Monthly Archives: April 2012
Mining for Gems in SolidWorks Part Templates
This months tip, #2-Mining for Gems in Part Templates, stems from a recent visit to a company newer to SolidWorks. As we were going through establishing some standard part templates, particularly for Sheet Metal, the question came up on how,
... ContinuedNew mobile app coming next week—guess what it is and get it for free!
There's some big news coming next week from SolidWorks. We're releasing our first design-related mobile app, and while we won't let the cat out of the bag just yet, we will give you a chance to win it for free.
... ContinuedTaking Baby Steps into Surfacing
TA-DA!! Here it is, my first SolidWorks model created using surfacing tools. I started by following the tutorial, but quickly became curious as to what exactly I was doing. So, I used a new SolidWorks 2012 add-in – the Part
... ContinuedAmtrak keeps the trains running on time–with help from SolidWorks
I occasionally take the Acela Express when I need to visit New York City. From where I live outside of Boston, the trip is just as quick as driving to Logan, flying into LaGuardia, and taking a cab into Manhattan.
... ContinuedSWUGN Summit Season Kicks Off in Style
A late start to the 2012 SWUGN Technical Summit season didn't detract from the excitement, as more than 70 SolidWorks users converged on tiny Plymouth, Indiana for the SWUGN Summit – South Bend. The venue turned out to be perfect, even if I was
... ContinuedIn drawings, how are breaks in projected Break views aligned with parent view’s breaks?
Break views are common practice for some industries where long components do not fit well on standard sheet sizes at a useful scale. SolidWorks has a function to break views in the Break tool in the Drawing toolbar. However, what if there is a projected view of that component which must also have a break?
... ContinuedTips for Using Enterprise PDM’s Label Function
Remember that kid that was always picked last to be on the kickball team? I think SolidWorks Enterprise’s Label function was that kid. What good is it? I have seen it used three different ways…
... ContinuedSolidWorks “Freeze” Saves You Time
New in Solidworks 2012 is a tool that allows you to take charge of your models and give you time back in your busy schedule. How many of us work with import bodies, large data sets, or complex models? We
... ContinuedSolidWorks Indent: One Tool with Unlimited Uses
One of the SolidWorks tools that I think gets overlooked for the unlimited number of possible uses is the Indent feature. Below are 3 different examples of how I have found that the tool can be used on an everyday
... ContinuedAmerican Seating Helps Fenway Park Stay Authentic—With Help from SolidWorks
Boston is celebrating Fenway Park's 100th anniversary this week. 100 years is a long time when it comes to sports facilities, and Fenway has received a number of much-needed upgrades over the years: Monster seats, a digital video board and
... ContinuedTraining the Next Generation of SolidWorks Users
“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned
... ContinuedNEWS FLASH – Richard Doyle is Learning SolidWorks Surfacing
Austin, Texas, USAApril 17th, 2012 – For immediate release The SolidWorks Community was shaken today by the news that Richard Doyle, Interactive Communications, User Groups and Online Communities, SolidWorks – has announced his intention to learn the ins and outs
... ContinuedJoin the world’s most innovative SolidWorks users on Born to Design
As SolidWorks CEO Bertrand Sicot said at SolidWorks Word 2012, we are all united by the idea of design. From engineers to designers to part-time inventors, our desire to discover inspires us to build products the world didn't even know
... ContinuedLearn about Bills of Materials and Tables in the SolidWorks Demo Library
If you're new to SolidWorks, or thinking about moving from a 2D CAD tool, one of the things you'll appreciate is how easy it is to document your assemblies and components with bills of materials (BOMs) and automatic ballooning. To
... ContinuedBalloons and Excluding from Bills of Materials
I recently took a support call from a customer who noticed that he was seeing asterisks instead of item numbers when he added balloons to a purchased sub-assembly inside of his assembly drawing. I thought that it might make for
... Continued