How to represent broken pipe on SolidWorks drawing
I'd like to get some SolidWorks drafting advice on how to represent a long pipe (or hose or shaft) in a broken view. SolidWorks doesn't have an option to display the break with the symbol shown in the attached image.
What do you do?
We drew the S-symbol and saved it as a block, but most of the time we just use one of the break types that SolidWorks provides. Not the best drafting technique for cylindrical parts, but it's easy and saves drawing time.
3 Answers
For ease and speed, I'd stick with the default (ugly) broken view options which SOLIDWORKS provides.
Recently I had to recreate a drawing (of a wire harness) which was done in some other CAD program years ago (Pro-E? Creo? AutoCAD?). All I had to work with was a PDF. But, like Jack, I went in and drew in the break lines manually. I think I used two point splines, but ellipses might even be better.
I just use whatever functionality the software provides unless there's a compelling reason not to. So far I haven't run into any compelling reasons not to use the provided break symbol types.
I agree that perhaps there should be more options, but at the end of the day if the drawing is clear and not subject to interpretation, the defaults are good enough for me, YMMV.
I just remembered with an older 2D CAD system we would draw that symbol with two stacked ellipses and then trim one.
