Category: News

What’s New in SolidWorks 2013: Intersect (Wow!)

This entry is part 8 of 12 in the series New in SolidWorks 2013

SolidWorks 2013 introduces a new and powerful tool called Intersect. Intersect enables you to perform complex operations to quickly combine surfaces, planes and solid bodies in practically any way you need without the need for multiple cut, trim and fill features.  The tool’s visual interface allows you to do all the experimenting you’ll need in order to create the final shape you want.  The following is an example of how Intersect can help you to quickly build a part from multiple intersecting surfaces.

This is a set of surface bodies that will be used to create the exterior of a new consumer product.  The goal is quickly combine these surface bodies into a final solid shape that can then be shelled.

Series of surface bodies

  1. Intersect PropertyManagerStart the Intersect tool (found on the Features toolbar).
  2. Select all of the surface bodies.  As you select each one, they populate the Selections box in the PropertyManager.  Hint: you can use window select to get all the surface bodies at once.
  3. Choose Intersect button.
  4. A list of intersection regions is quickly generated in the Regions to Exclude box in the PropertyManager.  In the case of this project, there is only one region, so there will be nothing to exclude.
  5. Make sure Merge result is checked on the Options box in the PropertyManager.
  6. Because we do not want the surface bodies to remain in the final part, make sure Consume surfaces is also checked.
  7. Once you are satisfied with the previewed result, choose OK (green check mark button) to accept and apply.
  8. The result is finalized.  The entire operation appears as one new Intersect feature in the Feature Tree.
  9. Adjustments to your selections can be made at any time by editing the Intersect feature in the same manner as any other features are edited.

Preview of result

Preview of result
Final result
 Final result

Sometimes it’s the little new things (~part II) in SolidWorks 2013: Watermarking

This entry is part 7 of 12 in the series New in SolidWorks 2013

There’s been a long trail of discussions on the topic of adding watermarks to SolidWorks drawings.   For one reason or another, watermarks are seen by some as necessary in drawings.  The starting point of the conversion can be roughly traced back to the SolidWorks Forum in 2006.   In December 2007, I did one article that incompletely addressed the need.  If you just needed text to show up on your sheet format, you can review the first article.

Then, a question was asked at the first Stump the Chumps presentation at SolidWorks World 2008 about how to add watermarks to drawings.  No answer was given at that presentation (the chumps where stumped).

Soon after SolidWorks World 2008, Ben Eadie (one of the stumped chumps) found an About SolidWorks article that discussed various aspects of this topic.  (The article appears to have been maintained/updated since then.)     Around that time, I also wrote a detailed article about how to link your custom properties to your watermark and provided a trick  to get the watermark note to appear underneath elements on the drawing sheet.  Linking custom properties to the watermark allows the watermark value to be controlled by Enterprise PDM workflows.

OK, so what was the trick to getting notes to appear underneath drawing elements? If you created a block of an annotation note on your sheet format, that note block will appear under your drawing (without obscuring drawing content).

In Solidworks 2013, you no longer need to use that trick to get your sheet format note to appear underneath drawing elements.  There is now a command that resides in the right-click menu for each annotation note on the sheet format called “Display Note Behind Sheet”.  When checked, the  note is placed underneath drawing view elements on the drawing sheet, including other annotations, dimensions and model geometry in both HLR/HLV and shaded modes.

Display Note Behind Sheet is a checkmarked command in the
right-click menu for any annotation note on the sheet format.
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With the checkmark set on the note in sheet format, the


note appears under all drawing view elements.


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Uncheckmarking the option will apply standard ordering


of drawing elements, with geometry obsured by


the note.



	


	





	

		
		
Don’t fight the future of 3D Printing
	


	
	
	

		
Chris McAndrew makes a great case for industry to embrace the explosion of 3D Printers and the new business opportunities that are coming, including criticism of those forces that would seek inhibit the use of 3D printing to protect old business models.  Check out his article:  Why I’m Not Fighting Back Against Developments In 3D Printing.

	


	





	

		
		
What’s New in SolidWorks 2013: Orientation dialog and View Selector
	


	
	
	

		
This entry is part 3 of 12 in the series New in SolidWorks 2013
Orientation Dialog Box




Switching between views in the SolidWorks modelling environment has always been a fairly painless exercise.  Press the SPACEBAR and choose your view, or use the Normal to command.  The Orientation dialog window has now been improved in SolidWorks 2013.   In addition to icongraphic layout, you can now create custom views and save them for reuse in different documents.


To save views for use in other documents, create a new view same as before using the New View button.  The view will then appear in the Orientation dialog box between the standard views and the view port buttons.  When you highlight that view, a save icon appears.  When saved, a globe icon will appear next to new view indicating that it is now available for use in other documents.





 




View Selector


Another cool addition to the Orientation interface is the View Selector.  To turn on the View Selector, start the Orientation dialog box and click on the View Selector button in the upper right next to the pin.  While this button is depressed, the View Selector will automatically engage when you launch the Orientation dialog box.


The View Selector allows you to quickly and visually select your next view orientation of the model between standard views.  It provides quick access to the opposite views too (the other side of each standard orientation).  That means you can quickly jump to the backside upper isometric view as easily and you can jump to the front view!




 

	


	





	

		
		
SolidWorks User Group Network Technical Summit in San Jose, CA on Dec 18, 2012
	


	
	
	

		
Some people say the world will end 10 days from now.  My bet?  We’ll be just fine on December 22, 2012.  That in mind, if you are in the Northern California area (or within an hour’s flight) and interested to improve your SolidWorks skill, networking with others professionals, and meeting SolidWorks employees, I recommend you look into attending this year’s SolidWorks User Group Network Technical Summit in Silicon Valley on December 18, 2012.


I’ve written about the benefits of the Technical Summits in the past.   SolidWorks employees will be attending this year, along with very helpful presentations.  Registration and details are found on the SWUGN site here.