Designing a kitchen step by step. Smart functions supporting design (1/3) – Saving your own models to the library

WOODEXPERT provides many tools supporting the design of kitchen furniture. It facilitates the work of designers, shortening the implementation time and minimizing errors at every stage of the process. In this series of articles, we present the possibilities of the add-on in terms of creating and inserting components into the project. In the last article we will show how to create a copy of a project with just a few mouse clicks.

First, let’s discuss creating your own components. We can distinguish two methods of creating components in WOODEXPERT.

First method: From a model in a project

The first method involves creating a component from a subassembly in the project. We can use an existing project for this or create a new one. I’ll go with the second option.

I start by creating a new WOODEXPERT project. First, I’ll insert a body, which will be the base of our component.

I insert a component by double-clicking on its name, or by right-clicking and selecting “Insert component”. I specify the insertion planes and/or dimensions, as well as parameters.

After inserting the body, I move on to editing the subassembly. This is where I insert the elements that the component should contain. I will add feet and drawers to my body.

At this stage, it is very important from what level we are creating the component. We add to the library the assembly we are currently in. If we want to add only one cabinet, we should have the assembly of that cabinet open.

The program will warn us if we try to add the main assembly of the project to the library.

After adding all the desired components, I find the “Create component” function in the WOODEXPERT toolbar above the Graphic Area.

In the window that appears, I specify the name of the new component, the name of the folder where the assembly files will be stored, and the location of the folder in the WE library.

The body with the inserted elements will be copied to the specified location and opened in SolidWorks. We can still insert more components into the assembly, as well as edit its parameters – add or remove configurations, manage global variables and equations and so on. Finally, I launch the Component Definition Editor. From here I can change the name, code, component type, etc.

Now I go to the “Variables mapping” tab. Here we choose which global variables of this assembly file the user will be able to control when inserting the cabinet. Since we designed a cabinet with drawers, I’ll uncheck the “Back height” variable. It won’t be needed.

After making the desired changes, I save the new component. It is immediately active in the library. Now I will move it to a new category.

The new component can be dragged with the mouse to the new category. Done!

Second method: Copying components

Now we’ll move on to the second method of creating your own components, which uses existing components in the library and doesn’t require creating a new project. To do this, I must first close all SOLIDWORKS files.

I find the component that I want to copy, right-click it and choose “Copy component.”

As in the previous case, we were prompted to specify a new component name, folder name, and folder’s location in the component library. Once copied, the new assembly is opened in SOLIDWORKS.

The next steps are identical to creating components from a project. We can add elements from the library to our component, edit the configuration and the library definition.

The created component is located in the same category as the original. I can also move it between the categories.

What’s next?

In the next parts of the series, I will explain advanced techniques for inserting components and creating a copy of a project.

Are there any other WOODEXPERT features we should cover? Feel free to comment.