How much it really costs: Anywhere from about $200 all the way past $500,000, depending on technology, build volume, materials, and support.

Vendor list prices move often — new packages, promotions, and product generations. Every figure below is a starting-at list price, not a locked quote. Confirm current pricing with Hawk Ridge Systems before you budget.

Ballpark starting ranges:

• Hobby / consumer desktop: starting at ~$200, typically $200–$3,000 (capable enclosed and multi-material machines now sit at the top of this band)
• Professional desktop: starting at ~$3,000–$25,000
• Benchtop production: starting at ~$20,000–$70,000
• Industrial and metal: starting at ~$45,000 and commonly $100,000–$500,000+ once wash, sinter, and post-processing cells are included

Most engineering and manufacturing teams buy in the professional desktop and benchtop production tiers — typically starting around $5,000–$25,000 for daily-use SLA or composite FDM, and starting around $20,000–$70,000 for enclosed production composites or benchtop SLS packages.

This guide covers starting-at 2026 prices by category for printers in the Hawk Ridge Systems portfolio. We cover what drives the differences in pricing and how our application engineers build a cost-per-part and ROI model before making a recommendation.

What Actually Drives 3D Printer Cost?

Four factors explain almost every gap between a few-hundred-dollar printer and a few-hundred-thousand-dollar cell:

1. Technology. Filament extrusion (FDM/FFF) is the cheapest to build; resin (SLA/DLP) adds optical systems; powder bed fusion (SLS) adds lasers plus precise thermal control; metal systems add wash and sinter stations — that engineering is what you’re paying for as you move up the tiers.
2. Build volume. Bigger chambers cost disproportionately more because thermal uniformity gets harder as volume grows.
3. Materials capability. A printer that only runs PLA is cheap. A printer certified for flame-retardant, ESD-safe, or aerospace lot-traceable materials (like Markforged Onyx FR-A) carries hardware and qualification costs to match.
4. Software, service, and quality systems. Industrial machines include build-management software, fleet monitoring, in-process inspection (for example, laser micrometers on Markforged industrial units), and support contracts. Desktop hobby machines mostly don’t.

Desktop Printers (starting at ~$200–$3,000): What You Get and Give Up

We’ll be honest: Hawk Ridge Systems doesn’t sell in this consumer tier, and for a hobbyist or a first prototype, a sub-$1,500 desktop FDM printer is still a genuine good buy. Modern consumer machines print PLA and PETG reliably and are the right way to learn the technology.

That ceiling has moved. High-speed enclosed consumer platforms — multi-material combos, larger beds, optional laser or cutting modules — now run well past $1,500 and into the low-to-mid $2,000s. They remain consumer products: community support, limited engineering-material certification, and no industrial service contract.

What you give up versus a professional machine is repeatability, qualified materials range, and support. Expect open-loop or lightly closed process control, limited engineering materials (nylon and composites are difficult without enclosed chambers and hardened drive systems), no dimensional inspection, and forum-level support. For a business, the hidden cost is operator time spent babysitting prints — which is exactly the line item the ROI math below will expose.

Professional Printers (starting at ~$3,000–$25,000): Real Numbers

This is the tier where most engineering teams buy, and where we can point to current starting-at list prices on the Hawk Ridge store. Packages (wash/cure stations, extra build platforms, service plans) move the number more than the printer SKU itself.

• Formlabs Form 4 Complete Package — starting at about $5,600. The Form 4 printer itself starts lower (basic packages typically start around $2,600–$3,500). SLA resin printing with fine detail and smooth surface finish; many jobs finish in about two hours. Standard 1L engineering resins start around $80–$150 (see Formlabs Grey V5).

• Markforged Onyx Pro — starting at $8,990. Prints Onyx (chopped-carbon-fiber nylon) plus continuous fiberglass reinforcement.

• Markforged Mark Two — starting at $15,990. Adds continuous carbon fiber, Kevlar®, and HSHT fiberglass — the desktop machine that replaces machined aluminum parts for many fixtures.

• Formlabs Form 4L — starting around $7,000 for a basic large-format package (printer, tank, mixer, build platform, and finish kit); complete wash/cure packages typically start around $20,000 (Complete package includes Form Wash L, Form Cure L, resin pump, flex platform, service plan). Large-format SLA.

• Formlabs Fuse 1+ 30W Complete Package — starting at $24,649. Benchtop SLS (nylon powder, no support structures). Complete cells that add the Fuse Sift powder-recovery station and blast/polish equipment run substantially higher (~$57,000).

Factor in Material Costs Too

Consumables are a real line item at this tier. Treat these as starting-at figures that move with spool size and formulation:

• Markforged Onyx — starting at about $190 per 800cc spool
• Continuous carbon fiber — starting at about $450 per 150cc spool
• Formlabs Nylon 11 CF powder — starting at about $999 per unit

Budget materials as part of the purchase decision, not an afterthought.

Production and Industrial Systems (starting at ~$45,000–$500,000+)

Production platforms — Markforged FX10 / FX20 and Metal X cells, Stratasys SLA / P3 / SAF systems — are priced as capital equipment and quoted per configuration. Published starting points, when available, sit in the mid-to-high five figures; a complete metal print-wash-sinter cell commonly starts well into six figures once Wash-1, Sinter-1/2, and installation are included. Origin Two and other P3 configurations are quote-only.

• Markforged X3 / Markforged X7 — starting at $44,990 / $64,990. Industrial composite platforms with larger build volume, laser micrometer bed scanning, and (X7) in-process laser inspection.

What matters at this tier is what’s included, because it changes the real cost substantially:

• Installation and facilities planning. Powder systems need ventilation, compressed air for bead blasting, and Class II Div 2 vacuums.
• Training. Larger Markforged systems such as the FX20 and Metal X include onsite and online operator training with purchase, plus Markforged University self-paced courses under the Digital Forge support package.
• Support and spare parts. Industrial support plans cover break-fix parts and dedicated support teams — downtime is the most expensive consumable in production printing.
• Post-processing equipment. Depowdering and vapor-smoothing stations (AMT, DyeMansion) are often required for production-quality output and should be in the budget from day one.

The Real Math: Total Cost of Ownership and Cost per Part

Sticker price is the wrong number to optimize. Here’s the two-phase analysis straight out of our 3D Printer Buyer’s Guide, the same one our application engineers run with customers:

Phase 1 — variable cost: materials and consumables only.

Variable cost per part = material used × material price + consumables share

If that number beats your current per-part cost, move to phase 2.

Phase 2 — fixed cost: amortize hardware and operating costs over a defined period (typically five years) and load them into the part cost:

True cost per part = variable cost + (hardware + service + labor, amortized over 5 years) ÷ parts produced

Then add the two factors most spreadsheets miss: production speed (how many more parts, and how many weeks of lead time disappear when parts are made in-house?) and labor (can technicians stop babysitting outsourced orders and do higher-value work?).

Real examples from our webinars: a bracket that cost roughly $5 to print in-house was quoted at $20–$22 through a service bureau; a stamping fixture printed for about $15 versus roughly 10× that (and nearly 10× the hours) machined. On a bigger structural part, a CNC quote at a two-day turnaround came in around $600, versus roughly $500 for the same part printed in carbon-fiber-reinforced Onyx — and about half the CNC cost in fiberglass-reinforced Onyx.

Want the guided version? Use our 3D Printing ROI Calculator, or download the full 3D Printer Buyer’s Guide for the complete worksheet.

Buy vs. Outsource: A Break-Even Framework

The rule of thumb from the bureau-vs-print examples above: when the per-part delta is 3–4× and you print weekly, the machine typically stops being an expense and starts being a cost reduction. Run your actual parts through the ROI calculator together with printing-as-a-service quotes before deciding.

FAQ

How Much Does a 3D Printer Cost for a Small Business?

Most small engineering and manufacturing teams spend in a band starting around $5,000–$25,000. That covers professional SLA (Formlabs Form 4 Complete Package, starting at about $5,600), composite FDM with continuous fiber (Markforged Onyx Pro starting at $8,990 to Mark Two starting at $15,990), or benchtop SLS (Fuse 1+ 30W package, starting around $25,000) — machines built for daily, repeatable use with real support.

What Is the Cheapest Metal 3D Printer?

Metal FFF systems like the Markforged Metal X are the most accessible entry into metal printing — office-friendly, minimal PPE, using a print-wash-sinter workflow instead of loose metal powder and lasers. Full cells (printer + wash + sinter) are quote-only and typically start well into six figures once installation is included. Full powder-bed metal systems typically cost several times more.

How Much Does It Cost to Run a 3D Printer per Hour?

It depends on material throughput more than electricity. As starting-at reference points, Markforged Onyx is about $190 per 800cc spool and continuous carbon fiber is about $450 per 150cc spool; a typical bracket consumes a few dollars to tens of dollars of material. Electricity is usually a small fraction of that. Ask an application engineer to model $/hour from your actual part files — published hourly rates go stale as fast as list prices.

Are Cheap 3D Printers Worth It?

For learning, hobby projects, and rough concept models — absolutely. For business use, the sticker price is misleading: operator time, failed prints, limited materials, and no service contract usually cost more than the price gap to a professional machine within the first year of regular use.

Do 3D Printer Prices Include Software?

Usually at the professional tier and above. Formlabs PreForm is free with Formlabs printers, and Markforged’s cloud Eiger software is included. Fleet management, offline/secure deployments, and in-process inspection add-ons may be licensed separately.

Ready to see the math on your parts? Contact Hawk Ridge Systems and our application engineers will run a cost-per-part and ROI analysis with your actual part files — or start by comparing technologies in our SLA vs. SLS breakdown.

Related Resources

More from Hawk Ridge Systems to help you scope, cost, and choose a 3D printer:

• How to Choose the Perfect 3D Printer in 3 Easy Steps — walks through pinpointing target applications, weighing filament vs. resin vs. powder, and setting ROI metrics before you buy.
• 3D Printing Cost Advantages Guide — downloadable guide to where additive actually saves money: prototyping, manufacturing aids, and end-use parts.
• How to Determine ROI With 3D Printing Equipment — a nine-step framework with break-even formulas and a worked $250K example for building the business case.
• 3D Printing & Scanning Financing Options — zero-down terms with 12 months of no payments, then the choice to pay monthly, buy out, or refinance.
• The 3 Best Production 3D Printers for Industrial Equipment — compares production platforms against the jigs, tooling, and spare parts each is built for.
• Getting Started With Industrial 3D Printers — what FFF, SLA, and SLS each demand in power, ventilation, software, and routine maintenance before the first print.
• Metal 3D Printing Reinvented: Turn Hype Into Value — how Metal FFF makes functional metal parts accessible for prototypes, custom tooling, and complex geometries.
• Markforged Metal X — specs for the office-friendly print-wash-sinter workflow, including metal materials and multi-day cycle times.
• Additive Manufacturing Post-Processing — washing, curing, depowdering, and automated vapor smoothing: the equipment budget beyond the printer itself.
• Farason Corporation: Custom Mechanical Gripper (Markforged) — a custom end-of-arm gripper printed in continuous carbon fiber on a Markforged X7.
• Brose: End-Use Car Parts on Formlabs SLS — a Tier 1 auto supplier brought a Fuse 1 in-house to make end-use car parts.
• Formlabs 3D Printers — browse the SLA and SLS lineup plus Fuse Blast post-processing.
• Stratasys 3D Printers — production-grade polymer systems by use case: SAF, full-color PolyJet, large-format Neo SLA, and P3 DLP.
• Markforged Printer Buyer’s Guide — gated guide comparing desktop and industrial Markforged models.

The post How Much Does a 3D Printer Cost? 2026 Price Guide appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

Forgeline Motorsports runs finite element analysis on every wheel they design. By taking a deliberately practical approach — simulating only the critical load case, using a remote load instead of extra geometry, and letting user time win over solve time — they went from wheel designs commonly failing physical tests to roughly one physical-test failure in a decade, while cutting physical testing spend from an estimated $250,000–$500,000 per year down to about $10,000 per year.

Rather watch the full presentation? Hawk Ridge Systems Product Manager Terrence Woo demos Forgeline’s workflow in the webinar here: Accelerating the Wheel Design Process: A SOLIDWORKS Simulation Case Study.

Real World Return on Investment for Simulation Software

All figures above are stated in the webinar by the presenter, drawn from Forgeline’s own experience.

How Forgeline Motorsports Uses SOLIDWORKS Simulation

Forgeline is an Ohio-based maker of forged, made-to-order performance wheels — every wheel built to the exact size, offset, and finish the customer specifies, appearing on high-profile cars like the Glickenhaus and others. Forged wheels give a better strength-to-weight ratio than cast, and Forgeline has used FEA for more than ten years to push wheels stronger and lighter at once.

Wheels have to survive three standardized physical tests:

• an impact test (curb-strike energy)
• a radial fatigue test
• and an eccentric-mass cornering fatigue test

The insight that makes Forgeline efficient: the cornering fatigue test is almost always the critical case. A wheel that passes cornering fatigue passes radial and impact too — so they only ever simulate the cornering case. That single decision removes two-thirds of the virtual test matrix.

Forgeline’s Simulation Workflow

The example wheel was the one-piece monoblock NW104 in 6061-T6 aluminum. Here is how Forgeline sets up the study in SOLIDWORKS Simulation:

• Material — 6061-T6 (already defined in the model, so it carries over with no changes.)
• Fixture — the outer rim is fixed, exactly as in the physical cornering-fatigue rig.
• Load — the real test applies the load to a hub 12 inches off the mounting face. Rather than modeling a 12-inch hub (and wasting solve time computing stresses in test equipment they do not care about), Forgeline uses a remote load at a coordinate system on the mounting face — 2,900 lb, one foot out. It is faster to set up and faster to solve. We cover this feature in detail in How to Apply a Remote Load in SOLIDWORKS Simulation.
• Mesh — the blended curvature-based mesher (the default) gives an efficient mesh with least effort. Notably, Forgeline skips local mesh control. Todd Larew found that hand-selecting fillet faces took ~5 minutes to save only ~40–50 seconds of solve time — so he uses a global mesh, walks away for coffee, and saves his time instead. (On other geometries local control pays off; know the difference — see curvature-based vs. standard mesher.)
• Static result — peak stress came in around 24 ksi, well below yield, with realistic deflection matching the test video.
• Fatigue study — the wheel must survive 200,000 cycles. Instead of hand calcs or spreadsheets (how they used to do it), the SOLIDWORKS Simulation fatigue study uses a stress-life (S-N) approach referencing the static study. Result: about 64% of material life used at 200,000 cycles — comfortable headroom to pass.

The Bigger Lesson: Be Practical, Not Perfect

The recurring theme is that a good simulation model is the one that gets you an actionable answer fastest — not the textbook-optimal one. Forgeline’s practical playbook:

• Simulate only the critical case (cornering fatigue), not all three tests.
• Use a remote load instead of extra hub geometry.
• Use a global mesh when local control does not pay for itself.
• Use built-in fatigue studies rather than spreadsheets.
• Use parametric optimization on a few key variables — not topology optimization, which produces shapes that clash with the aesthetic constraints wheel design demands.

On that last point: the parametric optimization example held peak stress just under 24 ksi while minimizing mass, and found that changing a fillet from 0.5 in to 0.585 in improved strength while adding only about 0.01 lb. Note too that each wheel size and offset is effectively a different wheel — an 18-inch is not simply a scaled 19-inch, since bolt features stay the same size — so Forgeline runs simulations across every size and offset they produce. For more on driving designs this way, see Driving Design with SOLIDWORKS Simulation. 

Apply Their Best Practices to Your Own Simulation Study

You do not have to make wheels to benefit. The practical mindset — simulate the case that drives the design, avoid modeling what you do not care about, and let the software’s fatigue and optimization tools replace manual calculation — applies to almost any structural component. If you are weighing which package fits, our SOLIDWORKS Simulation buyer’s guide and instructor-led Simulation training are good next steps, and our engineers are always happy to talk through your specific application.

FAQ

Why does Forgeline only simulate the cornering fatigue test?

