Solidworks 2009

[PuGZoR]

Hey kids,

I've been playing with Solidworks 2009 a bit lately, and just wanted to know if anyone else has.

I can safely say I could design things like spacers, RCAs, maybe even a flywheel all from billet now. Only pretty simple stuff, but I'm getting there. Even designed a billet card holder today, lol. For the ultimate in office wank factor.

So yeah, anyone else delved? Pics!

[dreny...]

Ha, i am an industrial designer (for Clipsal) and have been using solidworks for about 6 years and it is my preferred CAD program over UG, Auto CAD, Pro-E etc. Its the bomb. Have fun and if you need any help just ask. I designed a golf cart for my final year project in solidworks with over 70 components with multi linkage capabilities. I will see if i can get any pics up later.

[corknose]

i just started a toolmaking appecnticeship and im going to start doing CAD i have a programme on my computer at home called turbo CAD not too bad just picking up the basics,

[Medwin_3sGTE_AE86]

LOL

As for solidworks, have heard a bit, never done anything with it. I've spent alot of time with AutoCAD, CivilCAD, Microstation and mainly Pro/E, and all I can say is that for solidworks to be better than Pro/E it must be a friggen awesome package! I spend 8-10 hours a day on Pro/E and it is a pleasure!

[slide86]

what would be the best program for someone starting out who just wants to dibble dabble in designing stuff???

[dori_86]

really depends on what application you going to use it for, I'm assuming your wanting to do more engineering type products? if so I'd definately recommend solidworks for technical/mechanical designs etc and pretty easy to pic up


hey dreny you didnt happen to go to UniSA at all? and did the black and red golfcart?

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heres some quick study model renders from solidworks
to show how easy it is to creat decent models quickly

[ke70dave]

yer i use solid works at work all the time (mechanical engineer)

im pretty proficient with 2d stuff, workshop drawings and what not. and quite good at simple 3d stuff. just lately been getting into complex assemblies.

we design these huge mixing plants, and the assemblies are quite massive. reallly chug the computers. and lately ive been finding it crashing alot...but i just installed the latest service pack so hopefully its better tomorrow.

cool program though, really easy to design simple things. and very easy to edit the features once its "finished"

[Javal]

I'm a fan of Autodesk, mainly as i haven't used anything else. Anyone care to enlighten me as far as a comparison is concerned?

[Nikkojoe]

Used solidworks (haven't used 2009 yet) in previous years, designed a radiator last year (mechatronic/engineering). When I first started on solidworks it didn't seem that popular but recently it seems to be the prefered CAD software.

Just finished a unit on F.E.M. (finite element method) using ANSYS workbench, pretty basic program but effective. Did a small amount of CFD with it, just need a half decent computer

[PuGZoR]

Wow, didn't expect such a decent response, lol. That'd mad guys. Get some renders up dreny!

I think Solidworks is a pretty easy program to pick up, for anyone looking to get into CAD. I've probably messed around with it with 3-4 hours so far with no previous CAD experience. Just getting the processes down and learning how to use the tools is the main thing. It's a pretty comprehensive program, and the options are pretty mind boggling from the perspective of someone who's never dealt with CAD before. The win thing with Solidworks is that it has tutorials built in; they're not the best because for some steps they assume some knowledge (even on the first couple), but after poking around for a bit they're good enough as a start. There are plenty of them available on the net though!

Flanges are one thing I want to try soon... They should be easy enough!