best thing is a pipe wrap template that the shop can use to mark the tube for cutting.

I've had some luck:

1. converting to sheet metal and then making a flat pattern drawing and exporting to DXF for laser cutting a marking template and also

2. some luck creating a surface wrap and unfoldng that as well.

 

Neither one is ideal however, and both were found by accident and not easily repeatable. Furthermore the "convert to sheet metal" method was irreversible so it requires making copies of all the tubes in the model which is a royal pain when there are more than a few parts.  

Best answer by StephenW

Unwrapping via a surface is really the way to go for this specific application. It is much like a piece of paper on the outside of the tube. Surfaces can also be left with the model/layered off and layered on the drawing. There would likely be some tweaking you would need to work out but other than that, it should good. I've done it for saddle cuts on a round pipe.

Sheetmetal, while applicable would be problematic based on the thickness you use and the y or k factor you have in your setup. It would change the length based on the calculated stretch of the material (see machinery's handbook if you are interested).

3 replies

kdirth
21-Topaz I
kdirth21-Topaz I
21-Topaz I
May 7, 2024

Here is a little inspiration on how I would detail a compound miter:

kdirth_0-1715114983735.png

 

There is always more to learn.
    S
    23-Emerald III
    StephenW23-Emerald III
    23-Emerald III
    May 7, 2024

    Ooooh...lets talk descriptive geometry using vellum and led!!! One of the most infurating classes I took that made no sense at the time...then I got a real job and discovered, "HEY, that is used!!!"

      S
      23-Emerald III
      StephenW23-Emerald IIIAnswer
      23-Emerald III
      May 7, 2024

      Unwrapping via a surface is really the way to go for this specific application. It is much like a piece of paper on the outside of the tube. Surfaces can also be left with the model/layered off and layered on the drawing. There would likely be some tweaking you would need to work out but other than that, it should good. I've done it for saddle cuts on a round pipe.

      Sheetmetal, while applicable would be problematic based on the thickness you use and the y or k factor you have in your setup. It would change the length based on the calculated stretch of the material (see machinery's handbook if you are interested).

        A
        anthonyws13-AquamarineAuthor
        13-Aquamarine
        May 7, 2024

        Thanks for the confirmation. I'll have to practice and write down the workflow steps to recreate it reliably. 

        tbraxton
        22-Sapphire II
        tbraxton22-Sapphire II
        22-Sapphire II
        May 7, 2024

        Does your organization have a standard for how to document compound miter cuts? If so, are you not able to document this in Creo? If not, you should establish one now and get agreement with the fabricators. How are they making the cut on the shop floor? Is it with a miter saw?

         

        With only two angles (bevel & miter) one can define the cut orientation relative to the workpiece and then specify a location on the tube to make the cut.

         

        tbraxton_0-1715118020018.png

         

         

          A
          anthonyws13-AquamarineAuthor
          13-Aquamarine
          May 7, 2024

          tbraxton, Thanks for the reply.

          Sadly we have no standard ( see reply above) and there is a shortage of talented guys to interpret complicated prints. It's doable on one end with one compound cut. The second cut on the same end is hard to document and then adding another at the opposite end and oh boy... gets hard to document and harder to decipher. 

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