Their wheels must pass impact, radial fatigue, and cornering fatigue physical tests. Experience showed the eccentric-mass cornering fatigue test is almost always the critical case — a wheel that passes it also passes the other two. Simulating only that case removes redundant analysis while still guaranteeing all three tests are met.

What is a remote load and why use it here?

A remote load applies force at a point offset from the model without modeling the intervening geometry. Forgeline applies 2,900 lb twelve inches off the mounting face to represent the test hub, rather than modeling a 12-inch hub. It sets up faster and skips solving stresses in test equipment they do not need results for.

Why skip local mesh controls?

Local mesh refinement improves accuracy only where stress and deformation are high. On Forgeline’s wheels, hand-selecting fillet faces took about five minutes to save only 40–50 seconds of solve time. Using a slightly over-refined global mesh costs a little computer time but saves the engineer’s time.

How much did simulation save Forgeline?

We estimated physical testing would run roughly $250,000–$500,000 per year without simulation (2–3 wheel designs per week at about $1,250 per wheel test, often needing 2–3 iterations). With simulation, current physical testing spend is about $10,000 per year, plus far fewer failures — around one in the past ten years.

The post Accelerating Wheel Design with SOLIDWORKS Simulation: A Forgeline Case Study appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

Product data management (PDM) is the foundation of engineering data management: it gives engineering teams one secure, version-controlled vault for every CAD file, drawing, and document — so there is always one correct copy, a full revision history, and controlled access. It helps mitigate the shared-network-drive habits that cause overwritten work, incorrect versions on the shop floor, broken references, and time lost.

You may already have PDM. SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard is included with SOLIDWORKS Professional, Premium, and Ultimate licenses, so many teams already own an entry point at no additional software cost. They just aren’t using it. Why?

Product data management (PDM) is a system that stores your engineering files in a secure, version-controlled vault — so every CAD model, drawing, and related document has one correct copy, a complete revision history, and controlled access for everyone who needs it. In short, PDM is the foundation of engineering data management for any CAD-driven team.

Think of it as a library system for engineering data: files are checked out, worked on by one person at a time, checked back in, and every change is recorded. If you’ve ever lost an afternoon to a file named bracket_final_v2_FINAL(3).sldprt, PDM is the fix.

Two things PDM is not:

• It’s not just a shared folder. It’s an actual controlled system with robust permissions administration that prevents some of the most common disasters. For example, two engineers saving over each other’s work or building from last month’s revision when there is a more recent one.
• It’s not full PLM. PDM manages your design files and the processes around them. Product lifecycle management (PLM) extends beyond engineering into projects, non-CAD items, and company-wide processes.

See our PDM vs. PLM comparison in the Data Solutions Buyer’s Guide for where the line sits.

The Problem PDM Solves

Most teams don’t start with PDM. Their engineering data management starts as a shared network drive, and it works — until it doesn’t. The failure modes are predictable — we see them often:

• Overwritten work. Two engineers open the same assembly, both make changes, only one version gets saved, and it is probably missing the other person’s important work.
• Wrong revisions in manufacturing. Someone on the shop floor browses to the wrong folder, pulls an outdated drawing, and you’re scrapping parts.
• Broken references. A well-meaning colleague renames or moves a part, and every assembly that uses it opens with errors.
• Duplicate files. Several copies of the same bolt scattered across project folders, each named by a different person’s convention.
• Time lost searching. The average engineer spends 10–20% of their time just looking for data. Independent research from Tech-Clarity puts total non-value-added data work at roughly a third of engineering time — searching for information, getting data for other people, and incorporating changes from others top the list.

That last point is where the money is. Using a conservative $50/hour burden rate, a third of an engineer’s year is roughly $32,000. Multiply across a ten-person team and you’re over $300,000 and 6,000 hours annually spent on work that doesn’t move a single design forward.

What a PDM System Actually Does

Vaulting

All files live in a secure, server-based vault — hosted on-premises or in the cloud (we run many customer vaults on AWS EC2 and Microsoft Azure). Users interact with it through a familiar interface; in SOLIDWORKS PDM‘s case, it’s Windows Explorer itself. If you can save it in Windows, the vault can manage it — SOLIDWORKS files, other CAD formats, and 200+ file types natively, from Word documents to emails.

Automated Version Control

Files are checked out to work on and checked in when done. Only one person can save changes at a time, and every check-in captures a version you can return to later. The full history — who changed what, when, and why — is retained automatically.

Workflows

Files move through states you define: under editing, waiting for approval, released. Workflow transitions trigger notifications, stamp revisions, and can automatically generate PDFs or STEP files on release. This is how you guarantee the shop floor only ever sees released data.

Permissions

User- and group-level access controls who can view, edit, and approve which files. Roughly a third of PDM users at our customers aren’t engineers — sales pulling an eDrawings preview for a customer, purchasing exporting a parts list — all working from controlled, read-only copies of the correct data.

Search and BOM Management

Search goes far beyond file names: part number, description, project, customer, or any property you put on a data card. Bills of materials are tracked automatically from your CAD references — quantities update when the assembly does, and you can compare versions to see exactly what changed between revisions.

How PDM Compares to Shared Drives, Cloud Storage, and PLM

The same four options, side by side:

ECO = engineering change order · CAPA = corrective and preventive action · NPI = new product introduction

At a glance:

Version control — Shared network drive: manual, tracked through file naming. Cloud storage (Dropbox/OneDrive): file-level history, no CAD awareness. PDM: full check-in / check-out with an audit trail. PLM: full, inherited from PDM.

CAD reference handling — Shared network drive: breaks on move or rename. Cloud storage (Dropbox/OneDrive): breaks on move or rename. PDM: references maintained automatically. PLM: references maintained automatically.

Workflows & approvals — Shared network drive: none. Cloud storage (Dropbox/OneDrive): none. PDM: configurable release workflows. PLM: cross-department processes (ECO, CAPA, NPI).

Who it serves — Shared network drive: whoever has the drive mapped. Cloud storage (Dropbox/OneDrive): small file-sharing needs. PDM: engineering plus adjacent departments. PLM: the entire organization, cradle to end-of-life.

Best for — Shared network drive: nothing CAD-related, honestly. Cloud storage (Dropbox/OneDrive): documents, not design data. PDM: teams of ~5 to hundreds of CAD users. PLM: companies managing processes and projects beyond files.

7 Signs Your Team Needs PDM Now

• You’ve shipped or scrapped parts made from the wrong revision at least once.
• More than one person has lost work to a save conflict in the past quarter.
• Finding the right file routinely takes longer than five minutes.
• Assemblies open with broken references after someone reorganizes folders.
• You maintain revision history through file-naming conventions — and people don’t follow them.
• People outside engineering email you asking for “the latest drawing.”
• An engineer leaving the company means a scavenger hunt through their local drive.

If three or more of these sound familiar, you’re paying for PDM already — you’re just not getting it.

Not sure whether you already own PDM Standard? Talk to us — we’ll check your license and show you what it unlocks.

What PDM Costs and Typical ROI

Honest answer: it depends on the tier and team size. For the most accurate price, reach out to your rep at Hawk Ridge Systems or contact us and we’ll get you in touch with the right person.

A few things are firm:

• PDM Standard is included with SOLIDWORKS Professional, Premium, and Ultimate licenses, so many teams already own an entry point at no additional software cost.
• PDM Professional adds unlimited workflows, automation, replication, and API access. It’s sold in three license types:
  • 1. Viewer (read-only access to the vault)
  • 2. Contributor & Web (edit files and data, plus a Microsoft Office add-in)
  • 3. CAD Editor & Web (adds the CAD add-in so users work with PDM inside SOLIDWORKS).

  Licenses are global and floating rather than tied to named users.

• Training is a known, published cost. The Administering SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard course is $995 per seat and the Administering SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional course is $1,495 per seat. These admin courses are recommended for 1-2 users who will administer the back end of the system.

The ROI side is better documented. The average engineer spends 10–20% of their time searching for data; PDM typically cuts that in half. On implementation timelines: we can get a vault installed and running in a couple of days, but plan on a month or two of configuration, user-acceptance testing, and training before production. Admin training for PDM Professional takes four half-day sessions; end-user training takes one.

