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New Product: SolidWorks Mechanical Conceptual
The BIG news of the day on Monday at SolidWorks World 2013 was the announcement of SolidWorks Mechanical Conceptual. Over the last three years speculation has run rampant since the now infamous “Cloud” announcement was made at SolidWorks World 2010. To begin with, I’m going to give you an overview on what was presented. I’ll…
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SolidWorks 2013: Measure Tool
If you look at the every day use of SolidWorks, I would think that the Measure Tool would rank among the most used features inside the software. SolidWorks 2013 brings some very nice enhancements to the Measure Tool. The image below shows you two new options, Point to Point and History, that have been added…
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SolidWorks 2013: Mass Properties
I’ve found that through the years of using SolidWorks across various industries, different toolsets are sometime utilized more with one type of product vs. another. In recent years as I have moved into working with Aerospace & Space products, Center of Gravity (Center of Mass) and Moments of Inertia are properties that I have to…
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SolidWorks 2013: Multiple Exploded Views
In looking at all the enhancements included in SolidWorks 2013, there was one addition that I HAD to talk about first. That is because this is an enhancement that I have wanted in SolidWorks since the day I began using the software. I have employed workarounds for this for years. Rather than go on about…
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SolidWorks 2013 Preview: Center of Mass
The folks at SolidWorks are doing something a little different this year in that they are releasing a few details of SolidWorks 2013 EARLY. You can find all the details over at the SolidWorks Blog. The first “preview” is the center of mass tool. I put this one in the category of one of those…
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SolidWorks 2012 – Select All
Its easy to overlook some things when you are browsing a 179 page What’s New Document. This was the case for me as I was looking through the SolidWorks 2012 What’s New document. SolidWorks 2012 adds a “Select All” feature that is pretty self explanatory. This is of course one of the handiest features in…
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SolidWorks Electrical Routing – Part 3 (FINALLY!)
Almost two years ago I posted two videos to the site detailing the use of SolidWorks Electrical Routing. I had full intentions of producing a Part 3 but life as it does sometimes had other plans for me. Finally after several friendly reminders from readers via e-mail and comments on the site, I have released…
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SolidWorks Tip: Import DXF/DWG Set Origin
I ran across this today when importing a DXF file from a vendor. I’m not quite sure how long it has been there, but this is the first time I have noticed it. 🙂 When importing a DXF/DWG file you are presented in an import wizard with many options. The first screen is shown below.…
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SolidWorks 2011: Weld Bead – Part 1
So why would one “new” feature necessitate having a Part 1 and Part 2? Its mainly due to the many different ways the feature can be applied. SolidWorks 2011 introduces a new “Weld Bead” feature. While you’ll find just a few similarities between the PropertyManager options of the old “Fillet Bead” and the new “Weld Bead”,…
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Part Numbers and Configurations
If you do a little searching around the net, there are many discussions on the subject of internal company part numbers. Many of the discussions center around the great debate of intelligent part numbers vs. unintelligent part numbers. I’ll dive into that discussion a little later on. One of the interesting things I have found…
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SolidWorks 2010: Mouse Gestures
Today we are going to take a look at perhaps one of the most underrated new features of SolidWorks 2010, the Mouse Gesture Wheel. While this new tool has gotten some good press in recent weeks, its hard to gauge how useful this command can be until you actually use it. The Mouse Gesture wheel…
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SolidWorks 2010: Hole Wizard!
It’s been a while since I have had a chance to post. I have been working some crazy hours on various projects. Hopefully some of them I can share with you one day. Its time to get back on track with introducing some of the new features of SolidWorks 2010. Today we take a quick…
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SolidWorks 2010: Multibody Materials
Way back in late 2002, SolidWorks users received what I call a “game changing” enhancement in SolidWorks 2003. This was the version of SolidWorks that first introduced the ability to model multiple solid bodies in a SolidWorks part file. Looking back now, it is sometimes hard to imagine SolidWorks without it. The way SolidWorks handles…
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SolidWorks Electrical Routing – Part 2
Most users of SolidWorks Electrical Routing use the product to determine wire & route lengths. This video is a direct followup to the Part 1 video. In this segment, we will take the 3D Electrical Harness that we created in Part 1 and make some modifications to the route itself to better fit our design…