The industry's top engineers, designers, and additive manufacturing experts offer their best advice, research, how-tos, and insights—all in the name of helping you level-up your 3D designs and engineering skills.
Have you ever received an STL file from a customer or colleague and been asked to work with it in SOLIDWORKS? Or have you ever received data from a 3D scanner? If so, then you have probably been left wondering, "How do I work on this in SOLIDWORKS and why can I not use my regular tools and … [Read more...] about Working With Scan and Mesh Data in SOLIDWORKS
I was asked if I could take the surface area of selected faces in SOLIDWORKS and have that value be referenced in a drawing file. When this problem first came across my desk I assumed it was going to be an easy task, but boy was I mistaken.My first thought was using the SW-Surface Area Custom … [Read more...] about Create a Custom Property from a Selected Surface Area in SOLIDWORKS
After receiving a part, it’s sometimes necessary to test out certain dimensions in SOLIDWORKS. Maybe an angle where walls intersect needs to be verified, or the distance between two arc centers needs to be confirmed. While the Smart Dimension tool is an option, with the Measure tool, you don't have … [Read more...] about Mastering the Measure Tool in SOLIDWORKS
If you’ve been struggling with Loft or Boundary features in SOLIDWORKS, fear no more! Known for being two of the more complex features in the program, Loft and Boundary features often require precise selections and careful sketch management for the most accurate and attractive results. In this … [Read more...] about 3 Steps to Better Lofts and Boundaries in SOLIDWORKS
What if there was a way to control a part through a table? A table that would let you add configurations without going to the configuration manager tab or let you not worry about dimension changes. Luckily, SOLIDWORKS gives us the ability to create design tables that control materials, dimensions … [Read more...] about Going in Depth With the SOLIDWORKS Configure Feature Table
Utilizing SOLIDWORKS Display States enables users to quickly save different visual representations of their models in one convenient location. Configurations vs Display States There is a big difference between a display state and a configuration inside of SOLIDWORKS. Configurations allow the … [Read more...] about Overview of SOLIDWORKS Display States
So, you’ve successfully learned how to build your part and now you're ready to create your first assembly. Congratulations! Once you’ve inserted your components (via ‘Insert Components’, dragging and dropping, etc), let’s move on to mating. One of the great benefits of SOLIDWORKS is that there are … [Read more...] about 3 Ways to Mate in SOLIDWORKS Assemblies
Every SOLIDWORKS user has had it happen – you’re minding your business, modeling away, when suddenly and without warning:For those of you looking for the quickest tip you’ll ever receive, simply press the F6 key in SOLIDWORKS and then move the cursor to get rid of this icon. You can thank me … [Read more...] about How to Get Rid of the Cursor Funnel/Filter Icon in SOLIDWORKS
