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My brother, who is trying to shed the hooks of life on dry ground for a life at sea, shared this site with me. It’s a giant repository for details of old boat plans that includes everything from row boats to ski boats and even a few sail boats. Ah, to escape to the islands, or end up stranded with a boat I created from an old boat plan. Sweet.
Some, but very few, of them have CAD drawings, like the cute, but burly, MiniMost. Some of the plans are really detailed and can even help you learn about what the parts of a boat are called, like mooring bits, bow sprit and keel rabber. So grab some, print them out and tuck them under your arm like you’ve been building boats for ages!
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Yesterday my copy of SolidWorks Surfacing by Matt Lombard arrived in the mail from Amazon! My boy likes all the colored images in the book… and I like the colored images in the book. We discussed boundary surface and debated lofting conditions.
From first glance, this book is full of insight that will get you up to speed fast on terminology and how surfacing works inside SolidWorks. I really like the sections on Using Specialized Techniques and Matt goes into the process of setting up the model, or rather, what to consider and the important information needed to start a more complicated shape.
It also uses a lot of real world type examples. I see a plastic bottle that looks like something in my cabinet. Congrats to Matt for getting this out. Go buy it and learn something today!
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I’ve meet a lot of people and a lot of SolidWorks users
I’ve found new CAD related and SolidWorks Blogs (see below)
It’s pretty amazing when you can talk with someone you’ve never meet and suddenly feel like you know them.
I’ve been able to hear about someone as they travel from the US to Israel, here about a photomob develop at Google’s web2.0 booth, see people discussing SolidWork tips, and get invites to closed betas - Pretty cool stuff. You just don’t realize the relationships that can develop out there either. I’m hoping to meet a lot of people I’ve had conversations with since being on.
Additionally, it becoming a resource. I’ve just started tagging all SolidWorks tips I give out and there’s plenty of talk about news that’s happening.
So, if you’re interested, follow me @solidsmack. Say hi, tell me where you’re from and if you like .
Tools that make Twitter more fun Twhirl - Twitter Client Tweetscan - real-time twitter search Twitterholic - Twitters Top 100 HashTags - Tag your Tweets Summize.com - Search conversations
Blogs I’ve found through Twitter: Clinging to Ideas - Brian Slick makes the transition from I-DEAS to SolidWorks. TheSwGeek - Alex Ruiz geeks out bigtime. Schmalls - Josh Thomson puts the hook on SolidWorks and Programming Chris Kelly - yeah, he’s Siemens PLM nut but also very nice
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Sometimes it takes a little while to get a blog post up. Franco Folini from the NovEdge Blog last posted on December 17th, 2007. Ya see, he’s been busy… creating THE MOTHER OF ALL CAD DIRECTORIES
… IN THE WORLD!
I’m sure he’s tired, passed out on the floor, waiting for you to tell him to stop groveling and get back to postin’ the interviews with interesting people. I hope he does also and throws in some other posts with his own opinions about this craziness.
While you’re waiting though, check out the new NovEdge Pulse, you’ll be able to put some faces to the names and blogs. These are the one’s I read that had photos associated with them… yes I listed mine first. Oh, and don’t worry, I’m actually not that pensive looking in real life… I was concerned about some children being tortured by a squirrel in a nearby tree.
UPDATE: Franco was instantly inspired by this post and created a page that has photos of ALL the bloggers. Check out the Blogger Directory.
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For ya’ll that like to make your models look like the real deal, there’s a (soon-to-be available) new book for you to cozy up with.
Rob Rodriguez and Jim Boland have joined together to expand the PhotoWorks step-by-step series with the 2008 PhotoWorks Step-by-Step Self-Study Guide. If you’re familiar with Rob’s talent, you know it will contain everything to get you from plain model to photo-realistic bliss in beautiful, easy to understand steps.
Keep an eye out for the book and in the mean time check out the table of contents and definitely subscribe to Rob’s blog! He’ll be going over and expanding on topics in the book. Here’s some items you’ll be able to create.
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If you’re wondering why the presentations to SolidWorks World 2008 haven’t been made available to the public, here’s the answer… I have no freakin’ idea.
