Solidworks to NX6 or NX7.5

[dtharrett]

Hi,
I have been designing with SolidWorks since ~2004 with my current company. I just signed on with a new company that uses NX6 and is moving to NX7.5 shortly.

The coments from several of the engineers at the new company were basically "don't worry about the transition, it's just a different set of keystrokes".

The work will involve the design of automation equipment (indexers, P&P, presses etc). Assemblies around 1000 parts. Not much simulation etc.

Is the transition from SolidWorks (2010) really that simple?

Are there any tutorials or demos available that I could preview before I start work in a few weeks?

 

[jerry1423]

The transition to NX shouldn't be too bad for you. It is a more than just differnt keystrokes but nothing to get worried over.
Yes, finding the commands is a concern, but be sure to use the command finder:
Help > command finder

It is also on your "Standard" toolbar
The assembly constraints are a little differnt, as (I believe) Solidworks and NX uses "coincident" differntly, and a few other things are differnt. It's just something to get used to.
Maybe do an Internet search on NX stuff as many of the colleges and universities use it and have stuff on their sites pertaining to learning it.
The transition will take some getting used to, so don't hesitate to ask questions on here.

 

[dtharrett]

Thank you,
Are the basics similar i.e. start with sketch, create part add features, make drawing from part? Do things like hole wizard, mates, configurations, libraries exist in NX?

 

[jarek30]

dtharrett,

Yes, it's existing and working well. But to be honest with you - SolidWorks is more intuitive and easier when you are new in the system. Assembly is easier to learn in SolidWorks. It's also more user-friendly. Drawings are bit easier to learn.
But... NX is a powerful system. When you learn it, you will enjoy it. Synchronous Technology is something great and makes the system unique. Anyway, do not be affraid. You will always curse NX is some fields and praise it in other fields. It's pretty much normal.
I was using SolidWworks in my work previously. Froma bout 2 years now, I'm using NX - 7.5 currently. Sometimes the system is a pain in the ass, but sometimes is giving me advantage I need.

Cheers and good luck with new system

 

[dtharrett]

Thanks for the input thus far. I have been at the new place for one week. The transition from Solidworks to NX6 is going just fine. Actually today, the company went live with 7.5...

The one item I am struggling with is detailing c-bores etc. In solidworks they have a "hole calout" that automatically dimensions the thru hole, c-bore dia and c-bore depth. Solidworks ties all of this to the model. In NX, all I have found is a hole dimension and then I need to manually enter the c-bore dia and depth etc. Is there something that I am missing?

Thanks

 

[JohnRBaker]

When you're in a Drawing of a model which has a particular type of hole, go to...

Insert -> Dimension -> Feature Parameters...

...and when the dialog comes up navigate down to where you see a list of features, such as your counterbored holes. Select the desired feature and then the view that you wish to see the dimensions in and then hit OK.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[dtharrett]

Thanks for the super quick reply. That would have taken me a looong time to find.

 

[dtharrett]

Well, the ram up is progressing well however I have a few new questions.

In the current assembly, I have two plates constrained. The bottom plate has existing tapped holes and the top plate has nothing. What is the most efficient or recomended way to "transfer" the geometry such that I can put c-bores in the top plate?

Our group presently has no process for documenting our pneumatic schematics. Some guys are using Cadra, some autocad etc. Is there a simple way to make a 2D drawing in NX 7.5 to document our pneumatic schematic? What are others using? What I envision is a library of 2D images that we can place in the drawing format and then connect with lines etc...

Last question, Within an assembly I often like to measure (info) between two surfaces or points. Often, I would like the "normal to" dimension. When choosing the NX measure tool, I cannot figure out how get the info I an looking for..

Thanks again

 

[mmauldin]

One of our recent hires, a Solidworks guy, did a comparison of NX6 to Solidworks. He wanted to show us the error of our ways.

Attached is his compilation, I take no responsibility for its accuracy.

 

[JohnRBaker]

You may be dealing with someone with out-of-date opinions of NX. I say this because the product has not been called UG for nearly 10 year now (I know, I know, old habits are hard to break as even I catch myself saying it at times ;-)

Also, NX 7.5 addresses several of the issues presented, such as sketching polygons and other sketch issues. Also, working with the model and drawing in one file, while that's possible with NX it is NOT recommended and you should be working in the Master Model mode. In fact, if you use the provided template files this will be the default behavior.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[cowski]

In cell D9

Please ask me for help if you are having trouble mating

That could be an awkward conversation!!

 

[tdp240]

John,

Regarding this...

"Also, working with the model and drawing in one file, while that's possible with NX it is NOT recommended and you should be working in the Master Model mode. In fact, if you use the provided template files this will be the default behavior."

Can you explain a little bit more? I'm curious because we always have the drawing and 3D model in the same .prt file. Is this what you are talking about? If so, why is it not recommended?

WinXP-SP3 / NX5.0.4.1 MP6 / Catia V5r18 / NX I-deas 5.3.0.14

 

[JohnRBaker]

It's not just the drawing file, but this also applies to NC and CAE. By having a single 'master model' referenced by individual application files, such as a drawing, it allows you to first segregate the data so that your model file does not become any larger than it needs to be, which can be very important if you add that part model to an assembly, why open files any larger than they need to be when opening the assembly? Or putting it another way, why do you care that drawing information is not loaded when you looking at an assembly where your piece part in being used?

Second, this allows you better control over who can change what in your files, which also leads to the fact that one person can have the model file open while someone else is working on the drawing and when they both save their work, nobody loses anything because the guy who filed last, filed over my part.

Note that we have been recommending this 'Master Model' approach since UG V10.0/V11.0 (better than 25 years now) but until recently, unless you were using iMan/Teamcenter, there was no way for you to have that be the default behavior in native NX. However, starting with NX 5.0 and the introduction of File -> New... using templates, that can be done much easier now.

Anyway, you should seriously consider making this change as it has many long term benefits. Besides your SW user thinks it's a good idea and most other systems now work like that as well (even though 25 years ago we basically invented this approach).

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[tdp240]

Thanks, John. I guess maybe it's the simplicity of our parts that doesn't cause trouble for us. We design out the door single parts, with an occasional two piece assembly, so the chances of two people working on the same file are very limited.

WinXP-SP3 / NX5.0.4.1 MP6M / Catia V5R18 SP6HF62 / NX I-deas 5.3.0.14

 

[dtharrett]

With some aid above and experimentation with NX, the measure and transfer sketch issues are resolved. I am still curious what others are doing for 2D pneumatic drawings??

 

[JonSelby]

We are just about to make the transition from NX6 to NX7.5.
One of my colleagues is a dyed-in-the-wool Solidworks fan (or fanatic really) and he is genuinely impressed by NX7.5. He feels that some of the features he misses from SW have reappeared in NX7.5.

 

[jerry1423]

The thing that impressed me, on the little time that I was on SW, was how easy it was to do weldments of steel tubes, and how it created the cut list.