PDM Professional scales the same way whether you’re one site or many. A typical deployment puts a SQL database and archive server behind your firewall, serving LAN, WAN, and web clients:

For distributed teams, archive servers replicate across sites, and the vault can be hosted on-premises or in the cloud (we run many customer vaults on AWS EC2 and Microsoft Azure):

For a deeper cost-justification framework, see How to Justify Your Data Management Investment, and grab the full Data Solutions Buyer’s Guide for a side-by-side of every option.

FAQ

What does PDM stand for?

PDM stands for product data management. It’s a category of software that stores engineering files and adjacent documentation in a controlled vault with version history, check-in/check-out, workflows, and permissions — ensuring everyone in the company works from the correct revision of every design file.

Is PDM the same as PLM?

No. PDM manages design files and their revisions within engineering. PLM builds on PDM and extends across the business — managing processes like engineering change orders, projects, non-CAD items, and BOMs for purchasing and manufacturing. Most companies start with PDM and add PLM capabilities as they grow.

Do small teams need PDM?

Yes, arguably more than large ones — a five-person team has no slack to absorb rework from an overwritten file. SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard is included with Professional, Premium, and Ultimate CAD licenses, so for many small teams the software cost is already covered.

How long does PDM take to implement?

The vault itself can be installed in days. Realistic time to production — including configuring workflows to match your processes, testing, and training — is one to two months for a typical deployment. Simpler PDM Standard rollouts can be live in a few weeks.

Does PDM only manage SOLIDWORKS files?

No. SOLIDWORKS PDM natively handles over 200 file formats, including other CAD systems’ files, Office documents, PDFs, images, and emails. If you can save it in Windows, the vault can manage, version, and search it.

Is there a cloud version of PDM?

Yes — with an important distinction. You can host SOLIDWORKS PDM, the file-based system described here, on cloud infrastructure such as AWS or Azure; this keeps PDM’s workflows and CAD-reference handling while moving the servers off-premises. Separately, Dassault Systèmes offers 3DEXPERIENCE Cloud PDM, a cloud-native platform where data lives on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform rather than in a local vault — better suited to distributed teams that want browser access and minimal IT overhead. Which one fits depends on how much customization and local control you need versus cloud-native collaboration.

Ready to make the move? Talk to us about data management — we’ll scope PDM to your team and show it live. Still comparing options? Start with our Data Solutions Buyer’s Guide.

The post What Is PDM? A Practical Guide to Product Data Management appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

The post The 7 Best Ways to Help Automate Your SOLIDWORKS Designs appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

The post 6 Ways Private SOLIDWORKS Training at Hawk Ridge Systems Pays Off for Your Team appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

Jump to a Build

1. The Aztec Death Whistle That Terrified Our Office
2. Fully Functional 3D Printed Medieval Armor (Articulated Gauntlet Included)
3. The Fellowship’s Arsenal, Printed Life-Size
4. The Loaded D20 (Cheating at D&D with Mass Properties)
5. The Catapult We Simulated Like a Defense Contract
6. The Pneumatic Water Balloon Cannon
7. The Regulation Crab Gauge
8. The Pop-Up Camper Drill Bit
9. The Lightning Hook, Load-Tested to Extremes
10. The One-Piece Compliant Mechanism (Designed Twice, Validated Twice)
11. The 15-Minute Bookcase (Speed-Modeling as a Sport)

1. The Aztec Death Whistle That Terrified Our Office

Joe McDiarmid reverse-engineered the scream-machine of the Aztecs from internet cutaways, swept the air passages with SOLIDWORKS’ Circular Profile sweep, and 3D printed a whistle that mimics “the agonizing screams of captives.” For Halloween. For coworkers.

Why it made the list: As heard on the Joe Rogan Experience — one on-air death-whistle blast in January 2020 turned it into a viral legend, and Rogan is still spooked: he refused to blow one again on JRE #2369 with Ed Calderon.

Original post: Aztec Death Whistle Designed with Hawk Ridge Systems Solutions

• Year Created: 2018
• Nerd Factor: 8/10
• Software: SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD (Sweep with Circular Profile, Revolve, Convert to Mesh Body, Combine); STL exported to slicer; SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation flagged as a future step
• Difficulty: Beginner–Intermediate
• Area of Nerdom: Mesoamerican Acoustical Archaeology (Spooky Engineering)
• Practical Use: Office Halloween psychological warfare, or haunted-house sound design with zero speakers and one very brave volunteer.
• Optional Upgrade: Run the chambers through SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation and tune the scream’s pitch like a terrifying musical instrument.

2. Fully Functional 3D Printed Medieval Armor (Articulated Gauntlet Included)

Dayne McGuire-Lavallee printed working plate armor — including individually articulated gauntlet fingers.

Why it made the list: For everyone who ever paused a fantasy epic to ask “Could I actually make that?” — the answer turned out to be yes, one articulated finger at a time.

Original post: 3D Printing: Creating Fully Functional Medieval Armour Part 1 | Part 2: Creating the Gauntlet Fingers

• Year Created: 2017
• Nerd Factor: 9/10
• Software: SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD (multibody, top-down assembly, motion study, clearance verification, surfacing)
• Printer / Process: HP Multi Jet Fusion (powder-based) — printed as one piece, no assembly
• Key specs: 0.4 mm minimum clearance between moving features; 1.5–3 mm wall thickness
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Area of Nerdom: Renaissance-Faire Engineering (Arms & Armor Historiography)
• Practical Use: Ren-faire season, LARP weekends, or protecting your dice-rolling hand during heated tabletop disputes.
• Optional Upgrade: A full articulated suit — then a Cerakote metal finish so it clanks as convincingly as it looks.

3. The Fellowship’s Arsenal, Printed Life-Size

Michael Dymond — material scientist, Product Manager, and resident Dungeon Master at A3D Manufacturing — is printing the weapons of the Lord of the Rings Fellowship life-size at home: Gimli’s axe, Legolas’s bow, and more, in multiple pieces on the roughly 12-inch build plate of his Bambu Lab H2D, a consumer FDM printer popular with hobbyists and makers.

Why it made the list: The Fellowship’s arsenal is the founding text of nerd prop-making, and Middle-earth is booting back up — Peter Jackson and Andy Serkis’s The Hunt for Gollum hits theaters December 17, 2027. One does not simply buy Gimli’s axe.

Original post: Meet Michael Dymond: Material Scientist, Dungeon Master & Resident 3D Printing Nerd at A3D Manufacturing

• Year Created: 2026
• Nerd Factor: 10/10
• Printer / Process: Bambu Lab H2D FDM; weapons printed life-size in multiple pieces
• Build plate: Roughly 12-inch square (per source)
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Area of Nerdom: Middle-earth Armory Studies (Tolkien Prop Replication)
• Practical Use: Premiere-night costume duty for The Hunt for Gollum on December 17, 2027 — the queue outside the theater is a battlefield of its own.
• Optional Upgrade: Forge Andúril next in metal FFF, so the blade that was broken can literally be reforged.

4. The Loaded D20 (Cheating at D&D with Mass Properties)

Dayne McGuire-Lavallee modeled a D20 — the icosahedral heart of every D&D table — then tried to rig it, manipulating the center of mass in SOLIDWORKS and running motion studies to see if physics would let him roll a natural 20 on demand.

Why it made the list: With Stranger Things’ fifth and final season sending D&D popularity surging again and the live-action Forgotten Realms series now streaming on Netflix, a physics-rigged D20 is peak 2026 nerd content — and secretly a mass-properties masterclass.

Original post: SOLIDWORKS: Controlling the Roll

• Year Created: 2017
• Nerd Factor: 9/10
• Software: SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD (equations/global variables, surfacing, Design Study, Sensor, Motion Study)
• Key spec: Optimal weighting-plane offset 0.44 in
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Area of Nerdom: Applied Probability Manipulation (Tabletop Physics)
• Practical Use: When the DM calls for initiative and the campaign cannot survive another natural 1.
• Optional Upgrade: Rig a full seven-die set — each one biased toward a different number — and let motion simulation prove which friend to never trust.

