Defeature Tool Have you heard of the Defeature Tool in SOLIDWORKS? Many users have not. Read on for all you need to know about this tool and why you would use it. The Defeature Tool allows users to remove details form a part or assembly and save the results to a new file that is a dumb solid. What’s a dumb solid, you ask? It’s a solid body without any feature definition or history. This less-detailed model is saved to a separate file and maintains references to the original part or assembly. Why is this type of file beneficial? You can share the model with customers, suppliers, and upload
CATI Tech Notes
SOLIDWORKS Tips and Tricks and Info on Professional 3D Printing with Stratasys from the Technical staff of CATI
Category: Maximizing SolidWorks Performance
SOLIDWORKS: Fix-A-Fillet
Fix-A-Fillet with SOLIDWORKS If you are creating models with smooth surfaces and elegant rounded edges in SOLIDWORKS, you will have trouble creating fillets where sharp edges merge into smoother surfaces. For example, we have this part here: We need to place a .25 inch fillet, which blends smoothly into the adjacent surfaces. If we use the symmetric fillet with a curvature continuous profile, in the preview I see this: Let’s look at the result with curvature analysis: Notice that the blending looks good at the top but gets quite odd at
SOLIDWORKS: Running Multiple Monitors with SOLIDWORKS 2017
Running Multiple Monitors with SOLIDWORKS 2017 So, this question comes up a lot: “Should I run with extra monitors?” “Yes, yes you should”, is my typical answer. The industry has come to a common consensus that having more than on monitor does increase productivity. The following metric from a University of Utah studies are numbers that are agreed upon by many researchers from Intel to Microsoft. Multi-Monitor vs Single Monitor Display. 45% Easier task tracking (finding windows, reference information, etc.) 38% Easier to move around sources of information 32% Faster to perform tasks 29% More effective for tasks 28% Easier task focus 24% More comfortable
SOLIDWORKS: Perils of SOLIDWORKS Extruded Text
Perils of SOLIDWORKS Extruded Text At times a file has a need of text. There are many ways of adding text to parts and a few things to consider. I created a simple Bingo card: I created this file in a couple of different ways: First, I extruded a base sheet (.006 thick), created a grid and cut extruded the squares (.001 deep). I then extrude cut the letters across the top and then extruded the numbers in the squares. Second, I used the sketches for split lines to split the faces instead of creating extruded cuts. Third, I had an extrude that I
SOLIDWORKS: Simulation Deformed Result
Simulation Deformed Result A customer created a SOLIDWORKS Simulation Static study. Got the results ok. However, the Displacement Results did not show how the part will deform or flex (see image below).
SOLIDWORKS- Linking Assembly Balloons to Notes
SOLIDWORKS- Linking Assembly Balloons to Notes SOLDWORKS offers many annotation enhancements to your drawings, one of them being the ability to relate the BOM to different drawing views by using balloons. SOLIDWORKS even goes a step further by automating the ballooning process with the Auto Balloon feature. But there are many other dynamic uses for balloons than the traditional part numbering. On occasion, when working with drawing assemblies, it would be nice to link the itemized balloons to a note. This comes in handy when working with multiple configurations of an assembly or listing out specific instructions on a drawing. Take the following Camping Flashlight for example: Adding in manufacturing
How Do I Download and Print the SOLIDWORKS Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet
I love my smartphone and my tablet, but I still feel that I work faster on my desktop computer because of keyboard shortcuts. There are many different ways to bring up commands in SOLIDWORKS, but the use of keyboard shortcuts help me tremendously. While I was browsing our new Computer Aided Technology (CATI) blog webpage, I noticed something for the first time. We offer a downloadable SOLIDWORKS Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet. I was excited to compare what shortcuts I know with the cheat sheet. I picked up a couple that I didn’t know about or that I had forgot about. For example, if you want to open up a file
SOLIDWORKS 2016 What’s New – 3D Printing – #SW2016
3D printers are everywhere you look. You can buy these on the internet, in Home Depot, or in your local Sam's club. SOLIDWORKS recognizes this and has provided us with some new functionality so we better understand what our printed parts are going to look like. New in 2016 is the ability to run a preview analysis and identify the faces that require support and show striation lines (or grove layer lines) of the print. This is using the 3D Printer driver function available in Windows 8. You can use Print3D to print 3D prototypes of your models when you have a 3D printer installed locally With your model open, click
SOLIDWORKS 2015 – The What’s New You Didn’t Hear About (Part 04 – Identify Last Saved in File Version)
One thing we overlook many times as designers in SOLIDWORKS is, "Are my files on the current version of SOLIDWORKS?" Most of the time our answer is yes they are!!! But many times we are completely wrong. So who cares? Well, as a SOLIDWORKS designer professional, "I DO!" If your SOLIDWORKS models are not on the current version of the software the files perform slow on open and on close. This is because the software will convert the files to a flavor that SOLIDWORKS likes for the version you are using every time you hit the open dialog. It is also slower on close because a bit of code has
SOLIDWORKS Model Items
One of the coolest features of SOLIDWORKS has to be its ability to re-use sketch and feature dimensions in the drawing or detailing environment of the software. But if you are like most who tried this function out many years ago, you were not too impressed with all of the clean-up that had to be done after inserting all of those dimensions. The command I am speaking about is called Model Items, and can be found on the Annotation toolbar in the Command Manager in SOLIDWORKS. Create your drawing views, navigate to the annotation toolbar, press Model Items, and simply select the items from the Part Model that you wish
SOLIDWORKS Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet
