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?
People who have seen it in action say that the Intersect Tool is a Game Changer.
Imagine you take existing surface bodies, solid bodies and even planes and throw them in a boiling pot. Let them intersect themselves for a while (about half a second), then pick and choose whatever pieces or combination of pieces you need. The result is spectacular: one or more solid bodies created very fast.
Once you master this new command, you will find out that your feature tree becomes quite a bit shorter!
Intersect can replace whole clusters of features like: Split, Combine Add, Combine Subtract, Combine Common, Trim, Copy Bodies, Delete Bodies, Cut with Surface or Replace Face.
In this video, I am just playing with the Intersect Tool. Watch how I conjure a solid out of thin air.
Enjoy the magic!
Of course, we will explore the full functionality of the Intersect Feature in the newer future. Stay tuned.
Fig. 1 - How many edges can you count?
Beside being an young but accomplished industrial designer, Andrew is also the author of a very interesting and useful article posted yesterday on our blog. If you need to model a real part and the only scanner you have is a regular digital camera, you better find out how to prepare pictures of real parts or hand drawn sketches as input for SolidWorks 3D models.
Andrew received a Bachelor of Industrial Design in April 2011 from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. He specializes in computer-aided design, manufacturing technologies, model making and graphics. He is also interested in ergonomics, marketing, psychology, perception, innovation, sustainability and the nature of work. Andrew is a competent machinist, having manufactured from scratch a cast aluminum wheelchair for his final design thesis. His design work focuses on minimalism, with an emphasis on materials and distinct lack of decoration.
You can access Andrew’s online portfolio at http://www.lowe9.com/.
When he sent us the article, he also agreed to tell our readers a few things about his background as a designer in general and a SolidWorks user in particular. Here is the full interview:
As SolidWorks users, sometimes we have to create a 3D part from a sketch provided by a creative professional, such as an industrial designer. Quickly adjusting the images in Adobe Photoshop can provide more accurate results when the images are used as modelling aids in SolidWorks.
Remote Control Sketched Elevations
The above images are used in the SolidWorks Surfacing Class offered by Javelin Technologies. They are representative of a hand drawn sketch made by an Industrial Designer. Read More »
Instead of arguing, I showed them a few quick examples of hybrid modeling (surfaces affecting solids). I just wanted them to remember what they saw if they ever found themselves in situations where standard solid modeling workflows were not good enough or fast enough.
Last week I received a phone call from one of these students, who remembered the demonstration. He wanted to emboss a text to his curved face in such a way that the letters would seem to radiate from the original face; something similar to the model shown in fig. 1.
Fig 1. Design Intent
As we learnt in the first minutes of our first Surface Modeling lesson, the Holy Grail for the “shape designers” is the creation of class “A” surfaces: those smooth, curvature continuous entities pleasing to the eye and pleasant to the touch, found everywhere nowadays – from the flowing curves of your car’s panels to the ergonomic shape of your remote control or your mouse.
During the Advance Surface Modeling course, we also discovered various techniques for applying the curvature continuous condition, but (to my knowledge), we did not explore the Equal Curvature as a sketch relation in the particular situation where a spline is connected to an existing surface.
You are a tool and die designer and your customer has just sent you an IGES file containing a solid with a complex face which has to be used as reference for your embossing die. In order to create your punch and die inserts, you need to isolate that surface and extend it. If you can do that, you will take the job, if not - you have to refuse it. Read More »
Dan Johnson asks this question in the SolidWorks Forum:
I am trying to create a handle that is part of a scanner body and I made my curves using a 3D sketch. When I try and make either a loft or boundary surface, I try to grab just one curve in my 3DSketch, but it wants to grab the entire 3DSketch. How do I select just 1 curve for my profile? I tried the right mouse click, selection filter, but it grabs the entire 3d sketch too. Can anyone help?
What’s New at JavelinSince 1997 Javelin has helped thousands of companies with solutions for mechanical design, electrical design and rapid prototyping. Large or small, we have the skills and experience to propel your organization to new heights. Learn More »
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