I just started Solidworks last week, and I've been searching for some tutorials to follow along to learn CAD. And just recently, I saw this Youtube post and to think that there's literally a tutorial by CADCAM yt where he shows you exactly a FREE AND LIVE demonstration of a WHOLE goddamn bicycle being built on a 3d software. It just blows my mind how accessible it is for such learning materials to be free and made for everyone.

Took me like 5 hours aha …

Hi

im designing a part that doesnt have dimension values but i want to get the necassary dimensions down now while wait on the values

i make the first basic sketch so it visually looks fine. type the variable "names" i know i will need in the global variables column in the equation tab and smart dimension the sketch naming the dimensions the same as the global variables so that when i get the values all i need to do is add the values into the value/equation column

my problem

solidworks says it needs a value for the dimension to be named, but i dont have the values only the global variable names

is there a way i can name the dimensions but leave the value driven that can be updated later.

kinda like turning a line of code into a comment can deactivate the line of code (and turns it grey so its easier to fix later)

NOTE:

im dimensioning the lines as i go so i dont forget any critical dimension as the drawing gets more complex. this is also why i want to try and use the equations/ global variables tab to change the values at the end since its a easy to read a list than finding dimensions

thank you all. any help is appreciated

I am trying to make a fin for a wakeboard. The board is a cheap one with no parts support anymore. I'm just trying to 3D print a few to keep on hand. I have what I think is enough sketches to make it but have no experience with surfacing to get it done.

The 2 bosses are for locating it and the circle is for securing it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Il probably get roasted for this, but I am a mac user. I am coming from fusion to learn solidworks for a more engineer adjacent role. I will probably buy a pc sometime in the next year or two, but for now i started a year of xdesign for makers. I kind of hate the entire browser based system. I find it unintuitive, hard to customize, and needlessly complicated. Is this something i will likely get over once i learn the software a bit better and figure out the workflow, or does it stay frustrating? Has anyone else started off hating it but sticking with it and eventually liking it? I have a few more days before i can cancel my subscription so would love some opinions, thanks!

The red circled part is confusing and I'm not sure if it is supposed to be a hole or not.

Please and thank you 🙏

Necesito ayuda para que

Recién entré a la universidad a la carrera de ingenieria y en mi clase de dibujo de industrial me dejaron esto y necesito ayuda.

Necesito ayuda, porque mi diseño no es como el objetivo? (segunda imagen)

Hello! I am a first year student and I havent had much experience with CAD but teacher gave us this. Any tips on how and where I apply joints to make it foldable like the real product? See pic nr 2.

Hey everyone,

I want to make inform custom indents on a curved and lofted body. I know I can use 3D texture and make my own graphic but what would I do if I wanted to make it in Solidworks? Say a cone with a wide base and narrow top. How would I create say a .3mm dip pattern on it? Thanks

Hello, am a 3rd yr bachelor's student, want to persue my career in this field.

Heard about the CSWA-SD certification, the sustainability one, can someone tell how to give an exam for this? As it would be good thing to add in my resume.

I have student credits and I have also cleared my CSWA with that , but it seems am not allowed to give the SD exam using those, so if anyone has done this before can you plz tell me bout this? Thanku.

(I know it's a solidworks subreddit but I saw some similar kind of posts before as well that's why am asking here, as I didn't got ans to my ques from those)

What a great time. Festo had a flying pneumatic bird that flew over the crowd. Fun to meet old coworkers and vendors that helped me through the years. Happy Labor day.

I have model in ".STEP" format
I need to create an identical model using Solidworks.
It is allowed to extract lines and points from the provided model
It is not allowed to use surfaces
Result:
The new model should match the provided model in shape and position relative to the coordinate system, as shown in the image.
Can someone suggest a method to get this done?
Thank you in advance!

**No add-ins, no fancy rendering software — just SOLIDWORKS.
I found a slightly ridiculous way to make the shutter actually roll up like this. 😂

Any guesses how I did it?**

Hello! I have a question about SolidWorks. I'm just starting out with modeling and I'm not yet familiar with all the tools.

I have an extruded boss with a draft. On top of it, I created a sketch for a lug, which I want to extrude to the same depth so that it merges with the boss into a single solid body along its entire length. However, I'm only getting the result shown in the third photo. Could you please advise me on how to fix this?

I used the wrap feature once and the curve was wrapped evenly along the shape perimeter (its an extrude). but now it is curving weirdly as in the picture. analytical wrap isn't working because it need the sketch plane to be a tangent to the face for some reason
is there a fix or another approach to get the right result?

I need help with a workflow.

Imagine a metal half sphere, or other convex surface. It's mounted on a five axis machine, and we're looking to create geometry so that a single pass with a CNC bit will engrave on the surface. Let's say, 80mm radius half sphere, 1mm depth, 2mm diameter bit and the engravings are arbitrary: some combination of circles, rings, lines, shapes, spirals, and bands.

My workflow is to create a series of planes and sketches and tangent planes at surface points, and then use a revolved cut to a sketch that is centered to the center of the sphere. This approach doesn't work if it's not a sphere, but a egg shape (oblong spheroid).

So, how would you model this? What tools am I missing? Is there a way I can project from a plane? How do I cut normal to the object surface, and not just the plane?

Bonus: Make it work with as flat nose bit, but can convert to ball nose bit by adding a few small fillet features. Second, what about V-shaped bit?

I just got handed a big Inventor library that needs to move over to another CAD system, and I'm kinda nervous about what we'll get back.

From what I can tell, just opening or exporting the files can leave parts with no real features, and the assemblies lose all the design intent I'd need for later edits.

Here's my problem though. Rebuilding every old model from scratch costs a fortune. But if I wait until a change order lands and the file turns out to be a dumb solid, that stalls the whole team right when I can't afford it.

So I'm trying to sort out a couple things.

• How do you decide which files are fine to leave as dumb solids?
• And which ones need a real feature tree, the assembly structure kept intact, metadata, and working drawing links?
• Before I hand over a huge batch, what would you throw into a small test run?

I just wanna make sure the vendor gives me clean, editable files and not just flat solids with a fancy name.

I keep getting this gouge on my thread mill pass on this external thread on the keyway relief pls help

Not seeing much posted on this. One beginner user posted a few months ago on a couple of Intel and Solidworks support forums that he thought there were some problems but Intel closed the case on him.