Here is what I want to do, but I'm not sure the best way to go about it:

     I frequently model machine parts, lets use bolts as an example, from stock tube steel to finished product. Every bolt is manufactured with the same operations; initial turning to remove stock, secondary grinding to get finish diameters, another turn to put in threads, and then a cut to shape the head (square, hex, etc). Every manufacturing operation I set as a different configuration in the model and the same amount of material is removed (diameter-wise) for every model, only the forge dimensions are different. In essence, the desired finish dimensions are driven by the forging size I use initially.

     Currently for every new part I just copy a similar existing model, change the diameter if need be and the unique geometric features (ie thread pitch and head shape). Instead of doing all that by hand I was wondering what the best way to automate this would be, either by using a macro, design table, linking equations, changing configuration parameters, etc. etc.

     Ultimately my goal is to only have to put in a few dimensions and have some sort of code generate all the manufacturing configurations from those inputs. Any help is appreciated. A bonus would be if drawings could then be automatically made from those parts- one for each configuration, although this is not a priority.