SolidWorks

[MachineSMMC]

Just trying to get some info from real users. We are thinking of purchasing SolidWorks and would like to get some opinions of from people who use it to design mold. What are your like and dislikes?

 

I appreciate anything you can tell me.

 

Thanks

[Rekd™]

They're doing a great job in mold design. (Haven't seen it in a couple years, but have heard it's still growing stronger by leaps and bounds). Also, the interaction between it and MC is getting better.

 

'Rekd

[Jammer™]

We use it for design here. I don't use it on an everyday bases, but my boss does do all our designing on it, then I bring the files in MC to write the toolpaths. So far what I have seen of it, it looks great. Everything converts nicely into MC. HTH

[crazy^millman]

It is a good program that has grown in it ability in the last few years. We get alot of files in the Solidworks format and have very little problem with them. I do things in it but the way it uses its coordiate system takes some use to getting to but once you get how you draw and make solids in it. I don't to get ot use it as much as I would like I got Mastercam Solids and use it more than anything.

 

I think you will be happy with the software and the capabilites that it will give you if you have the need to do design and make molds.

[MetalMarvels]

I have ProE, Mechanical Desktop, and SolidWorks. I have used ProE for about 4 years, AutoDesk products for over 14 years, and SolidWorks for about 1-1/2 years. Can you guess which one I use for design work?

 

SolidWorks all the way..... It has proven (for me) to be easier to become productive in. I had a 24-hour basic instruction course at the dealer's and about a year later set up another 24-hour course of instruction in advanced topics. The limited Cosmos Express gives me all I need for general stress analysis.

 

JM2C

 

[kwolf]

I've been using SW since SW98 . And now I'm using 2004 although I'm trying to learn PRO/E WildFire.

 

I think SW is the best mid range solid modeling software. However there are other factors that should be taken into consideration.

The main question in choosing a CAD is what you want to design with it?

Here are my findings about SW:

 

SolidWorks is considered to be the main competitor for PRO/E WildFire (former PRO/E with the new look) which is a high end CAD.

SW has one of the best User Interface that can be found in a CAD software. Unlike PRO/E WildFire, the interface is virtually unified throughout the software. WildFire is in the first stages of changing its interface and that's why it becomes easier to use in each update. The SW learning curve is shorter than WildFire and believe me, once you are used to SolidWorks and the way it works and its logic you can not work with other CADs easily.

 

You can draw a sketch much faster in SW than PRO/E, you can handle your features easier in it ...

But it's not the whole story:

 

Unlike designing for mechanical parts/assy , desinging molds requires that your CAD is able to create complex surfaces/solids/assemblies/drawing too.

 

SolidWorks has the basic tools to create solids and surfaces, eg , extrude/revolve/loft/sweep but you can not find complex features that are available in PRO/E. Also some features have less options than their equivalents have in PRO/E or UG , like variable draft, or creating sets of complex fillets w/ complex transitions in one feature that can be found in PRO/E.

 

If your parts are not very complex in shape and can be built with simple geometric features like extrude/revolve/loft then SolidWorks is the way to go and beats PRO/E easily.

 

On the other hand if your parts are complex in shapes and consist of free form surfaces or if you're using digitized points and curves to create your parts , then you're in trouble.

SolidWorks does not have the appropriate tools to create/modify/optimize curves/surfaces, I don't know much about PRO/E in this field although it has more tools like IDX. I use Rhino and PowerSHAPE to create complex surfaces instead. You can find info on using Rhino along with SolidWorks on the net.

 

Another issue we're having with SW is, Dassault Systemes (owner of SolidWorks) is constantly changing the way SW creates features. We have models in SW2004 SP0 that have rebuilt errors in SW2004SP1 mainly fillets/lofts/sweeps. And rebuilt errors from SP1 to SP2 , too.

So usual rebuilt errors between major upgrades like 2003->2004 are common. It's really pain in the arse.

I think the most stable version was 2001. I don't think the same applies to WildFire.

 

My recommendation is to search about WildFire and compare it to SolidWorks especially if you do complex molds and parts.