Mike Puckett's Blog

Why You Should Attend Solidworks World Reason 21: SWAG

Who doesnt want a Solidworks shirt, mug, bag, or hat?  Well all that and more can be found at Solidworks World.  The official merchandise booths is always well stocked with lots of gear.  Also normally available are books, and games.

How about a free Solidworks shirt or other piece of gear?  Well all you have to do to get that is to attend a local Solidworks User Group.  Each and every meeting is normally well stocked with lots of Solidworks gear that is given away to all in attendance.

So if you cant live with out that Solidworks pen you have always wanted, head on out to San Diego, and you two can be a proud new owner of some sweet Solidworks gear!

Solidworks 2008 Dimensioning Tips

Solidworks 2008 will offer up some new dimensioning tools to make life easier.  The first is easily adjustable leader lines:

By grabbing the arrows on the horizontal line, you can stretch or compress the length of the leader.

The second tip has to do with the properties of the dimension you place:

By right clicking the menu, then selecting Display Options, you can quickly choose to set it as an inspection dimension, show parentheses, radius or diameter etc, all without having to go to the feature manager, click more properties, then select what you want from the new window.

So just a couple of new tips that can be found in Solidworks 2008 Drawings.

Solidworks Training for $5 Bucks???

Sure, why not!  The catch: the class is in Southern California!  I received an email from Tom Vela (TVela@mtsac.edu ) at Mt Sac Community College this past week.  Here is a description of the classes:

EDT 18 M-W 3:45pm to 6:45pm. This is a basic Solidworks class. It is a Mt. SAC credit class (4 units) or can be taken as a Community Education class (non credit and the cost is only 5 dollars)  Max will be teaching this class.

EDT 24 Tues 3:45pm to 6:45pm and Thurs. students can work and meet online. This is our first hybrid online class. It is a Mt. SAC credit class only (3 units). The class is geared for students that have some SolidWorks experience. It is an intermediate class. Students meet on Tues. and on Thurs. are working on their own as an online class. The instructor will be available on Thurs to interact online over the Internet. This

unfortunately will not be a Community Education class. I will be teaching this class.

Like most professors and teachers, Tom and Max are passionate about their work.  I had the opportunity to give a presentation on our user group during one of their classes, and you can see that they are able to convey that passion onto their students.

If you are interested, here is the contact info:

Contact Tom (909) 594-5611 ext. 4804, or come to the first class meeting.

We start Monday Aug. 27th.

Why You Should Attend Solidworks World: 22

Visit New & Interesting Places.  If you get a chance to travel for work, one of the upsides is that you get to go to new places.  Solidworks World is no different.  Typically the conference bounces back and forth between coasts.  This year it's out on the West Coast in San Diego.  My first Solidworks World was 2006 in Las Vegas.  No big deal since I had been a numerous times.  2007 took us to New Orleans which was a chance to visit somewhere new.  So being just over an hour North of San Diego, it's safe to say I wont be venturing into unchartered waters come this next January!  So hopefully for the rest of you, Solidworks World 2008 will offer you a chance to visit a very nice and fun city out in sunny Southern California!

What's New SW 2008: Virtual Components

Ever wish you could rename your assembly models in the tree, instead of closing down and doing it in Solidworks Explorer?

Well Solidworks 2008 takes a big leap in this direction.  Yesterday while doing some flow analysis in 2008, I was inserting "lids" into my assembly.  I was noticing a different behavior upon inserting new components.  First off, you no longer get prompted where to save, or how to name the new part.  Upon clicking Insert > New Component, you then select a face or plane for the new model to be created on, and your instantly in sketch mode creating geometry. 

In this picture, you can see I have Part 10 which was my first part that the assembly was started with.  I then created parts 11 and 12, and have just finished creating part 13, and SW is now prompting me to name it.  Notice the brackets around part 12, which will also appear around part 13 upon naming.

This picture shows the folder after creating parts 12 and 13 which are still in brackets.  Notice they don't show up as files in this folder, yet they are fully resolved models in my assembly.

Now lets imagine you want to be a little bit more descriptive in your model names than I have.  Time to close out the assembly, and launch SW Explorer right?  Not any more!