5. The Catapult We Simulated Like a Defense Contract

A 3D printed catapult validated in SOLIDWORKS Simulation with projectile motion modeling including drag AND the Magnus effect, because “close enough” is not a thing here.

Why it made the list: The internet has spent a decade litigating “trebuchet vs. catapult” — we showed up to the meme war with drag coefficients and Magnus-effect data.

Original post: SOLIDWORKS Simulation: Validating the Strength of a 3D Printed Catapult

• Year Created: 2018
• Nerd Factor: 8/10
• Software: SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD + SOLIDWORKS Simulation (mesh convergence, design optimization study; custom material)
• Printer / Process: Markforged composite
• Material: Markforged Onyx
• Key specs: Cubic-foot design space; material volume ≤ 8 in³; flat-packed, no fasteners; stress kept under 50% of yield
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Area of Nerdom: Medieval Siege Ballistics (Competitive Projectile Science)
• Practical Use: Cross-cubicle snack logistics and settling the trebuchet-vs-catapult debate with data instead of memes.
• Optional Upgrade: A counterweight trebuchet conversion — partly for range, mostly to appease the internet.

6. The Pneumatic Water Balloon Cannon

Scott Woods engineered vertical water-balloon artillery: a 120 PSI pressure chamber that launches ten balloons skyward at once while his kids scatter beneath the incoming bomblets. He tells the story — launch video included — in his Ask an Engineer interview.

Why it made the list: Backyard-engineering videos built an entire YouTube genre — ours trades the glitter bomb for pneumatics and thirteen seconds of glorious slow-mo.

Original post: Ask an Engineer: Meet Scott Woods, Sr. Product Manager

• Year Created: 2025
• Nerd Factor: 7/10
• Software: SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD
• Printer / Process: Select custom components 3D printed and integrated into a SOLIDWORKS-designed 120 PSI pneumatic system — not a fully 3D printed build
• Key spec: 120 PSI chamber; 10 balloons per launch
• Difficulty: Advanced (pressure system — mind the safety factor)
• Area of Nerdom: Recreational Pneumatic Artillery (Backyard Ordnance Studies)
• Practical Use: Total company-picnic dominance on a 100°F August afternoon.
• Optional Upgrade: A rotating multi-balloon magazine for semi-automatic hydration delivery.

7. The Regulation Crab Gauge

Patrick James printed a legal crab-measuring gauge so he’d stop guessing which catches were keepers. Government compliance but make it crustacean.

Why it made the list: Deadliest Catch made crab regulations prime-time television — this is the rare 3D print whose job is keeping you legal with Fish & Wildlife.

Original post: Technology That Fits: Creating a Custom Crab Gauge With 3D Printing

• Year Created: 2020
• Nerd Factor: 6/10
• Software: SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD (reverse-engineered from a store-bought gauge; splines traced from a sketch picture)
• Printer / Process: Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), via a manufacturing service
• Material: Nylon 12
• Key specs: Feature resolution to 0.1 mm; legal sizes built in (CA red rock crab 4 in, Dungeness 5¾ in; CA + WA measurements)
• Difficulty: Beginner
• Area of Nerdom: Regulatory Crustacean Compliance (Maritime Rules Nerdery)
• Practical Use: Measuring keepers in one motion on a rocking boat while everyone else squints at a ruler.
• Optional Upgrade: Print it in buoyant filament so the gauge survives its inevitable trip overboard.

8. The Pop-Up Camper Drill Bit

Cameron Carson got tired of hand-cranking his camper roof, so he printed a custom Markforged drill attachment: Crank It Up: Creating a Custom Drill Bit.

Why it made the list: The #vanlife era runs on exactly this energy: why crank by hand for 90 seconds when you can engineer a custom tool that does it faster?

Original post: Crank It Up: Creating Custom Drill Bit With Markforged Technology

• Year Created: 2019
• Nerd Factor: 7/10
• Software: SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD + Markforged Eiger (plastic fit-check on a Mark X7)
• Printer / Process: Markforged Metal X (ADAM — print, wash/debind, sinter)
• Material: Stainless steel (fully sintered); plastic used for the initial fit-check
• Print time: ~65 hours from print to finished part, but almost entirely hands-off — the printing, washing, and sintering run mostly unattended (and can be batched)
• Key specs: Non-standard 7/8″ square crank receptacle; accepts a 3/8″ socket extension; overhangs kept ≤45° so no support material needed
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Area of Nerdom: Overlanding Gadget Engineering (#vanlife Optimization)
• Practical Use: Campsite setup in fading light while the next site over is still hand-cranking.
• Optional Upgrade: A torque-limiting clutch profile so an over-eager drill never strips the lift gears.

9. The Lightning Hook, Load-Tested to Extremes

Designed and validated with Markforged Simulation to genuinely punishing loads: Validating a 3D Printed Lightning Hook.

Why it made the list: Free Solo made “do you trust your gear?” a box-office question — this carbon-fiber print held roughly 650 pounds, a full person plus a generous margin of nerve.

Original post: Validating a 3D Printed Lightning Hook With Markforged Simulation

• Year Created: 2023
• Nerd Factor: 8/10
• Software: SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD + Markforged Eiger Simulation (cloud static analysis)
• Printer / Process: Markforged composite with continuous carbon fiber reinforcement
• Material: Onyx with continuous carbon fiber
• Key specs: Held ~650 lb / 890 N at a Factor of Safety of 3.22; 10 mm hole sized for 8 mm rope
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Area of Nerdom: Safety-Factor Maximalism (Extreme Load-Bearing Paranoia)
• Practical Use: Any rigging or hauling job where a failed hook means a genuinely terrible day.
• Optional Upgrade: Continuous carbon-fiber layup and a filmed 1,000-pound pull test for the skeptics.

10. The One-Piece Compliant Mechanism (Designed Twice, Validated Twice)

A single printed part that flexes like an assembly: Designing a 3D Printed Compliant Mechanism and Validating It with SOLIDWORKS Simulation.

Why it made the list: Compliant mechanisms went mainstream when Veritasium toured BYU’s lab — ours you can print and flex the same afternoon.

Original post: Designing a 3D Printed Compliant Mechanism With SOLIDWORKS | Validating a 3D Printed Compliant Mechanism Using SOLIDWORKS Simulation

• Year Created: 2022
• Nerd Factor: 9/10
• Software: SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD + SOLIDWORKS Simulation Premium (non-linear dynamic study)
• Printer / Process: Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), via A3D Manufacturing — printed as-assembled, no supports
• Material: Nylon 12 (48 MPa yield strength)
• Key specs: 0.5 mm clearance for printed-assembled parts; max von Mises stress 12.6 MPa; max actuation force 4.57 N (~1 lb)
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Area of Nerdom: Flexure Nerdery (Monolithic Mechanism Minimalism)
• Practical Use: A working gripper straight off the build plate — zero fasteners, zero assembly, zero excuses.
• Optional Upgrade: A compliant latch fatigue-validated in Simulation to survive 10,000 open-close cycles.

11. The 15-Minute Bookcase (Speed-Modeling as a Sport)

Furniture CAD against the clock: 15-Minute Bookcase: Top-Down Assembly Modeling.

Why it made the list: CAD speedmodeling is now an actual esport — TooTallToby’s 2026 Summer Open just crowned champions and World Championship registration is free and open, and Model Mania is the live-modeling showdown at the annual 3DEXPERIENCE World. Consider this our qualifying run.

Original post: SOLIDWORKS 15 Min. Bookcase: Top-Down Assembly Modeling Part 1

• Year Created: 2016
• Nerd Factor: 7/10
• Software: SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD (top-down assembly, master 3D sketch, global variables, configurations)
• Printer / Process: CAD-only exercise (not a 3D print — speed-modeling technique)
• Est. build time: 15 minutes modeling
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Area of Nerdom: Competitive CAD Athletics (Speedmodeling)
• Practical Use: When you promise custom furniture “by end of standup” — and as training for a TooTallToby qualifier.
• Optional Upgrade: Drive it with equations so one dimension change resizes the whole bookcase — then rematch the clock at sub-10 minutes.

