In working with several customers and preparing for my webcast on SolidWorks for Aerospace Component Manufacturers (watch recording here), I realized how powerful the new DXF/DWG output capabilities in SolidWorks 2010 were. Simply put, a manufacturing engineer can output a DXF file from a SolidWorks model without the need to make a detail drawing. This is handy if you are going to the waterjet, flamecutter or laser with a 2D profile. In this article, I plan on showing you methods for exporting to DXF when you have different manufacturing scenarios.
The first scenario is a part that needs to be flamecut or laser cut and does not need to be bent on a press. Step 1: Right click on the face you wish to create 2D DXF output for and choose “Export to DXF/DWG”, choose a filename. Step 2: Modify the options so that the origin is in the right place for the laser software if you wish and choose “OK”. Step 3: Preview the DXF output image. You may remove unwanted geometry, such as fillet radii or hidden lines and choose “Save”.
In my next blog entry I will show you how to export Sheet Metal parts that need to be bent.
SolidWorks provides ways for you to get your assembly models to talk. You don’t even need to bring in 
You will note it spills it’s guts relating to top level components, mates being solved, ect…
We conducted an exciting webinar last week showing techniques for using SolidWorks in furniture design. SolidWorks can be applied to the furniture industry or to any industry using wood products. Highlights of this webinar include using SolidWorks standard features for building up wooden frames, using Library Features for wood joining methods and the use of Smart Components for mechanically fastening furniture. Once a standard design is completed, SolidWorks’ parametric capabilities can help you create similar designs very quickly. After attending the webinar users will be provided a link to download a special furniture design library. To view a recording of the webinar’s main topics, go to: 
In SolidWorks 2010, there is a new option relating to creating new in-context components in an assembly that may reduce the blood pressure of many SolidWorks users. The new option is “Save new components to external files”. If selected, SolidWorks prompts you to name and save new in-context components to external files, like it used to prior to SolidWorks 2008. If cleared, saves new in-context components in the assembly file as virtual components. I can go on and on about Virtual components and how useful they are, but I will save that for another post.
In working with one of my clients today, I discovered a hidden gem within SolidWorks Flow Simulation CFD software. My client asked me if we could walk around the model and probe temperatures at certain locations, like you can in SolidWorks Simulation FEA software. The answer is yes. But the tool is well hidden. 
Each year, SolidWorks asks you to vote on the top ten enhancements you would like to see in a future release of the software. They introduced a new Brainstorm tool for SolidWorks World 2009, and they have brought it back for 2010. It lets you submit your favorite enhancement ideas, and allows other SolidWorks users to vote on what they think is the most important. After the voting is complete, the top ten list will be unveiled at SolidWorks World, the biggest SolidWorks event of the year. I made sure to add my favorite enhancement relating to Flow Simulation. Log on and check it out at 
In my webcast today on Event-Based Simulation I showed how SolidWorks revolutionizes the way controls and CAD modeling work together. This approach allows you to directly integrate your models with the behaviors you desire, bringing mechanical and electrical design to the forefront while maintaining machine controls flexibility. EBS accomplishes this in a novel way: instead of defining specific times for events, you can start and stop each event in relation to one another. This translates into major savings. Companies can make and modify products in simulation rather than after manufacturing and can avoid a costly rework of the design process.
I just ran a webinar that shows how BOM’s created in SolidWorks CAD software are passed intact to EPDM, reducing rework. “Named” BOMs, which can be used beyond the engineering organization, are now associated with the SolidWorks assembly. This means that if a designer changes a part, the BOM is automatically updated. In addition, named BOMs can now be automatically exported to XML format for fast and accurate data transfer to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. For more info on EPDM, watch our recorded webinar at 
Have you ever wanted to to change the orientation of a view in a drawing after you have inserted a view? There is a little know function that allows a user to rotate / pan or zoom in a model view in a drawing. Typically one can use this function to add a dimension to a hidden feature. When you choose the OK button, it then reverts back to the original view position. However, if you want to save the view’s rotated state, use our old friend the space bar to invoke the old school view dialog box. Here, you can save the view orientation, choose the OK check mark and then change the view from the current view to the new view that you just saved. Cool huh? 