Right click the model in the tree, and on the pop-up menu, you will now see Rename Part as shown in this picture.

Solidworks will then highlight the model name, and you can change it.  You will then get the window shown in this picture.  You have the option to save it internally into the assembly resulting in no file in your folder, or you can save it to a path which will place the file into a folder.  Here I named it Post 2 and chose to save it into my working assembly folder.

Here is a picture of the resultant folder now showing Post 2 in it.  Notice however that Part 12 still isn't in there because it is still only a virtual component in my assembly.

Imagine now being able to go through your assembly and rename your files once your assembly is done with relative ease.  Functionality you like or dislike?  You will know after using it a few times.  I was a bit frustrated with it at first, but after reading through the help files, and understanding the intention of the new feature, I can see many benefits from it.

No, You Read It Right...

Back on July 27th when I wrote about the opening of Solidworks World registration, I noticed that the admission price was the same with or without Certified SolidWorks Professional testing.  I thought it might have been an error, but didn't mention it to see if it got quietly changed.

We it was in fact posted correctly.  Now here is the catch, you have to be one of the first 150 people to sign up for the test!  So if you haven't signed up, you may want to do so quickly, and if you have, go back and see if you can take the test.  Oh, and be prepared for an all new test!!!

Register Here

iPhone, uPhone, We All Phone?

Ok, so while this has absolutely nothing to do with Solidworks, I figured it's fun to take a break from all seriousness once in a while.  So my Treo 700 was starting to get kind of boring, and I wanted something new.  Being someone that really likes gadgets, the iPhone has interested me since it came out.  Friday afternoon a vendor showed up and she had one.  So after playing with it for about 10 minutes, I decided I had to have one!  Upon getting home, I discovered I could get one, change carriers and plans, and save about $40 a month on just the service!

Off I went to the AT&T store and picked one up.  After getting it home and marveling at the nice packaging, I was up and running on it in about 10 minutes.  Now for the most part Apple doesn't really invent anything spectacular, they just take the cumbersome, and make it easy to use.  The iPod wasn't the first MP3 player, but it was the most simple to use.  The iPhone carries on the tradition.  And a cell phone without buttons?  Now thats Absurdly Ideal! (notice the Solidworks reference there?)

Overall the phone is a nice gadget.  Simple to use, and fun to play with.  This meant that I ended up spending most of my weekend browsing the tons of sites about  how to mod and upgrade it.  So for now just another gadget to add to the collection!

Why You Should Attend Solidworks World Reason: 23

Present Your Ideas.

Solidworks World gives you a chance to present your way of doing something in Solidworks.  This means that others can benefit from a tip, or shortcut you use to get their work done faster or more precise.  Its as simple as going to the Solidworks World 2008 Call For Papers Site and submitting your idea.  You just may find yourself becomming one of the next big hits every year!

From Art To Part......

Rapid protyping can be some cool stuff.  When you need something done in less than 24 hours, it can be real cool!

Such was the case last week.  It was Friday at 3:30, and our customer called with a request.  They needed a fixture made to check a plastic part in their video microscope.  Their requirement was they needed it no later than Monday morning, and would like it sooner to make sure it would work.  The end user of the product was scheduled to be at their plant that Monday to see everything running including the inspection process.

The first thought was to machine something, but that would be costly, and take some time.  So I gave Bill Craig bcraig@3drp.com at 3D Rapid Protyping a call to see if he could assist us.  So I sent him a Pack & Go of the assembly, and within 10 minutes he was able to estimate, and quote the project for me.  He said it should be no problem for his Zcorp printer!  After sending our customer an eDrawings of the proposal, and selling the price and concept to them, we issued Bill a P.O., and I scheduled to pick it up from him the next day.

I was able to pick it up the next day with no problem, and deliver it.  The fixture worked out perfectly.  This shows how seamless the process was because of the ability of our company to interact with our vendor, and our customer with Solidworks and its partner products.

Thanks to Bill and 3D Rapid Protyping for their help, and allowing us to deliver to our customer ahead of schedule.

Here is a screenshot of the fixture:

From PR-1 to SP0 EV in a Flash!

It seems as if software changes fast these days!  This definitely holds true for the folks at Solidworks.  In what is turning into a busy month for the Solidworks crew, it seems as if Solidworks 2008 will go from Beta to SP-0 Early Visibility in less than a month.

