Building a Stapler - Staple Cradle Pt1

Posted on October 17th, 2008 in Design Tutorial, Models, Sheet Metal, Stapler by The SW Geek

I know, I know… It’s been way too long since I have written an article for the stapler but I am going to make up for it today. Today we are going start a two part article on how to build the staple cradle of the stapler. I don’t know if it is really called that but it is the sheet metal part of the stapler that holds all the staples. I have done sheet metal parts on the SolidWorks Geek before but this time instead of creating a sheet metal part from native features, we are going to create a solid model that we will then add sheet metal bends to create the finished part. For this article, I am also trying a different approach to present the steps for this project to the readers, your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

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Building a Stapler - Arm Spring

Posted on September 26th, 2008 in Configurations, Design Tutorial, Dimensions, SolidWorks, Stapler by The SW Geek

After missing a week, we are finally back to building our stapler. The last time we were here, we made a multi-configured spring for the anvil without using a Design Table. Today we are going to make another spring but this time we are going to be creating a simple design table to configure the spring. So let’s see what we need to do…

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Building a Stapler - Anvil Spring

Posted on September 12th, 2008 in Configurations, Design Tutorial, Models, SolidWorks, Stapler by The SW Geek

Today on this very happy Friday, we are going to continue building our virtual stapler with the Anvil Spring. Over the past couple of weeks we built the Anvil and Anvil Rivet, now we will make a configured spring without a design table. The spring we make today will have three configurations: Default, As Assembled and Compressed each represent the three states of the spring, with the Default configuration representing the Free State. So let’s get started with all the fun.

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Building a Stapler - Anvil Rivet

Posted on September 5th, 2008 in Configurations, Design Tutorial, SolidWorks, Stapler by The SW Geek

Yay, it’s Friday! You know what that means…Beer! Oh, and of course another component of our stapler is about to be modeled. I hope you enjoy the modeling tutorials as much as I do. It gives me a chance to play with my favorite design tool SolidWorks (like I need an excuse). Last week, we modeled up the Anvil for the stapler and today we will stay in the general area of the stapler with the Anvil Rivet. The Anvil Rivet is used to attach the Anvil to the Base and retain the Anvil Spring (Next Week). This week is fun because we also get to build the rivet with two configurations, the free state and and as it is assembled. So lets get started…

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Building a Stapler - Anvil

Posted on August 31st, 2008 in Design Tutorial, Models, Sheet Metal, SolidWorks, Stapler by The SW Geek

On Friday, I went over the procedure for creating the forming tool for the stapler anvil. Today, as a special Sunday post, I will go over the rest of the anvil. The anvil will be made as a sheet metal component so we can use the forming tool that was created on Friday.

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Building a Stapler - Anvil Forming Tool

Posted on August 29th, 2008 in Design Tutorial, Models, Sheet Metal, SolidWorks, Stapler by The SW Geek

Here we are at the beginning of another beautiful Friday morning and of course you know what that means…this weeks modeling tutorial.  Last month when I started the stapler project, I thought it would be fun to model up the stapler sitting on my desk. I never expected it to attract the attention it has but it now seems to be the most popular series of The SolidWorks Geek. Your comments and questions are all great and please keep them coming. Due to the number of steps required to create the models illustrated in this series, I am constantly experimenting with the way I present the information. I try to balance the amount of information with the size of the post. From time to time, I may not spend as much time on a particular step but your comments and questions fill any gaps I may have left. So thank you, my photo may be the one shown above but this blog is yours.

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Building a Stapler - Arm Bracket (Sheet Metal)

Posted on August 8th, 2008 in Design Tutorial, Models, SolidWorks, Stapler by The SW Geek

Earlier this morning we starting working on the Arm Bracket for the Stapler. If you missed it, You should go back and read about creating the forming tools needed for the Arm Bracket. Now that we have created the forming tools we can move on to creating our sheet metal Arm Bracket.

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Building a stapler - Arm Bracket (Forming Tools)

Posted on August 8th, 2008 in Design Library, Design Tutorial, Models, SolidWorks, Stapler by The SW Geek

After missing a week, I am finally back with a new design tutorial. Two weeks ago we started building a stapler with the first part of the assembly, the base. This week, I will be building the arm bracket which is a simple sheet metal component. After today, you will be able to make a simple sheet metal part and a simple forming tool. A forming tool is used like a die to bend, shape and form sheet metal. The arm bracket and the two forming tools, we will be using, can be downloaded here: Arm Bracket, Stapler (304).

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Building a Stapler - The Base pt2

Posted on July 25th, 2008 in Design Tutorial, Dimensions, Fillets, Instant3D, Models, Productivity, SolidWorks, Stapler, ToolBars by The SW Geek

As promised, we are back with part two of creating the base for our stapler. If you miss the first half of this post make sure you go back and read it since it introduces you to Dynamic Mirrors, Instant3D and a different approach to modeling. So with out further a due, one to the stapler base.

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Building a Stapler - The Base

Posted on July 25th, 2008 in Assemblies, Customize, Design Tutorial, Instant3D, Productivity, Sketches, SolidWorks, Stapler, ToolBars by The SW Geek

For weeks now I have been staring at the stapler on my desk thinking “This would be so much fun to model.” A stapler has everything; formed parts, machined parts, sheet metal parts, springs, rivets and injection molded parts. What better way to put to use some of the tools and concepts we have explored together? Every week we will build another component of the stapler until we have all the components that make the assembly. After the stapler is built, maybe can use it to try out some other functions of SolidWorks. Today we are going to begin with the base of the stapler since this is the foundation of the whole assembly.

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