Dear Jon,
You have probably done your own search for suppliers, but see the attached file for UK manufacturers of screw conveyors. It is likely that you can design around standard parts, which would be a saving.
Regards,
Bob
Dear Jon,
You have probably done your own search for suppliers, but see the attached file for UK manufacturers of screw conveyors. It is likely that you can design around standard parts, which would be a saving.
Regards,
Bob
Dear Didier,
Thank you so much for all your hard work. I am always amazed by how quickly a request becomes a reality. I will let you know how I get on with the new script.
Once again, many thanks,
Bob
Dear Jon,
Presumably you would like some suggestions on how to manufacture the screw at a reasonable cost.
May I start by suggesting you look for a supplier of plastic sewer pipe (or mains water supply pipe) as that looks to be a low cost option for the tube. Seeing as it is such a small piece, you may even get the company to supply FOC. The pipe should have a reasonable wall thickness (say around 10 mm)so that it doesn't distort under load. End pieces could be made from 25 mm thick plastic (polypropylene?) plate and fixed to the ends of the tube using M10 stainless steel studding running between the plates on the outside. The plastic end pieces could be machined to provide the bearing surfaces or you could use a suitable low friction plastic bearing, such as: http://www.igus.co.uk/iPro/iPro_02_0002_00_GBen.htm?ArtNr=&C=gb&L=en and add additional features to retain the bearings. [NB. I just did a quick search on the Web and so the choice of plastic bearing is probably not optimum, and perhaps not even close].
The impellor is the tricky part as the edges of the screw have to 'wipe' the inner bore of the tube to minimise the flow back. Therefore, they have to be made accurately. Weldable plastic sheet (3 to 5 mm thick) might be used to make up the impellor blades. The sections could be water jet cut to high accuracy (a few tenths of a mm), shaped using a hot air gun (you will require a jig so that the forming can be done accurately), welded together to form the spiral impellor, and then welded to a plastic shaft (thick-walled plastic tube).
As Jean would say, "just ideas".
Kind regards,
Bob
Dear Jon,
I know an excellent engineer who is now retired. He has just got interested in Sketchup so I will pass on this link. He might have some advice. It would also be nice to have more engineers contributing to this forum.
Good luck with the design.
Regards,
Bob
Dear Jon,
Do you still require help, or is this a repeat because of the bug? What help do you need exactly?
Kind regards,
Bob
Dear All,
Many thanks for all the replies.
Regards,
Bob
I posted this topic this morning, but I cannot seem to find it, and so I assume it was affected by the recent bug.
Does anyone know if there is an IMPORTER for .stl files. I know there is an exporter written by Didier Bur, and was wondering if an importer existed. I am using the free version of Sketchup 6.
Dear Todd,
Many, many thanks. It is a very useful tool.
Kind regards,
Bob
Dear Todd,
Many thanks for all your hard work. I look forward to using the new script.
Regards,
Bob
This is what I think of as a French door set. In the UK French doors usually open out on to a garden or a balcony.
Regards,
Bob
I think it is now called PathCopy.rb and can be found on the Smustard website.
Bob
Dear TIG,
Many thanks for replying. It is a non-urgent request as your V1.8 seems to work fine and is accurate to the stated tolerances.
FYI, the model is that of a machine base that is to be cast from polymer concrete. The volume gives me the mass (density 2,300 kg/m^3), and an estimate of the cost.
Kind regards,
Bob
Dear Tig,
Have you had time to look at this, or should I just go on using version 1.8?
Kind regards,
Bob
Dear Juan,
No problems! I really should use the Search box more often.
Kind regards,
Bob
Dear Lewis,
Thanks for that detailed response.
I think Google Sketchup might extend its popularity by making exporters available for all the major 3D CAD modelling packages (e.g. SolidWorks, Pro/ENGINEER, Inventor etc). Play Daassault/Microsoft at their own game.
You might ask why anyone running one of these 3D CAD programs would want to use Sketchup. Well, there is just something about Sketchup, and the way it works, that just gets the design juices flowing. I have used it to work through quite complex designs, and in a fraction of the time it would have taken me using Inventor, which is what I use for producing the final drawings. Perhaps it's the way my mind works, or doesn't work.
Regards,
Bob
Okay, I get the point. Thanks for putting me straight.
I'll go back to sleep.
Regards,
Bob
Dear Jon,
Thanks and good luck! I too have a deadline, but it's the end of March.
Regards,
Bob
Dear Jon,
I am not too up on file types, but aren't .dwg and .dwf 2D file formats?
I can import a 3D surface model (typically .sat or .iges) into Inventor and then use it as a template for creating the solid model. A .dwf file imports as a 2D projection, which can be useful in some cases, but not what I'm after.
Have you got a deadline to meet, or do you like that peaceful time between 5 am and 9 am?
Kind regards,
Bob
Good morning Jon,
So, you're an early bird too. I have been up for the last few hours watching the launch of the ATV and the early flight stuff.
I have been using Sketchup for the past few months to mass model mechanical parts before using Inventor 11 to detail the parts. Because of the drawing precision offered by Sketchup it should be possible to export to Inventor, and then to re-build the model for final 2-D draughting. The problem is Inventor requires file formats .sat, .stp (.ste, .step}, .igs (.ige, .iges).
I have you come across a file converter that will convert the 3D output from Sketchup?
Kind regards,
Bob