Machinery’s Handbook

Ever since I got an old beat up 12th Edition handbook from a veteran board drafter at my first job, I have always carried one to every job. This book is invaluable, it is like having a machinist on your desk to advise you every time you have a question. I constantly use mine for looking up threads, finding long lost formulas, double-checking my weld symbols and even look up standard fits and tolerances. If you are on a tight budget and can’t afford a huge library, get an earlier edition. If your library only consists of this one book, you will still be ahead of the curve. It will be one of the most popular books in your office and you will have to hide it under lock and key. Maybe tie up some zombies next to your bookshelf to discourage people from borrowing it.

Design For Manufacturability Handbook

In the past it was not uncommon for designers and engineers to start their careers in the machine shop. A strong foundation in machining enables a designer to anticipate the manufacturing method and to adapt the design accordingly. Unfortunately, the closest thing to a machine shop I experienced was the wood shop at the Buena Park Boy’s Club. So I have done the next best thing, I studied design for manufacturability. I am no expert but I have a very good understanding of most manufacturing processes and the Design For Manufacturability Handbook was what set me on that path. I still refer to it when I am working on a design that will use a process that I am not too familiar with. Depending on the desired method, you can look up suggested materials, design considerations and even ways to improve your design for cost.

Materials Handbook

The Materials Handbook was actually something I stumbled upon by accident and I am glad I did. When I was working as a drafter in Arizona, we had an engineer that left the company. I guess his departure wasn’t planned so well because he had left a few items behind. When his old office was cleaned out, many of his books were thrown out. I just happened to wander by when I saw this book sticking out of a trash bin. Of course I had no problem digging it out of the trash and I am still glad to this day that I did. When I opened the book I found the coolest reference book ever. The Materials Handbook is an encyclopedia of every material you can think of in alphabetical order. When I say every material, I mean it. I always love showing coworkers some of my favorite materials, including coffee. Yes, coffee is in there. This book has helped me so many times when a materials expert starts rambling off materials during a design review.

See more of my favorites

Rather then ramble on about books (wow, I really am a geek), I created a list of suggested books. I call it the Engineer’s Bookshelf and you can find it by clicking the link on the top menu bar of the site. In it you will find some images of my favorite books and clicking on the cover image will take you to the Amazon page for the book. Also, I want to grow this list to be the most comprehensive list of books for engineers and designers. So if you have some suggestions, let me know so I can add them to the list. Heck, I might even pick a few up for myself.

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Now enough with the shameless self-promotion…on to the winners. I am happy to announce that we actually had five readers find the hidden link. I’d have to say that I was really surprised that my hints were actually pretty easy. If you didn’t figure out the clues and locate the link, don’t worry I will tell you what each clue meant. I will also leave the link where it is so you can see if you can find it still.

Who Found the Link?

Before we move onto the answers to the clues, lets see who actually found the link. Don’t worry if you didn’t find the link and couldn’t get a copy of the book, there still may be another chance later to win a free copy. But lets not keep you from buying one anyway. It doesn’t hurt to have two copies.

Here are all the readers who located the hidden link in order of winners:

1. Ausdell Hadaway, Canada

2. Matthew Lorono, California

3. Deepak Gupta, India

4. Brian Titus, California

5. Ali Kuran, Canada

What the Heck Did They Mean?

Like I said, I didn’t want the clues to be too easy but I didn’t want them to be impossible. For some, no more then a couple of clues were needed to find the link but for others…eyes crossing and plenty of cursing was pretty much all there was. So what did they actually mean anyway? I must admit I was reaching on a few of these but they were just too damn fun to pass up.

Clue #1: I live near the centers

This refers to an image that is located near the link. I won’t say what the image is, just in case some are still looking.

Clue #2: I just got back from a Chinese restaurant and they called me a rat!

Some don’t like to think of rats when they are eating Chinese food but this is actually a clue about the year of the post that contains the link. The year that the post was written during the year of the rat on the Chinese zodiac.

Clue #3: I will keep track of the witness, he is right down there.

This is another reference to an image near the link. This time the image is located below where the link can be found.

Clue #4: 28 weeks later was not a real zombie movie

This was actually one of my favorites because I am a huge zombie fanatic. If you were able to figure out the year with clue #2, then you will be able to figure out what week the post was created. The post that contains the link was published on the 28th week of the year determined by clue #2. And no, 28 Weeks Later was not a real zombie movie…they were not dead.

Clue #5: Six degrees of birthday cake

I admit that this was a hard clue, but it had to be since it gives you the exact date that the post was published. This one actually refers to the date of Kevin Bacon’s birthday. If you remember the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, then you might have guess that.

Clue #6: Why is it so teeny?

