Tips & Tricks
Intersect – The Trimming Shears of the FeatureTree
Like some advanced part and surfacing features, I’ve struggled to know when to use them. Recognizing when and how to use a feature can sometimes turn your part from a tangled FeatureTree mess to a nice efficient tree. I knew
... ContinuedIncreasing Performance in SolidWorks Patterns
I had a customer send me a file recently because they were having issues with the performance of their part file that had several pattern features in it. When you look at the file from the surface you do not
... Continued“Set Document Property” for SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Users
Most people know that Sldsetdocprop can be used to make a SolidWorks Toolbox part behave like a normal part, but did you know you can use the same tool to make a normal part behave like a Toolbox part?
... ContinuedCutting All Ties: Best Practices for Removing External References
Designing parts using the Top-Down assembly modeling technique can be extremely useful. If a component is designed with the “top-down” technique, this means it is born in the assembly environment and it is designed using references to other parts within
... ContinuedWonders of Weldments
3+ Way Mitres in Weldments When building steel frames, particularly in circular tube you can strange results when 3 or more tubes come together and you and to trim them all back. You could end up with something like this:
... ContinuedSave time and money with our top five FREE tools for engineers
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do–everyone loves getting something for free. And if that free something can help you get your job done, even better. SolidWorks Product Marketing Specialist Jeremy Regnerus has put together a list
... ContinuedTips on using the SolidWorks Fill Pattern feature
Here’s a feature that you might not use too much or even know about. The Fill Pattern…
... ContinuedSave As Copy in SolidWorks
Many times a SolidWorks user wants to experiment with a part they are working on, but want to do it ‘safely’ as to not adversely change what they have already done. If there isn’t a data management system in place
... ContinuedSolidWorks’ Hidden Document Properties
Most all of us who use SolidWorks know that for each document whether it is a Part, Assembly or Drawing that we can modify the Document Properties for each of these files. In the Document Properties we can change items
... ContinuedGet High-Quality Animation Output from 3DVIA Composer
3DVIA Composer has a “Video” button that will save your animation sequence to an AVI file. This method is very easy to use, and is the place most people go when they want to save their animation to a standard
... ContinuedHow to Use the Bolt Connector in SolidWorks
If you analyze assemblies of parts that are joined by bolts or screws, you probably know about the “Bolt Connector.” In SolidWorks, Bolt Connectors are a very efficient way of representing the bolt stiffness, and compression due to pre-load, on
... ContinuedEditing the SolidWorks Custom Property Name List
When setting up custom properties in your SolidWorks parts, assemblies and drawings you have no doubt noticed the list of Property Names that are available when adding a new custom property. Where does this list come from? And how can you use it to help manage your SolidWorks file information?
SolidWorks Routing – Putting Power Into Your Designs
SolidWorks has a wealth of tools for designing machines and control systems, but how do we make them go? As a mechanical engineer I always felt a them and us relationship existed between the 'clankies' and the 'sparkies'. We design
... ContinuedGetting the most out of your SolidWorks graphics–with help from NVIDIA
SolidWorks recently held a Technical Training summit for North American resellers. About 75 technical leads from various resellers attended technical training and also learned about new features and offerings for SolidWorks products. NVIDIA was invited to attend and speak for
... ContinuedCustomizing SolidWorks Spell Checker
This article is based on a posting that appears on SolidWorks Legion. SolidWorks has a spell checker? Yup! It’s called Spelling Check and can be invoked on most installs by pressing F7 or by going to Tools>Spelling…. Spelling Check can be
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