I’m still in the adjustment phase with SolidWorks 2008. I’ve been trying hard to resist the urge to do everything in SolidWorks 2007, just because it’s the “familiar” environment and I already know where everything is. Instead, I’m trying to spend more time working on SolidWorks 2008, and, as a result, I keep finding new things (or things that have changed) here and there. This time, ...

Last week’s meeting and all the talk about automation got me really inspired, so I decided to try some of the suggestions myself.  While searching through parts and assemblies that I could use for my experiments in automation, I happened to notice something that is actually new functionality included in SolidWorks 2008. RMB clicking the part icon on the top of the Feature Manager for a part wit...

Just as promised, here’s the second part of the post.  For this one, I managed to film Brian Titus as he was introducing the group to several strategies and tools for automating SolidWorks, such as macros, part and assembly design tables, mates, smart mates, smart components, and KBE tools. I was impressed by the KBE tools he demonstrated, since I had never heard of them. Others in the room...

Last week I attended the second meeting of the Tri-Valley SolidWorks User Group. I’m glad I was able to make it to this one, because it turned out to be a great learning experience for me and, I think, for many of those in attendance. Meetings such as this one are great for getting exposed to tools and strategies that otherwise you may not hear about. The agenda was changed a few days before the...

This suggestion for extruding text on a curvy surface (See a Matter of Looks) came to me as an email from Jason Stats, CSWP, from Bard Access Systems, and I thought it was a great idea to share it with everyone here. “The way I usually do it is to extrude the text using the “Offset From Surface” end condition with the sketch being behind the surface as you mentioned.  This requires ...

I finally got the new DELL configured and all the software installed and running. I also made sure to copy all my files and download the files I’ll need to work my way through Matt Lombard’s new Surfacing book.  And so, at last, the moment of truth had come:  it was time to fire up SolidWorks 2008 and see for myself what it really looked like!  First, it was the shock of the unfamiliar.  L...

I learned this little trick while trying to help someone extrude some text on a curvy surface.  It wouldn’t surprise me if some of you knew of a different way to achieve the same results. That’s one of the things I like about SolidWorks: there’s so many different ways to go! I must confess it used to drive me nuts in the beginning, when I was constantly wondering if I was doing it right. I ...

So much happening, only not as fast enough as I would like it to… Well, the “ Pepsi Challenge” went a lot better than I thought. I didn’t stutter (much), everyone had a great time, and they liked it so much, they even came back for seconds! It was good, but after this experience, I sure have  a greater respect and admiration for the real  SolidWorks representatives and salespeople. Their...

What a great combination!  Well, the New 2008-2009 student edition of SolidWorks has just been released, with all the functionality of SolidWorks 2008 Office Premium, plus COSMOSWorks, COSMOSMotion, and COSMOSFloWorks.  So, for up to 24 months, students from middle school all the way through graduate school will be able to take advantage of the full potential of SolidWorks, everything, all th...

I can’t say I’m a very patient person. No, not really. That’s not me! My nature is to run straight ahead to wherever it is I want to go, and never stop running until I get there, no matter what. However, I’ve learned that in this life, sometimes, it does pay to wait and go little by little, just a little bit every day. Sometimes, it’s the only way to do it. You just need to keep at it, e...

What is a block? Well, a block is something I wish my Dynamics of Machinery teacher had used many years ago, while he was trying to explain to us the way different mechanisms were supposed to work.  It would’ve been so much easier to understand with SolidWorks and blocks, but, alas, he had no SolidWorks or blocks, so we had to make do with his dinky drawings on a blackboard and the awkward ways...

Awesome!  As if becoming a Certified Professional wasn’t by itself incentive enough to take the CSWP test, this morning I noticed that now you can also be entered in  a contest to win a cool Trek Fuel EX 5.5 bike,  if you register to take the test between June 1st and June 30th .  I understand this bike was designed using SolidWorks and COSMOS, and has a retail value of $1369.99! Wow!  To e...

Well, this blog post could also be called “How to make one’s life more complicated than it already is”, or even better, “I have to stop wearing that cap to the baseball games”. OK, so this time there I was at the baseball game, minding my own business, when one of the umpires, taking a good look at my ever so stylish baseball cap, came over and asked, “Excuse me, what exactly is SolidW...