The Javelin Technologies Blog

Last week I showed you how to use the new Intersect tool for simplifying your model by filling its internal cavities.

Today let’s consider the situation where you need to fill the external cavities from the Mr. Smiley model with discrete solid bodies in order to 3D print the end result with a bi-material printer from the Objet Connex family.

This video proposes two different solutions for this challenge. Can you think of more?

From time to time, when new releases of SolidWorks add extra functionality to the existing tools, existing workflows change, creating some initial confusion for the users. The popular Shortcut Bar is a good example in this regard. Starting with SolidWorks 2012, when the Shortcut Bar is invoked with the “S” hotkey, by default it also turns on the input field of the Command Search. As a consequence, pressing “S” again will not only turn off the Shortcut Bar but will also insert text (the “s” character) in the Command search field.

Please watch this video for a demonstration about linking and unlinking the Shortcut Bar to the Command Search and, after that, choose the solution that is right for you.

I do not have to tell you that treating customers right is paramount for the success of any business. That is true for individuals also.  As a designer using SolidWorks, your very next “customer” is, most of the times, the CNC programmer. He or she will use your SolidWorks model as the input for his CAM program.

In my previous job as a designer in a tool and die shop, I learned very fast how important was to keep my CNC programmer happy. His main complaint was that when importing the SolidWorks models in his program, they came oriented “the wrong way” and he had to spend extra time and clicks to rotate them in “the right” position. The reason fo this extra work is the fact that the “Up” direction in SolidWorks is by default being defined by the “Y” axis, while in most CAM programs is following the “Z”-axis.

Last week, at the SolidWorks User Group in Barrie, John White, the owner and president of White-Line Machine &Tool talked about this issue and asked me if there is any solution available at this time.

The answer is YES and the best part is that a one-time modification of the SolidWorks Templates will solve this problem forever for the whole company.

If you want to become real friends with your CNC programmer, watch this video and make him (or her) happy:

Has this ever happened to you?

Imagine that you get this super complex model with a lot of intricate internal details from your customer or supplier. The file size is huge and the rebuild times are long, considering that you only need it for any one of these reasons:

• Use your customer’s model as a reference for modeling a nest in a fixture or tooling. You need to remove all the interior details.
• Use your customer’s model as a reference for modeling an enclosure around it. You need to keep only the external faces.
• Insert your supplier’s model as one item in your assembly and BOM. You need to remove as many details as possible,
• Just need to 3D Print it for your customer. You need to remove all the cavities (completely “fill” the model).

The first thing you will try is, of course, using the Defeature tool (introduced in SolidWorks 2011). But what can be done when defeature does not produce the expected results?

Starting with SolidWorks 2013 the answer is simple: use the magic of the new Intersect Tool to fill any internal cavities and also merge all the solid bodies that touch (on faces) or intersect each other.

Watch this video for a demonstration of this procedure:

When changing a component’s display state in the main assembly does not produce any visible changes to the appearance of the model, you might need to clear the appearance override that is sometime created in the main assembly.

This video shows both the problem and the solution:

You have to upgrade to SolidWorks 2013 SP3.0 in order to have total control over the bend allowance for multibody sheet metal parts.

Note: Many thanks to Anna Wood for making me aware about this new functionality!!!

While the ability to control the thickness, default radius and the bend allowance at the body level has been implemented in SolidWorks 2013 SP0, the workflow was not really intuitive for the user (read this article for more information about how this functionality worked in SolidWorks 2013 SP0, SP1 and SP2).

Starting with SolidWorks 2013 SP3.0, there is a new checkbox for the bend allowance at the body level that can control where the information is coming from: either from the Sheet Metal feature at the part level or from the one at the body level. Again, it is a good idea to rename your features accordingly.

There is still a little problem, this time with the way the sheet metal bodies with different K-factors are grouped in cut list items.

Watch this video to the end in order to see the problem and the workaround I found for it:

The new View Selector introduced by SolidWorks 2013 is great for re-orienting your models with ease and precision, but, as I told you in the previous articles on this topic, it has one problem: it will default to the ISO orientation during preview.

Until SolidWorks will further improve this tool in order to place the selector cube on top of the existing orientation, the next best thing is keeping the existing orientation on one side of the screen when using the View Selector.

Watch this video and see how it is done:

As per Wikipedia, in computer software, Easter eggs are secret responses that occur in response to an undocumented set of commands. The results can vary from a simple printed message or image, to a page of programmer credits or a small videogame hidden inside an otherwise serious piece of software.

Looks like SolidWorks programmers are not different from other software developers. I am wondering if the corporate Dassault SolidWorks know that they hid several Easter Eggs in the software!!!

Check what is happening if you follow the procedure listed below. Be very careful, you have to follow each step exactly as it was written:

1. Have to start with a part template with dimensions pre-set to inch
2. Angle dimension format should be set to one decimal
3. Pick the Right Plane and start a sketch using only the in-context toolbar
4. Place an infinite centerline on the origin at an angle of 257.759 degrees using only the property manager
5. You should not constrain the centerline
6. After that draw an arc centered on the origin, with the endpoints coincident to the centerline
7. Place a diameter dimension of 5.55555” on the arc
8. Revolve 360 degrees accepting SolidWorks’ offer to close the sketch
9. In the Command Manager add the Mold Tools toolbar
10. Left of the center of that toolbar you will find the Scale Icon
11. Scale about the centroid
12. Find the “uniform scaling” box and uncheck it
13. On the “X” type 0.754789
14. On the “Z” type 0.754789
15. Let’s press the “Enter” key (do not use the mouse)
16. Save the part as HAFD!.sldprt
17. Do a Left Mouse Button click on one back face of the part and select:
18. Appearances
19. You just need to apply the following RGB values: R255, G000, B000

If you completed all these steps you will discover a funny Easter Egg that SolidWorks developers hid in SolidWorks starting with version 2005 SP3.0.

Enjoy!

This is one more example of a new SolidWorks functionality introduced by a service pack and a great reason for having an active subscription with SolidWorks.

The View Selector is a great tool, but until adding this enhancement it was not usable 100% since not all the facets of the cube could be selected.

Starting with SoldiWorks 2013 SP2.0, the user can select any back facets by pressing the Alt key during the selection.

Watch this video for a comparison between the functionality of the View Selector in SolidWorks 2013 SP0 and SP2.0:

This is a great example of the benefits you get when you have a subscription contract with SolidWorks. A lot of people believe that service packs are just for fixing bugs in the software, but sometimes they also add new functionality to existing tools.

SolidWorks 2013 SP 2.0 comes with a few of such enhancements. In this video I am demonstrating the new relation which can be added between conics and splines.

Note: This relation works with all the conics sketch entities in SolidWorks: “Partial Ellipse, Parabola and Conic“