When working in an environment with multiple engineers it isn't always easy to communicate design changes. You might want to know how a part has changed from one revision to another and there are some tools built in to SolidWorks that can help. DrawCompare is a tool that will open up two drawings and give you a detailed look at how they are different. You browse for the drawings and choose to see additions or removals between drawings. This is […]
SOLIDWORKS 2014 has just been released, and it’s time for a fresh start. With each new release, I usually tweak my interface layout and my settings just a bit. This year, I think I’ve finally got it perfected, so it’s time to share these customization’s with the world. Click the image below to access a 9-page package including all kinds of user interface modifications and helpful template files. This is a great resource for someone new to SOLIDWORKS looking to […]
CATI's monthly contribution to the SOLIDWORKS Blog was posted this week. This month I chose to write about how to flatten complex sheet metal parts with SOLIDWORKS Lofted Bends. The article is based upon some common questions that we get from customers. The article has a detailed example of how we can build a model and then use the edges of that part to create the profiles needed to create a Lofted Bend in sheet metal and ultimately be able […]
SOLIDWORKS 2014 has just been released, and it’s time for a fresh start. With each new release, I usually tweak my interface layout and my settings just a bit. This year, I think I’ve finally got it perfected, so it’s time to share these customization’s with the world. Click the image below to access a 9-page package including all kinds of user interface modifications and helpful template files. This is a great resource for someone new to SOLIDWORKS looking to […]
With each new release there are always a few additions to SOLIDWORKS Simulation that catch my eye. This year’s 2014 release is no different. I’ll write about several of the enhancements over the coming months but I’m going to start with the conversion of Toolbox fasteners into Simulation connectors. Using connectors in Simulation allows us to replace physical components with virtual ones which will reduce the time required to solve the analysis. In Simulation 2013 and prior, there are a […]
New in SOLIDWORKS 2014 is the ability to have Weldment Profiles with CONFIGURATIONS in them. This is a significant improvement as far as file management goes. Just for example if you had downloaded the 2013 ANSI Inch profiles from the SOLIDWORKS content area of your Design Library (you knew you could do that right ??), the Rectangular Tube folder alone had 233 files to manage ! One for EACH different size. If you wanted to add a property to your […]
New in SOLIDWORKS 2014 is the ability to have Weldment Profiles with CONFIGURATIONS in them. This is a significant improvement as far as file management goes. Just for example if you had downloaded the 2013 ANSI Inch profiles from the SOLIDWORKS content area of your Design Library (you knew you could do that right ??), the Rectangular Tube folder alone had 233 files to manage ! One for EACH different size.If you wanted to add a property to your profiles […]
For those of you that need to document the custom materials for certification reasons it may be easy to export your materials information from Solidworks. The data base can be directly opened by Excel. Depending on where you store the “.sldmat” file type you will be have to search for it. I recommend just doing a simple search from windows explorer for “materials.sldmat”. This search will show you all the different locations that file is used or stored in. Please […]
For customers with a network installation of SOLIDWORKS, one of the first steps is to upgrade the SolidNetWork License Manager on the server. Here are the steps to download the SolidNetWork License Manager 2014 installation file.
How to repair an Admin Image installation Every once in a while it may be required to run a repair on your Solidworks installation for many reasons. This can simply be done through “programs and features” in you windows control panel. However, if you have ever tried this from an Administrative image installation, you will notice that you will not get a “change” option for Solidworks. This is the way it is designed, one of the reasons for this […]
