I’ve had it. I’m tired of being an afterthought. Just because I’m only colorblind doesn’t mean you can ignore it, SolidWorks. Actually, it’s not just SolidWorks, it’s any software that uses color coding. It would be nice if you’d think about me, and my brothers and sisters out there, when it comes to identification. Why [...]
Aug
31
Aug
27
Hello, SolidWorks 2011
At 10:00 tonight I’ll be on an airplane heading to the east coast. I’ll spend the weekend with family before heading to Concord to get my first real glimpse at SolidWorks 2011. The only time I’ve seen it was at SWW back in January, so it will be interesting to see what they’ve come up [...]
Aug
25
SolidWorks Simulation
Today, while running a simulation, I saw on Twitter that Roopinder Tara had put up a new blog post titled ‘Practicing FEA Without a License’. Naturally, I surfed on over because, well, the title described me. The gist of his post was that CAD jockeys shouldn’t be doing analysis, it should be left to PE’s. [...]
Aug
16
Hidden Nuggets?
Most people are well aware of SolidWorks up front capabilities, i.e. creating 3D models. However, there are nuggets within the basic package of SolidWorks that some are aware of. Things like SimulationXpress, FloXpress or DriveWorksXpress. You can find these tools under, strangely enough, the ‘Tools’ drop down or on the ‘Evaluate’ tab on your Command [...]
Aug
01
SolidWorks’ “Creating Animations” Self-Study Guide
Yeah, yeah, boring title, I know. I was pretty limited in my options here, y’know? I suppose I could have gone for some long, convoluted title, but why? I’m mean, when all is said and done, you’re here now aren’t ya? SolidWorks has put out a great self-study guide, but I’m a bit late to [...]
Jul
14
Mechanical Mashup Contest
First, I should ask if you’ve heard of Mechanical Mashup. No? It’s another one of Ben Eadie’s ideas, he of SolidMentor and SolidJott fame. Mechanical Mashup is for the DIY’ers out there. From their ‘About’ page: This site is for you if…. -If you own something that you can’t wait for it to break so [...]
Jun
29
Forethought vs. Crap
I’ve been busy lately, super busy. I figure I’m averaging almost 60 hours per week here at my new job. Why you might ask? Because of the crap I’ve been trying to polish. I was brought in to replace a couple of engineers who just weren’t getting things done and, it turns out, what they [...]
Jun
03
DJO – Supporting athletes one knee at a time
If you watch College football, you’ve seen their products. If you’re a Chargers fan, you’ve seen their products. Bengals or Packers? Yup, you too. DJO, Inc. designs and produces state-of-the-art knee braces, among other things. 90% of NCAA Division I teams use them. Shawn Merriman, Mark Tauscher, Chad Clifton and Carson Palmer use them. What’s [...]
May
26
Dynamic Mirror
Do you know about the Dynamic Mirror tool in SolidWorks? No? Well, stick around and I’ll show you. The Dynamic Mirror tool is a sketch tool that allows you to dynamically mirror (duh) as you’re sketching. To use it, you first have to find it as it’s won’t be on your sketch toolbar, or ‘S’ [...]
May
18
Who’da Thunk?
I’m constantly amazed at the stuff that’s designed in SolidWorks, or 3D-CAD in general. The layers of complexity, the swoopy surfaces, the level of detail; it all amazes and awes me. Then there’s the “everyday” stuff that it never even crossed my mind that it was designed, period. How about this, from Crayola: Yup, your [...]