Solid Works

[NoTrespassing]

Are there any Solid Works users here? Did you take a class or self taught? We have several seats available where I work and my coworker taught himself to use the program using a book. He's no expert but he's doing pretty well. I just bought a new laptop and plan to teach myself Solid Works. I'm trying to decide whether to start with the tutorials or the book that we have. They seem to take two entirely different approaches. I've got a good base to start with having studied drafting and using AutoCAD for 20 years.

Kevin

 

[ktm250rider]

What version? SW is very intuitive. Id suggest rhe tutorials first. Ive never liked the book exercises. The hardest part is learning the terminology and finding commands.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

While Solidworks has gained a big marketshare, AutoCad has made a comeback. I like the new Autodesk revit concept and price. I'm trying to remember their $25/month cad they'll sell you.
Solidworks has a large user base, because of it's popularity on college campuses. It is great stuff but expensive.

We have Creo at work which is a descendant of Pro E. I have not gotten used to it because it is different format. You can do tutorials on Youtube. If you have dual screens, put the tutorial on one screen and your solidworks on the other.

My brother told me a long time ago, you dance best with the partner you learned to dance with.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Fusion 36 | Free Software for Students, Educators | Autodesk

this is it...

 

[NoTrespassing]

While Solidworks has gained a big marketshare, AutoCad has made a comeback. I like the new Autodesk revit concept and price. I'm trying to remember their $25/month cad they'll sell you.
Solidworks has a large user base, because of it's popularity on college campuses. It is great stuff but expensive.

We have Creo at work which is a descendant of Pro E. I have not gotten used to it because it is different format. You can do tutorials on Youtube. If you have dual screens, put the tutorial on one screen and your solidworks on the other.

My brother told me a long time ago, you dance best with the partner you learned to dance with.

We went back and forth deciding on whether to buy Autodesk or Solidworks. We had reps demo both more than once. In the end Solidworks won and that's what we have so that's what I will be teaching myself.

Kevin

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Once you learn it, you won't be disappointed.
Good luck.

 

[greif]

There are a few built in tutorials, I went to classes about 18 years ago. Completely different thinking then 2d autocad

 

[Turbys_1700]

I've taught Solid Edge and Solid Works in addition to AutoCAD. I initially attended a 2 day training session for each program offered by the vendor. I would advise taking a class at your local community college if possible. It will get you started. It takes years of experience and practice to utilize the program effectively. If you are just wanting to draw parts and simple assemblies the learning curve is not too steep. Understanding how to correctly constrain those parts and assemblies takes additional time and training. I've been teaching CAD and Modeling for over 20 years.

 

[Ken M]

1970--Drafting board--AutoCad--Inventor--Solidworks--2014 retired. The last 30 years was designing tooling for our machinery, dies for our presses and sometimes special machinery.

I would suggest that if you are thinking to make a living with SW you might see if you can pick up some classes either at a local school or maybe the SW seller the company bought from. Maybe your company would send you if you expressed an interest in learning. Books and tutorials are good resources but won't make you a real SW user.

We had some reasonably functional self taught SW users but they were usually limited to single parts and not more complex multi-part assemblies or mechanisms.

3d modeling takes a different mindset than the flat 2d AutoCad world you are used to. To me it's more like making a sculpture, adjusting the shape and sizes as you develope a concept or shape. Making detailed drawings are the last thing I thought about.

I have a 2007 version of SW here at home but it will only run on the 10 year old XP computer so when that computer dies I am out of luck. I had planned to purchase a seat of SW but now SW and Inventor are available by leasing only. Rotton deal for us small users. Eventually I will probably purchase GeoMagic or BricksCad as they seem to be similar to SW but at half the cost and can import my old SW models.

 

[1stDeuce]

I used SDRC Ideas in college, and then did no solid modeling for 13 years. In 2010 got hired into a design engineering job where I needed to be "proficient" in SW pretty quickly. I spent most of my first two weeks doing the tutorials that were part of SW2010, and was pretty much good to go. I've also taken three one day courses from our local reseller, which were somewhat helpful... One for simulation, one for motion, and the third was "advanced modeling". Most users just learn by doing, and watching youtube. I pick up tricks from our new hires that learned in college, and we share our findings, but ANY question you have can be quickly answered by a google search. There are tens of thousands of vids on youtube explaining how to model complex things, or fix "Solid-Quirks".

The bonus of SW is that if you have access to it at work, they will also allow you to install it on your home computer.
Good Luck!
Chris