Javelin / TriMech Author
James Swackhammer
SOLIDWORKS 2020 Structure System Pattern
By James Swackhammer on January 29, 2020
The SOLIDWORKS Structure System is fairly new and while in its infancy “new” basic improvements are being made with every SOLIDWORKS release. Looking at efficiency best practices, using a pattern comes to mind. The basic answer to why we pattern brings me back to the…
SOLIDWORKS 2020 Assembly Mates Shortcuts
By James Swackhammer on January 17, 2020
SOLIDWORKS 2020 has many big enhancements that improve performance, stability and usability. Sometimes it’s the small things that matter most. The littlest things that improve our CAD life. As an instructor who teaches SOLIDWORKS I really try to promote a two hand design theory. What…
Organizing the Annotation Folder in SOLIDWORKS MBD
By James Swackhammer on January 15, 2020
SOLIDWORKS MBD (model-based design/definition) has some new Annotation organizational features for the 2020 release. When viewing annotations, they can now be displayed per the annotation view. This will help you to identify PMI (Product & Manufacturing Data) for a specific view. SOLIDWORKS strives best with…
A long awaited feature we desperately needed was a fix on the hole callouts in SOLIDWORKS MBD (model based definition). New for SOLIDWORKS MBD 2020 are hole callouts and not only that but compound hole callouts. I have tested this on many types of holes…
SOLIDWORKS eDrawings has been used for many years as a part, assembly and drawing viewer. This can be used on computers without SOLIDWORKS installed. Maybe not as well-known but still hitting the cool factor, in my opinion, is eDrawings can be purchased and installed on…
Adding/Analyzing/Modifying SOLIDWORKS Center of Mass Part 2
By James Swackhammer on December 10, 2019
Have you ever had an old fan with the metal cage still run like a champ but found that a newer plastic fan seems to die within a year or two of usage? Ever been on the freeway and saw someone’s hub cap wobbling and…
Adding/Analyzing/Modifying SOLIDWORKS Center of Mass Part 1
By James Swackhammer on December 9, 2019
In my opinion, the SOLIDWORKS Center of Mass is an underrated reference dimension. Many designers use it to see where the bulk of the weight is. This can determine if weight needs to be added, subtract weight or reorganize items to get the desired balance….
How To Make Lumber Weldment Profiles in SOLIDWORKS
By James Swackhammer on November 29, 2019
We’re going to start making lumber profiles to be used as weldments and smart blocks (in later articles). With a regular SOLIDWORKS part template open we’re going to modify this heavily. I’ll start with adding in a material of Spruce. If you don’t know how…
How to Make and Flatten a Sheet Metal Cone in SOLIDWORKS
By James Swackhammer on November 15, 2019
Creating a Sheet metal cone in SOLIDWORKS can seem like a complex task, but I’m here to alleviate your worries and provide you with the correct workflow. I typically like to start my first sketch on the Top Plane. Using my sheet metal open sketch…
Adding Missing SOLIDWORKS Inspection GD&T Specific Fonts
By James Swackhammer on November 14, 2019
Wait, hold up, stop the bus, what do mean you can read this very specific SOLIDWORKS only font on your computer without having SOLIDWORKS installed? There are some occasions where you may need to read or analyze files on a different computer that may not…
Do you ever get this SOLIDWORKS Missing Font warning when trying to open a part that came from someone else? “Use a temporary replacement font.” Basically this means you don’t have the font the other person used, which means SOLIDWORKS will pick a font of…
How to Label SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Etch Marks
By James Swackhammer on September 16, 2019
I previously showed you how to create etch marks using existing geometry from Hole Wizard holes. Having redundancies can prevent mistakes and help out manufacturing. This is sort of like the carpentry saying of “measure twice, cut once”. Having a callout of the Hole Wizards…
Using the SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Bounding Box to create Flat Pattern Data
By James Swackhammer on September 6, 2019
Several times in my career I’ve had rush jobs that need an estimate right away, or, the material might be a long lead request/special order coming from another city or in some cases a different country. Having the basic dimensions of a part can help…
Using existing geometry to create Etch Marks in SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Parts
By James Swackhammer on August 16, 2019
When designing sheet metal parts within SOLIDWORKS you may want to add in etch marks to be etched later by the laser or HD plasma machines. Adding etch marks helps communication for later options. My example here is a part that’s going to be laser…
How to automatically create a SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Flat Pattern Configuration
By James Swackhammer on August 12, 2019
If a job can be automated in SOLIDWORKS and reduces the amount of time it takes to create I say do it, especially if it works every time. The flat pattern can be created automatically while making a drawing and since most parts require a…