Archive for February, 2010

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Deleting a Row from General Table

02/25/2010

This question came up on the SolidWorks Forums today and after answering it I thought of sharing it up.

You have inserted a General table in the SolidWorks drawing and accidentally added one extra Row. Now you want to get rid of that line. As usual you’ll right click on the specific Row you want to remove from the table and clicked on the Delete.

But to your surprise, you can only see the option to delete the entire table and no Row. You may feel bit frustrated with that.

Now here comes the trick to delete the Row from the General Table.

1. Click on Table and you’ll see some thing like in the picture below.

2. Click these small arrows to show the Table Header. (Check, the pointer has changed).

3. Your table should like this.

4. Click on the table again.

5. Select/ highlight the Row (by clicking on the number. See the color change). Now right click on the row number, go to Delete and select Row.

6. Hurray, the unwanted Row has gone. If you want to hide the table header, click on the table again. Now click on those small arrows (look at step 2) again and your header will hide.

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Let’s Go Design in 3D

02/17/2010

2D drafting methods are not able to relay the quality and quantity of design information because 2D methods will always rely on human interpretation or visualization skills to interact with a 2D design.  This is always difficult for non design staff and almost impossible for computer systems to extract this kind of information, because computers do not have the ability to interpret.

As a result, many human errors can occur with traditional 2D design methods.  In the past problems such as component collisions, incorrect quantities or parts that don’t fit, would happen because a designer who works in only 2D is forced to hold much of the information mentally. 

Reducing human error by using the 3D modeling design methods minimizes the need for re-work because the design quality is greatly improved. Using 3D design modeling greatly improves design quality because it is a more complete process than 2D design.  One most important thing about 3d CAD design is that people can have view of the model from all possible dimensions.  It is a highly detailed drawing of what your concept will look like as a finished product. 

Whether you’re designing a new innovative product, creating technical manuals, or requesting quotes from suppliers, 3D CAD design is extremely powerful.  But when a 3D CAD design is transformed into a physical 3D print or job shops’ product prototypes, there is no substitute for the tactile and visual feedback a physical model provides to all participants in the design process.  

Mechanical Designers usually share their work space with drafters or other engineering technicians in quiet, well-lighted surroundings separated from production areas.  Working from drawings, sketches, planning sheets, and other engineering and shop data, tool designers must visualize the Design, do the panning, document and verify every step of the way. 

Because of reductions in defense spending, jobs for mechanical engineering type work will decrease; however, the employment of mechanical engineers is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through this year due to the demand for new and more complex industrial machinery and tools resulting from the development of more sophisticated automated production processes.

The use of 3D modeling technology is essential when you want to develop a superior product.  Such a product will not be influenced by human interpretation. Furthermore, it will look like the final model.