More Tips From Our Engineers

Get our monthly newsletter with SOLIDWORKS tips, expert how-tos, exclusive events, and subscriber-only training deals — from the team engineers have trusted for 30+ years. Sign up for our newsletter →

FAQs

What software do you use to design 3D printing projects?

Most of these builds started in SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD for modeling, moved through SOLIDWORKS Simulation (or Markforged Simulation) for validation, then went to a 3D printer. It’s the same toolchain used for medical devices and rocket parts — just pointed at nerdier goals.

What are some fun 3D printing projects to make?

Popular picks from our engineers include an Aztec death whistle, articulated medieval gauntlets, life-size Lord of the Rings weapons, a physics-rigged D20, a pneumatic water-balloon cannon, and a carbon-fiber climbing hook. Difficulty ranges from a weekend print to a full simulation study.

What are the coolest SOLIDWORKS projects for beginners?

Start where the CAD is simple and the payoff is high: the regulation crab gauge and the 15-minute bookcase are approachable early on, while the D20 and compliant mechanism are great next steps once you’re comfortable with mass properties and simulation.

Can you actually 3D print functional medieval armor?

Yes. Our engineer printed working plate armor with individually articulated gauntlet fingers that flex and close like the real thing — one finger at a time.

Can you make a weighted or loaded D20?

In theory, yes — by shifting the center of mass toward one face. We modeled a D20 in SOLIDWORKS, used mass properties to bias it, and ran motion studies to test whether it favored a natural 20. (Results: for entertainment, not for your next campaign.)

How strong is a 3D printed carbon-fiber part?

Stronger than most people expect. Our carbon-fiber “lightning hook,” printed on a Markforged and validated in simulation, held roughly 650 pounds — a full person plus margin.

What is a compliant mechanism?

A single part that flexes and locks like a multi-piece assembly, with zero fasteners. We designed one in SOLIDWORKS, validated the flex in Simulation, and printed a working gripper straight off the build plate.

Trebuchet or catapult — which is better?

We settled the meme with data: a 3D printed catapult validated in SOLIDWORKS Simulation, modeling projectile motion including drag and the Magnus effect. (A counterweight-trebuchet rematch is on the list.)

What’s the best 3D printer for making props?

Depends on the goal. Large consumer FDM printers popular with hobbyists and makers — like the Bambu Lab H2D — are great for life-size props, while industrial printers such as Markforged handle carbon-fiber and metal parts when strength matters.

Do I need engineering experience to try these?

No — several started as curiosity projects. SOLIDWORKS training gets beginners “dangerous fast,” and simpler builds like the crab gauge or bookcase are approachable early on.

What is CAD speedmodeling?

A competitive sport where modelers race to build parts in CAD as fast as possible. Events like the TooTallToby World Championship draw serious contenders — our 15-minute bookcase was a qualifying-run flex.

Is an Aztec death whistle real, and can you 3D print one?

Yes on both. The Aztec death whistle is a real Mesoamerican instrument that produces a scream-like shriek. Our engineer reverse-engineered the internal air chambers from cutaway references, swept them in SOLIDWORKS, and 3D printed a working replica — the same design that went viral after airing on the Joe Rogan Experience.

Can 3D printed parts be used as real, functional tools?

Absolutely. Beyond props, our engineers have printed genuinely useful gear: a regulation crab gauge for measuring legal-size catches, a custom drill attachment that retires a pop-up camper’s hand-crank, and load-bearing hooks. The key is matching material and validation to the job.

How do you know a 3D printed part will hold up before you use it?

You simulate it first. Tools like SOLIDWORKS Simulation and Markforged Simulation predict stress, deformation, and failure points — so you can refine the design and confirm the safety factor before printing, not after something breaks.

The post The 11 Nerdiest (and Coolest) Things We Ever Built with SOLIDWORKS and 3D Printing appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

The post How to Automate Drawing Creation in SOLIDWORKS (2026 Guide) appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

Have you ever driven by a factory building with a tall chimney? If you have, you probably also have seen spiral fins or ribs wrapping around the outside of the industrial chimney. There’s a practical reason for those fins.

Let’s get into it!

We’ll take a closer look at these chimneys using SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation to see what purpose those spirals serve. We’ll use a transient analysis in SOLIDWORKS Flow to examine how air moves past a tall chimney over time: first without the fins, then with the fins.

Not only is this an experimental exercise, but also a valuable lesson on using (or not using) symmetry in a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study of chimneys and similar cylindrical structures.

Modeling Airflow Around a Smooth Cylinder

First, we create a smooth cylinder and subject it to a gentle breeze of 1 m/s. The simulation setup is relatively straightforward here: we use a transient external study.

The computational domain is simplified to a small slice of the cylinder in the axial direction, using periodicity conditions. This will allow us to examine the bulk of the flow effects away from the ends of the chimney in the middle section with less computational time.

In the study setup, the velocity of the air was recorded at every iteration, so we can then view an animation over time of the airflow around the cylinder (our chimney).

In Figure 2 below, we see the cylinder from the top, with air flowing from left to right. Blue areas represent lower air speeds, and red areas represent higher air speeds. Notice how the flow first builds until around 2.5 seconds, when an oscillation develops.

This oscillation is known as vortex shedding (or Kármán vortex street). It is often a concern in the design of chimneys, buildings, and older car antennas that stick up from the car rather than being integrated into the glass. Vortex shedding can typically occur on non-streamlined structures. The speed of the air (or fluid) that causes vortex shedding depends on the geometry of the structure, such as its shape or size.

The oscillating flow of air can cause the structure to sway, resonate, or even reach a dangerous loading condition.

How Spiral Fins or Helical Strakes Reduce Vortex Shedding

Next, we’ll explore the same airflow condition and test it on a cylinder with spiral fins around the outside. These spiral fins are called strakes.

Because the strake follows a helical path around the tower, the computational domain is modified to the height of the strake pitch. This way, one complete rotation of the strake is captured, and the periodic boundary condition can still be used.

In the same top-down view from earlier (Figure 5 below), the oscillations around the tower are significantly reduced in intensity. The strakes disrupt the airflow and redirect some of it up and down, axially along the tower rather than allowing it to shed laterally.

In addition to reducing the amplitude of oscillation, the strake can also change the frequency of the remaining oscillations to a more favorable value, for instance, away from the natural resonant frequency of the structure.

Can Too Much Symmetry Hide Vortex Shedding?

Based on the results so far, we now know the strakes’ function. It reduces oscillation intensity.

But another lesson can be learned here.

What if the first simulation on the smooth cylinder had been done with another symmetry condition?

Perhaps, in a well-intentioned move to save time, we run the study on just half the cylinder, turning the circular cross section into a half circle. After all, the flow condition and geometry are symmetrical.

Once we run the study, the flow would look completely different. The symmetry condition prevents vortex shedding from starting, and the airflow is stable compared to the previous studies.

My Final Thoughts

To conclude, this article covers the natural phenomenon known as vortex shedding and explains why large industrial chimneys often have spiral fins around the outside, known as strakes. But it also sheds light on something we, as CFD analysts, should be aware of.

Even in some cases where boundary conditions, geometry, and flow conditions are all symmetrical, the flow itself is not guaranteed to be symmetrical. In these cases, using an improper symmetry condition on the computational domain can be a serious mistake and cause us to turn a blind eye to what may be a potentially serious resonance building in our structure.

If you have any questions about transient analysis, vortex shedding, symmetry conditions, or SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, we’re happy to help. Just reach out to us.

The post Why Chimney Strakes Matter in Vortex Shedding CFD Analysis appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

The post How Engineers Are Actually Using AI in 2026: 5 High-Value Use Cases (With Prompts) appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

The post SOLIDWORKS 2027 Sneak Peek: The Beta Excitement Is Real — Here’s What’s Coming and Why It Matters appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

Simulation projects rarely fail because of bad engineering — they stall because of process gaps. I’ve spent the last seven years at Hawk Ridge Systems in roles ranging from application engineer to simulation specialist, and today I scope and deliver simulation projects on our services team. In my recent webinar, I shared the framework that separates simulations that drive real design decisions from those that produce results nobody can act on.

