Javelin / TriMech Author
James Swackhammer
Applying Decals with Background Masking in SOLIDWORKS – Part 2
By James Swackhammer on August 12, 2019
Building on the previous article about adding a decal and masking the background, there are occasions where we need to take masking a step further to get the desired result. I’m going to add another decal below my Javelin decal. This is the same procedure…
Applying Decals with Background Masking in SOLIDWORKS – Part 1
By James Swackhammer on August 11, 2019
Have you ever applied or used decals in SOLIDWORKS? What I learned is that not everything has the background colour you need for the decal you have. Sometimes you just want the background of the decal to match the colour of the object you’re putting…
SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Sketch Bend vs Edge Flange
By James Swackhammer on May 14, 2019
Today we are going to decide which is the better tool to use when adding flanges to a sheet metal part: Sketch Bend vs Edge Flange. Sketch Bend and Edge Flange are two very different tools that produce similar results. Why do they exist if…
SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal vs Body Convert Part Creation Method
By James Swackhammer on May 9, 2019
In this article I am going to make a very basic sheet metal box with two different creation techniques to determine which is more efficient, delivers more accurate results, and looks better. Before you jump to conclusions thinking which method is better, you might be…
Designing 90° Sheet Metal HVAC Duct – Advanced Tip 2
By James Swackhammer on May 6, 2019
In part 4 of my making a Sheet Metal Duct guide, I showed how to get the best material yield. Today I’m going to show you how to add etch marks so that all parts can be rolled together as one, zip cut, reordered and…
Today we are going to decide which feature is the better choice in a particular design situation – in this example should I use a Base Flange (Edge Flange/Sketch Bend) method or a Thin Feature? If you have been creating SOLIDWORKS sheet metal parts for…
How do I resolve the ‘No Bends Found’ SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Error?
By James Swackhammer on April 30, 2019
Have you ever received this SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Error? “No bends found.” Why do I get this error? This is a common sheet metal error I used to see all the time. This typically occurs when you are converting a solid body part into a…
Designing 90° Sheet Metal HVAC Duct – Advanced Tip 1
By James Swackhammer on April 24, 2019
Making a sheet metal duct can be time consuming but hopefully these few tips can reduce the time it takes. In my previous articles I took you through the process of making a 24 inch diameter, 90 degree HVAC duct. For the second step of…
SOLIDWORKS MBD has come a long way since it initially released back in 2015. Adding dimensions or using existing design dimensions to publish directly into a manufacturable PDF saves time and interpretation errors. SOLIDWORKS 2019 has now added more features to the already innovative PDF. …
Designing 90° Sheet Metal HVAC Duct in SOLIDWORKS – Part 4 of 4
By James Swackhammer on February 7, 2019
Welcome to part 4 of this adventure of making a large sheet metal HVAC duct. In Part 3 we saved the bodies, converting them into sheet metal parts and exported as DXF/DWG. In this final part I’m going to show you how to modify the…
Designing 90° Sheet Metal HVAC Duct in SOLIDWORKS – Part 3 of 4
By James Swackhammer on February 6, 2019
Welcome to part 3 of this adventure of making a large sheet metal HVAC duct. We left off in part 2 splitting the single body duct into 7 bodies. Today I’m going to demonstrate how to save the bodies out and how to convert into…
SOLIDWORKS MBD 2019 now includes Cosmetic Threads
By James Swackhammer on February 1, 2019
A once sore subject with SOLIDWORKS MBD is “Cosmetic Thread” appearance or lack of. Well, SOLIDWORKS MBD 2019 takes care of that. Now when you save out a PDF you get to see the thread picture. If you are not aware of Cosmetic Threads, please…
Designing 90° Sheet Metal HVAC Duct in SOLIDWORKS – Part 2 of 4
By James Swackhammer on January 29, 2019
Welcome to Designing 90° Sheet Metal HVAC Duct in SOLIDWORKS – Part 2. In the previous part we had created the basic model for the duct, the required sizes are set with a basic sketch, and a circular profile sweep was used to create the…
Designing a 90° Sheet Metal HVAC Duct in SOLIDWORKS – Part 1 of 4
By James Swackhammer on January 28, 2019
Designing and manufacturing a duct for a ventilation system is easy, right? With this series I’m going to start with simple, but most commonly asked for in a HVAC system design, the 90° bend: I’m going to break down the SOLIDWORKS creation process into these…
How to start off with Pre-Made SOLIDWORKS Parts
By James Swackhammer on December 12, 2018
The final chapter in my SOLIDWORKS Part Template Series is to start off with pre-made parts. If your company is one that has a set amount of jigs and fixtures, or creates similar parts all the time with some dimensional changes then pre-made SOLIDWORKS Parts…