Around the beginning of August, Pre-release 1 was available.  Then a short 8-9 days later, Pre-release 2 was available for download.  Just posted today is that Service Pack 0 Early visibility should be available for download to EV participants on August 20th.  Now thats a pretty fast cycle!

What's strange here is that from what I have been told, the official launch week isn't until the first week of October.  So I guess this gives Solidworks just about 5 weeks to get SP0 ready, and time to polish up their launch week Presentations!  Or maybe they will continue their sprint to the finish line, and release it in September proving me wrong!  Either way, I think for most users, the major event is always the release of SP1 which seems to be a magical marker in everyones mind!

Stay tuned....

Getting ready for SW 2008

Part of running a user group is being able to put on dazzling displays of Solidworks.  Up until now that's been quite easy using the old trusty Dell Inspiron 1100.  But now it seems as if 2.3MHz, 2 GB ram, and a built in video card just wont cut it any more.

If you have read my blog, you have been reading about the upcoming video card requirements for SW 2008.  I was slightly disappointed to see that my laptop wouldn't be able to utilize the new SW 2008 graphical interface to it's full potential.  I say slightly, because it being three years old, I wasn't expecting much.

So what's more fun than buying a new laptop?  Well probably lots of things, but it was fun at the moment.  So off I set bound to find me a new super machine that I could use, and would be proud of.  My first stop of course was Dell.  You simply can't beat the Dell Outlet deals.  My requirements were simple:

• SW 2008 Compatible Video Card
• Min 256mb Video Memory
• Windows Vista Ultimate
• 17" screen

Not much to ask, right?  The Dell Outlet gave me a variety of choices.  At this point, there was no other choice than the M Series Dell.  And if I was shooting for the the top, might as well go for the best and get an M90 Precision.  In the outlet, you have four choices, Refurbished, Scratch & Dent, Off Lease, and Previously Ordered.  Here is what I found:

• Dell M90 Precision Mobile Workstation
• Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66MHz
• nVidia Quadro FX 2500 512MB Video Card
• 4GB Ram
• Blue tooth Compatibility
• Built in Wireless
• 17" XVGA Screen

Final price: $1459 Retail: Over $2000 Not a bad savings for a Scratch & Dent.  I was curious to see when I got it what it would look like.  Turns out to be one small scratch in the lower left corner of the case that's about 1/8 inch long.  I was completely satisfied to say the least.  What's more about the outlet models is they normally come with extra goodies that the original person bought.  Mine came with a 3 year on-site next day service agreement, and USB mouse.  I saw many models that had additional batteries, cases, and other accessories.

So how does it look?  Well you can definitely see it in action at our next user group meeting, but if your too far away, here are a couple of pics:

 

Don't mind the cat, she gets excited anytime she gets the chance to be in a picture!  Anyhow, as you can see this thing has no problems what so ever running SW2008.  All in all a good investment, and I look forward to many years of service out of it.  I also know that I can continue to be able to have the best presentations possible for the user group meetings.  I would hate to have to present to a group of users, and not be able to give them a quality show.

So what's next?  Well at work we recently decided to remodel the conference room.  That meant that our once portable projector, now found a permanant home mounted to the ceiling.  So now I have one more investment to make, a new projector!  I will then be a self sufficient Solidworks User Group Leader.  Now all I have to do is figure out a way to convince the mucky-mucks at Solidworks that providing a licenced copy of Solidworks to each user group, has it's advantages!

Reason .57142857 Why You Should Attend Solidworks World 2008...

Show Other Users How You Do What You Do....

Have a method to your madness?  If you do things in Solidworks a certain way, and feel other users could benefit from your methods, the best way is to present your ideas in a break-out session.  For about the next five days, you can go to the Call For Papers link on the SWWorld website and submit your idea.  Once selected, get ready to stand up in front of a room of fellow users to show and tell them just how you do it!

23.57142857 Reasons To Attend Solidworks World 2008

With just about 165 days (165 / 7 = 23.57142857) until Solidworks World 2008, I figured I could help pass the time until then by sending out one weekly reason to attend.  So be sure to check back this Friday for number .57142857!