Whether your team runs finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in-house, partners with simulation consultants, or is still weighing the options, this playbook applies to you — and you can watch the complete webinar right here.

 

 

Why Companies Launch Simulation Projects

Every simulation project starts with a trigger. Here are the ones I see most often:

• Design verification. The most frequent driver — confirming a design performs as expected before committing to production or shipping to a customer.
• Product failure investigation. Something broke in the field or failed a test, and you need the root cause before you can fix it.
• Design optimization. The design works, but you know it can be lighter, stronger, or more thermally efficient.
• Early-stage validation. Catching problems before you spend money on physical prototypes.
• Regulatory compliance. Aerospace, medical, and automotive requirements drive significant simulation work — tailoring designs to MIL standards with random vibration analysis or shock analysis is one of the most common projects I deliver.
• Cost and time reduction. Physical testing is expensive and slow. Simulation lets you run dozens of scenarios in the time it takes to build and test one prototype.

Three Ways to Tackle a Simulation Project

Once you’ve decided to simulate, the next question is how. There are three paths — and I want to be clear that none is inherently better than the others. It depends entirely on where your team is right now.

1. Do It Yourself

Your team owns the process end to end. This works well when you have the software, hands-on experience, and a recurring need.

2. Mentoring and Guided Learning

An expert coaches your team through the project while you drive. You build internal capability and still get expert oversight — the best of both worlds for teams investing in long-term simulation skills.

3. Done-for-You Simulation Services

Hand the project to a provider who handles everything from geometry cleanup to the final report. This is the right call when the project is urgent, outside your team’s current capability, or a one-time need.

A quick self-assessment helps you choose: Do you have a trained team? Is the timeline fixed or urgent? Is this recurring or one-time? Is the goal fast results or building capability? How involved does your team want to be? At Hawk Ridge Systems, we support all three paths.

The Six Most Common Simulation Project Types

• Static stress analysis. To me, the most common question in FEA: Will this part hold up under load?
• Dynamics and impact. Drop tests, shock loads, collision events, and random vibration analysis — essential for MIL standard compliance.
• Thermal and CFD analysis. Are temperatures staying within spec? Is airflow adequate? Think assemblies with multiple PCBs and hundreds of chips approaching maximum temperature.
• Fluid flow and pressure drop. How does fluid behave through a manifold or valve?
• Fatigue analysis. How long will a part last under repeated loading? Notoriously difficult to test physically — and a perfect fit for virtual simulation.
• Assembly and contact studies. How do mating parts behave together under load? A word of caution from experience: CAD mates don’t carry over as simulation contacts, so defining the right component interactions is critical — I see new users get over-ambitious here more than anywhere else.

Six Things to Prepare Before You Start

Regardless of who runs the analysis, have these ready — or at least know their status:

• Clean geometry. Cosmetic features, logos, and small fillets that don’t affect structural behavior make meshing painful. Strip them out first — I’ve seen geometry simplification consume hours of a project when it isn’t done up front.
• Material properties. Yield strength, modulus, thermal conductivity — whatever your analysis needs. If you don’t know them, flag it early so assumptions are documented.
• Objectives. What decision does the simulation support?
• Boundary conditions. Loads, pressures, temperatures, constraints. Even rough estimates beat nothing — document what’s known and what’s assumed.
• Timeline. When do you need results? Design reviews and launch dates drive the schedule.
• Budget. A rough range helps scope the work and prevents misaligned expectations.

The Secret to Actionable Results: Define a Goal You Can Work With

To me, this is the most important lesson in the entire webinar. The number one reason simulation projects produce results nobody can act on is a goal that sounds clear but isn’t. “Run a stress analysis on this part” tells me nothing — what load, what failure mode, what pass/fail criterion? Compare that to “verify the bracket won’t yield under 500 pounds at the mounting point.” That’s a goal I can work with.

A strong simulation goal answers three questions:

• What is the physical scenario being tested?
• What are the pass/fail criteria?
• What decision will the simulation inform?

Don’t open the software until you can answer all three — whether you’re briefing a partner or setting up the analysis yourself. And if you’re engaging a simulation partner, interview them right back: What do you need from me? How will you validate the setup? What will I receive at the end? Clear, confident answers are a signal worth paying attention to.

Common Pitfalls That Stall Simulation Projects

• Dirty geometry. Manufacturing models aren’t simulation-ready. Clean them up before you start.
• Vague goals. If you can’t define success before opening the software, your results won’t help you decide anything.
• Scope creep. It starts with one innocent mid-project ask, and suddenly you’re running three extra load cases. Define scope in writing up front and treat anything outside it as a new conversation.
• Missing data. Material properties or load values nobody confirmed before kickoff.
• Silent assumptions. Assumptions are inevitable in simulation — the problem is when they go undocumented.
• Communication gaps. A quick midpoint check-in catches late-stage surprises before they become expensive. In my experience, waiting days for critical inputs is one of the most common reasons “urgent” projects stall.

What a Smooth Simulation Project Looks Like

When the process is followed, every project moves through six steps:

• Define goals — before anything else.
• Plan and scope — agree on deliverables, assumptions, timelines, and resources; planning your simulation study up front pays for itself. For critical projects, my recommendation is to map two or three alternate paths to mitigate risk.
• Prepare data — geometry, materials, and boundary conditions in order.
• Run the simulation — with a midpoint review for projects longer than a few days.
• Review results — interpret findings against your pass/fail criteria.
• Apply and decide — the step most often skipped. Connect the output back to the decision that started the project in the first place.

How Hawk Ridge Systems Can Help

Everything above is how my team approaches every engagement. If you want to hand off a project entirely, our full simulation services cover everything from geometry prep to final report. If you want to build your team’s capability, our mentoring hours put our engineers alongside yours. Not sure where to start? We’ll help you scope it before any work begins.

And if you need the software itself, we have deep expertise across SOLIDWORKS Simulation for FEA, SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation for CFD, SOLIDWORKS Plastics for injection molding analysis, plus SIMULIA Abaqus for advanced structural and nonlinear work, SIMULIA CST for electromagnetic simulation, and XFlow for complex fluid problems — available on desktop and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

If anything here resonated, I’m happy to have a conversation. Contact Hawk Ridge Systems to talk through your next simulation project, or watch the full webinar above for the complete framework. And if you want to keep building your simulation knowledge, here are more resources from our library, from introductory to advanced:

• SOLIDWORKS Simulation Overview [Video] — a quick introduction to what FEA inside SOLIDWORKS can do.
• 3 Golden Rules for SOLIDWORKS FEA Simulation Analysis — foundational habits for trustworthy results.
• SOLIDWORKS Simulation Fixtures 101: Understanding Fixtures — getting boundary conditions right.
• Ins and Outs on Meshing Elements for SOLIDWORKS Simulation — a deeper look at the mesh behind every study.
• How to Use CFD Results as FEA Inputs for Multiphysics Analysis — advanced workflows that combine fluid and structural simulation.
• SIMULIA Abaqus — where to go when your projects outgrow linear analysis: complex materials, contact, and nonlinear FEA.

The post How to Get Real Value from Every Simulation Project appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

We put a question to the people at Hawk Ridge Systems: What counts as damned good engineering that also passes as art? What we got back was a catalog of obsessions. This is just a thin slice of engineering excellence. Here are the 12 builds our team swears are equal parts engineering and art. (Want to color them in? Get the free engineering coloring book.)

Engineering as art, before CAD existed

Applications Engineer Nick Keglovits didn’t hesitate when asked which famous project he’d travel back in time to work on. “The Golden Gate Bridge: what a marvel of technology and beauty to this day, and before computer-aided design to boot.”

That last clause is the whole point. The bridge was drawn by hand, calculated with slide rules, and raised over a strait engineers of the era called impossible to span — no CAD model, no simulation, no digital twin. It held the record for the longest suspension span in the world until 1964, and it was built to move: the roadway can swing as much as 27 feet to the side in high winds. Nearly a century on, it’s still the first thing most people picture when they picture a bridge.