But, you can download them all now and you don’t need top double secret access. Matt Lombard has put all 1.3GB on his site, so time to get a drink from the fire hose.
Oh, instead of crashing his server, maybe have one guy take the day and download them all. There’s a bunch.
UPDATE: Right now some of the post are still up, but SolidWorks did request that he remove the link. My opinion is that SolidWorks totally missed a chance to capitalize on providing content for the users. They could have easily gained access to a focused group of SolidWorks users by making the content available immediately after the conference and could have provided even more incentive to go to future events.
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This could also be called “Why Engineers Should Not Have Cats.”
I’m sure this will help someone and also disturb others. I’m sorry, I just can’t stand cats. It’s not so much the cat though. It’s more the giant whelps I get when scratched and the incessant amount of hair that spills out of their bodies. Hairless, clawless cats would be fine. I would also suggest to the guys that it may help you get a girlfriend, as long as she doesn’t swell up from cat scratches.
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If you are thinking about upgrading to Microsoft Windows Vista or think that SolidWorks will not run well on Vista or that everything in the world sucks because of Vista, you NEED to read Mike Puckett’s SolidWorks on Vista experience.
With Vista SP1 now available this makes the move to Vista even more important in you future hardware/software considerations. Now you can plan those summer upgrades with fewer worries.
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Oh, the joys of putting a product online. All you want to do is get it out there. But what is the best way to actually do that without searching and testing and paying way too much for something really frustrating to use? Well, you’re in luck.
I’ve been looking at online web stores and merchants that offer something different from Ebay, PayPal, Yahoo and other Open Source solutions. I’m not really pleased with the features, pricing and usability of those and want something a bit easier for me and others to handle.
After trying some out and going through a lot of reviews, I’ve come down to three options that have the best overall features and accessibility.
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I know how you feel. You’re out with the kids or on a hot date and you’re wondering how to maintain design intent and still get that profile extruded to that surface. Sad state of affairs my friend… until now.
The boys at Inspirtech SolidWorks Training just launch their web-based video course that will allow you to get your informational fix anywhere you can connect yourself to the webernet.
But that’s not all
They’ve also launched they’re Learning Management System (LMS). You can download the lesson files, get help from experts and take online test.
Companies and schools can now buy credits to training large masses of employees or students and track the students progress throughout the training process.
Oh, some more cool things
You can buy individual coursed for $12.95. That is stinkin’ cheap to gain the ability to school your friends. Of course, there’s the free samples as well.
Let them know
I haven’t taken SolidWorks course online before, but I can say I did learn some stuff from these. Tell them what you think. I already suggested they should do a 2007 training version as well and make some things easier.
Disclosure:I know Al who started Inspirtech and think his product fries the bacon. SolidSmack is also an affiliate. If it was rubbish I wouldn’t post nice things about them.
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
My brother, who is trying to shed the hooks of life on dry ground for a life at sea, shared this site with me. It’s a giant repository for details of old boat plans that includes everything from row boats to ski boats and even a few sail boats. Ah, to escape to the islands, or end up stranded with a boat I created from an old boat plan. Sweet.
by 
It’s new and shiny and doesn’t hurt, plus…
but also very nice
Sometimes it takes a little while to get a blog post up. Franco Folini from the 
For ya’ll that like to make your models look like the real deal, there’s a (soon-to-be available) new book for you to cozy up with.
If you’re wondering why the presentations to SolidWorks World 2008 haven’t been made available to the public, here’s the answer… I have no freakin’ idea.
If you are thinking about upgrading to Microsoft Windows Vista or think that SolidWorks will not run well on Vista or that everything in the world sucks because of Vista, you NEED to read 
Oh, the joys of putting a product online. All you want to do is get it out there. But what is the best way to actually do that without searching and testing and paying way too much for something really frustrating to use? Well, you’re in luck.
I know how you feel. You’re out with the kids or on a hot date and you’re wondering how to maintain design intent and still get that profile extruded to that surface. Sad state of affairs my friend… until now.
