learning solidworks 2

[marmon]

HI, i am new to solidworks and 3d design, i started to learn in autocad 2004, but quickly learned the standard is solidworks. My question is does anyone know or have a good book that will quickly get me up to speed in solidworks. As the format looks really wierd after coming from a strictly autocad environment. Also does anyone believe autocad is better for 3d??? thanks

 

[avlis]

Back in '99 I picked up "Inside Solidworks" a week before starting my first SW job. I read the book cover-to-cover and followed along with the exercises. Once starting the new job, I was answering a few guy's questions that had been using SW for months.

 

[kristinj]

When I first switched from Pro/E to SolidWorks several years ago, I used "Engineering Desing with SolidWorks" by Planchard and Planchard. They have a new version out for SW2004. I skipped a lot of the early steps but it did a good job of explaining 3D modeling principles and the steps to take in SW to acheive them. SW also has a pretty good tutorial itself.

Kristin Jugenheimer
Metis Design Corporation

http://www.metisdesign.com

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Your best bet is to work through the SW tutorials & Help files.

Also check the following threads.
Thread559-91274
Thread559-46298
Thread559-29991

from (the City of) Barrie, Ontario.

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.

 

[Beggar]

I second CorBlimeyLimey's suggestion. After you get the hang of the basic idea (sketches, features, constraints), start cruising the menus. (For the most part, the menu names are pretty self-explanatory.) Use the "Help" as needed.

Also, experiment with right-clicking at various junctures.

Then, post specific questions here about how things work.

 

[ctopher]

IMO, creating junk parts/assy's/dwgs and just playing around with all of the features along with "help" is a better learning tool than most books.

 

[Heckler]

I concur with CorBlimeyLimey's suggestion. After coming from SDRC Ideas and Pro/E I had a good foundation of parametric modeling. I spent two days going through the examples in the tutorial books which proved to be a great start. In fact, the next week I went to basic training and really didn't learn much. Their is no substitute for the old sink or swim methodology.

I would suggest that you study some advance assembly techniques once you get up to speed to deside if you want to be a top down or bottoms up kind of user because mixing both can be dangerous to the health of you parts, assemblies and drawings.

Sadly to say I'm back using Pro/E but miss SW dearly.

 

[JNR]

I would add that while creating junk part, etc. is a great tool. At various intervals in your progress setyourself a design task to accomplish. Something appropriate to your current skill level. The only problem with just junk parts is you don't push you self to set outside your comfort zone.

BTW: I assume (probably should not)that you are learning SW as a tool to get a job, rather than you are already employed by someioone using it? Or maybe you do contact work yourself?

John Richards Sr. Mech. Engr.
Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics

There's no place like 127.0.0.1

 

[marmon]

no , i have a job the company currently doesn't use it, and i am the only sole person in the design department, so i thought it would be beneficial for my future and the company especially with cosmosworks. Maybe someday we'll get an nc miller or something along that lines. Thats also a problem as i have no one to turn to with software or dwg issues, hard to break habits or learn tips when you're on your'e own. thats why you might see me ask stupid or obvious questions on here

 

[Glonoin]

I would suggest contacting your VAR and asking if they have available for purchase the materials that are used in the training classes for SolidWorks. Perhaps imply that you want to go through them before attending class in order to get a head start - and give serious thought to attending the class. There is no substitute for attending the 7 - 10 day instructor led classes simply because they touch on every aspect of the package and force you outside of your comfort bubble, push you hard to break old habits and reinforce the proper 'terminology' for the SolidWorks world, and if you have a problem you get an immediate answer and you can stay on track and not lose momentum - but not everybody can go off for a week to SWX BootCamp.

If you can get your hands on the books they follow and just walk through them page by page, line by line (which they pretty much follow in the classes) you will get some exposure to all the aspects of the package and understand quite a bit. Anything you don't understand you will be able to bring here with explicit examples and descriptions, perhaps listing chapter and verse to help the helper recreate your situation.

I honestly have no clue what the books and materials would cost without attending the class, I would guess maybe $100. You could check eBay, I checked tonight and there seemed to be a few listed. I have a set from when I attended classes and I wouldn't give them up for anything short of a ride in a MiG-29 or an Su-27.

 

[SBaugh]

A couple of things you can try to do. To save you some bucks and teach yourself.

1) Look in faq559-520 and find some sites that provide models for you to download. Take the files apart and figure out how the user made the file.

2) Find something on your desk to build. - Example: a paperclip - That can be made with one feature and 2 sketches. Find other small basic itmes and build it. If you can't figure out what to do look in the help. But remember the help is going to require you to be specific, when looking for answers

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[MouseTrap]

FYI,

The Planchard books have been recommended as has Inside SolidWorks by David Murray. Of the two books, I would recommend Inside SolidWorks.

Inside SolidWorks is not without error, but is the better book of the two for my money.

 

[SBaugh]

I like and prefer the Planchard books myself.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376