Cameron Carson, Senior VP of Engineering, reached back even further, to the Roman aqueducts — specifically the kind of structure embodied by the Pont du Gard. The Romans moved water across whole landscapes on a grade so gentle it’s hard to believe gravity did the rest. The Pont du Gard was part of a 50-kilometer channel that fell barely 12.6 meters end to end, yet delivered tens of thousands of cubic meters of water a day. Built from cut stone with no mortar, much of it still stands today. That’s the quiet flex of great construction: it doesn’t just impress its own generation, it keeps working for the ones who forgot how it was built.

Aircraft that double as art: the SR-71, F-117, and F-22

If there’s a spiritual home for engineering-as-art on this team, it’s Lockheed’s Skunk Works. Taylor Hoff, Applications Engineer III, named Skunk Works by Ben Rich as the book every engineer should read — the inside account of how a small team led by people like Kelly Johnson designed the SR-71 Blackbird, the U-2, and the F-117A: “engineering challenges, political influences, and development processes of these aircraft that were hugely impactful, both in the engineering world and with the history of the US post-WWII.” The Blackbird is still the fastest air-breathing crewed aircraft ever built; its evasive move against a missile was simply to accelerate.

For Scott Woods, Senior Product Manager, 3DEXPERIENCE & Mechanical Design Tools, that history isn’t a book — it’s a memory. One of his earliest is standing at Beale Air Force Base in the early 1990s, watching the SR-71 retirement ceremony. “Even as a kid, I knew I was seeing something different,” he wrote. “Long, black, and impossibly fast, it felt like it came from somewhere else.” His father helped unveil the aircraft that day — a detail that meant little to Scott at the time and means everything now.

Over time, his pick shifted to the F-117 Nighthawk, the aircraft his father spent much of his career maintaining. The Nighthawk isn’t graceful — it’s angular, flat-surfaced, sharp-edged, “unfinished, almost,” in Scott’s words. But none of that is accidental: as the world’s first operational stealth aircraft, its body is built from flat facets that scatter radar away from its source, designed before computers could model curved stealth shapes. The SR-71 reflects speed; the F-117 reflects stealth. Same idea, opposite silhouettes.

What stays with Scott most isn’t the planes — it’s the people. His father retired from the Air Force as an E-7 Master Sergeant after working on the F-117, the F-15 Eagle, and the A-10 Thunderbolt II. “Behind every mission were maintainers, mechanics, and technicians. People whose names you don’t usually hear, but whose work makes everything else possible.” As he puts it: “Those aircraft became legends, but their success depended on thousands of people working behind the scenes. My father was one of them. For me, that’s where engineering becomes art.”

John Farmer, AI Engineer, kept it short and certain: the F-22 Raptor, hands down. A fifth-generation stealth fighter with thrust-vectoring nozzles, it can supercruise past Mach 1.5 without afterburners and point its nose almost independently of where it’s flying. Anyone who’s watched one stand on its tail and climb straight up understands the answer without further explanation.

Engineering as art that left the planet: the Space Shuttle, Starship, and Merlin engine

Applications Engineer Kenny Truong will defend the Space Shuttle against anything that flies, including the rocket that arguably made it obsolete. “The Falcon 9 can never touch the Space Shuttle in terms of just coolness,” he said. “It flies up and then it lands like a plane. Every other rocket just looks like a stick… But that one is just funny to me. It’s like a plane.” It’s a real engineering argument dressed up as a joke: the first reusable orbital spacecraft, shielded by roughly 24,000 silica tiles, gliding home unpowered from orbit at around Mach 25.

Its spiritual successor sits one plate over. SpaceX Starship is the tallest and most powerful rocket ever flown — 121 meters of stainless steel over 33 Raptor engines — and it’s designed to be fully reusable, landing both stages back near the pad.

Damon Tordini, Product Portfolio Manager, is excited about where that goes next. “It’s hard not to be excited about the rise of reusable launch vehicles,” he said — and he has skin in the game, having worked with Tom Mueller, the designer of the Merlin engine that powers SpaceX’s Falcon rockets. Nine Merlins power a Falcon 9 first stage, and the engine has among the highest thrust-to-weight ratios of any rocket engine ever built — and it’s made to fly again. Between Kenny and Damon you get the whole arc of the argument: the Shuttle’s beautiful, expensive grandeur and the lean, relentless iteration of the engines that followed it.

Engineering as art at human scale: watches, sculpture, and walking machines

Not everything our team admires is the size of a building or the speed of a bullet.

Patty Fogarty, Content Marketer, has always been fascinated by wind-up watches. “When you see them without their covers, they are so beautiful. So intricate and delicate.” She’s talking about the mechanical watch movement — dozens of tiny gears, each its own small work of art, that assemble into something almost philosophical. Some parts are thinner than a human hair; the balance wheel swings about five times a second, over 400,000 beats a day. “When you realize how all of those tiny pieces work together to create time, that’s amazing engineering.”

Matt Taylor, Senior VP of Marketing, went for Cloud Gate — the Chicago “Bean.” It’s officially art, which is exactly why it belongs here: 168 stainless-steel plates welded and polished until every seam vanished, leaving a single flawless mirror that warps the Chicago skyline into a liquid curve. The line between the sculpture and the engineering underneath it simply disappears.

Dale Ford, Chairman & CEO, brought it home — two of his picks are Hawk Ridge Systems customers, and both were built in SOLIDWORKS. The first is the Prosthesis exo-bionic racer, the largest controllable exo-bionic robot ever built: a ~15-foot, four-legged, all-electric machine with no AI, no autonomy, and no joysticks — the pilot stands inside a full-body exoskeleton and the machine mirrors their limbs, amplifying human motion across rough terrain.

The second, from the same collective of artists and engineers, is the Mondospider — a rideable, ~1,700-pound, six-legged electric-hydraulic walking machine whose legs lift and place each foot in sequence to carry a passenger across rough ground. A racing mech and a giant walking spider, designed by people who plainly believe engineering and art are the same discipline wearing different hats. They’re not wrong.

The thread: where engineering becomes art

Look at the whole catalog and the pattern is hard to miss. A bridge and an aqueduct. A spy plane and a stealth fighter. A shuttle and the engine that replaced it. A pocket watch, a polished bean, a walking machine the size of a truck. Across two millennia and every scale we can build at, the same instinct keeps showing up: to make rather than take, to put order where there wasn’t any, to look at the impossible problem and pick up the tools anyway.

Download the free Engineering as Art coloring book

Loved these builds? We turned all 12 into a free engineering coloring book you can print and color in. Each page is a clean, detailed line drawing of an iconic feat of engineering and design — from a mechanical watch movement to SpaceX Starship — with a quick spec sheet and field note so you learn a little while you color.

It’s part engineering coloring book, part engineer’s sketchbook: a STEM-friendly, all-ages way to slow down and really look at how these machines are put together. Whether you’re an engineer who wants a mechanical-engineering coloring book for the desk drawer, a teacher looking for an engineering-and-design coloring book for the classroom, or a parent raising a future builder, every page is free to download below.

Color the full set (free PDF download)

Engineering as Art — the complete 12-page coloring book: Download the full engineering coloring book (PDF).

Download individual engineering coloring pages

• Plate 01 — Mechanical Watch Movement coloring page
• Plate 02 — SR-71 Blackbird coloring page
• Plate 03 — Space Shuttle Orbiter coloring page
• Plate 04 — SpaceX Starship coloring page
• Plate 05 — Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engine (Merlin 1D) coloring page
• Plate 06 — Pont du Gard Aqueduct coloring page
• Plate 07 — Golden Gate Bridge coloring page
• Plate 08 — F-22 Raptor coloring page
• Plate 09 — F-117 Nighthawk coloring page
• Plate 10 — Prosthesis Exo-Bionic Racer coloring page
• Plate 11 — Cloud Gate (The Bean) coloring page
• Plate 12 — Mondospider coloring page

Hawk Ridge Systems helps engineers and designers turn impossible problems into real products with SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE. See what our customers are building.

The post Engineering as Art: 12 Builds That Double as Masterpieces appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.