This one just sounds soooooo wrong. I am actually referring to a couple of comments that were made on the post. When I first published the article I was still trying to get a comment system that worked. At the time I had a commenting system that only showed a postage stamp size window for entering in comments and a couple of readers posted comments about the size of the window…nothing else…

Clue #7: The first part of the feature was the best.

The post that contains the link was had the word “Feature” in the title and was the first part of a two part article.

Clue #8: Why 14 1/2 meters?

This is actually one of the ones that I was reaching. I needed one more clue and this one gave more information about the topic of the article.  ”Why 14-1/2 meters” refers to ASME Y14.5m which is the topic of the article. Told you I was reaching.

Clue #9: I like Tuesdays.

At the time that the article was written, I was still doing “Standards Tuesdays.” The post that contains the link was one of the original “Standards Tuesdays” articles.

Clue #10: I wish I could extend my stay but I’ll just end up interfering.

This is actually a clue as to the exact sentence that contains the link. Key words in the clue are in the same sentence in the post.

Clue #11: X marks the spot.

This last one was the easiest. The “X” refers to the letter in the sentence that contains the link.

Knowing is Half the Battle

Know that you know what the clues means, you can quickly figure out where the link was located. I hope you had fun. I am thinking of what to do for a future contests. So if you have any ideas please let me know and if you like this one, let me know as well. We just might have to revisit this contest at a much later date.

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I have been amazed at the response to the this treasure hunt contest. My clues must have been too easy because the first two prizes have already been claimed. When I was coming up with the clues, I was afraid that I made them too hard and that no one would be able to find the hidden link. I should have known better because I have some of the smartest readers on the web.

On Thursday, Ausdell Hadaway from America’s white sombrero (Of course I mean Canada) found the hidden link and sent me an email. He managed to find the link after only two clues. I was expecting at least six clues before anybody found it. In speaking with Ausdell, he explained that the credit goes to his 22″ monitor that his boss purchased for him. That takes dedication to dig through so many posts in order to get a SolidWorks book written by me. It’s pretty cool but it is also scary for me.

The second prize, a coffee mug from the SolidWorks Geeks Store was claimed by my close friend and fellow SolidWorks blogger, Matthew Lorono. He may be better known as fcsuper from SolidWorks Legion. I am not exactly sure how he found the link so fast but knowing Matt it had to be found by doing something shady. You just can trust those Northern Californians.

So with the first two prizes claimed, that leaves only one more prize. When I was at SolidWorks World 2010 in the great city of Anaheim, I was given a couple of t-shirts from AMD to use as giveaways. The first shirt was used as a prize in a photo caption contest held at SolidWorks Geeks. The second shirt is in safe place waiting to be claimed by the next person to find the hidden link.

Instead of continuing to torture my readers with a random clue every other day, I have decided to post all of the clues in hopes that the last prize can be claimed this weekend. I have received many comments about the clues being to difficult and not making any sense. I meant for the clues to be like riddles. If you can decipher the riddle you will get a new piece of information that can be used to locate the post and even where the link can be found in the post. Don’t worry, after the last prize is claimed I will post an explanation of the clues used. To be honest, I am actually kind of proud of the clues. Here is the full list of clues:

Clue #1: I live near the centers

Clue #2: I just got back from a Chinese restaurant and they called me a rat!

Clue #3: I will keep track of the witness, he is right down there.

Clue #4: 28 weeks later was not a real zombie movie

Clue #5: Six degrees of birthday cake

Clue #6: Why is it so teeny?

Clue #7: The first part of the feature was the best.

Clue #8: Why 14 1/2 meters?

Clue #9: I like Tuesdays.

Clue #10: I wish I could extend my stay but I’ll just end up interfering.

Clue #11: X marks the spot.

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The following clues will give you information as to which article the link is located and how to identify the link. Think of the clues as riddles. Once you figure out the answer to a clue, you will have one more bit of information. As the days go by, the clues will get you closer to fining the link but remember you are not the only one looking for the link. Don’t wait for too many clues or someone else could find the link before you do. The clues may seem hard but you really need to think outside of the box. The clues could be describing a location on the page, the date of the post or even what the post is about. Remember Google is your friend.

Clue #1: I live near the centers

Clue #2: I just got back from a Chinese restaurant and they called me a rat!

[NEW] Clue #3: I will keep track of the witness, he is right down there.

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With less then two weeks till SolidWorks 2010: No Experience Required goes on sale, I decided to give you a chance to receive a free signed copy.  The list price for the book is $39.99 and a signed copy has got to bring it up to $40.00 at least. Since the stakes are so high this time I decided to try something different. It may be awesome and fun or it may flop but either way you are gonna get a free SolidWorks book full of tips and tricks.

In the past I have done contests that were extremely easy. This time it is not going to be so easy. This contest will require a keen eye and an attention to detail. So get the hamster on the wheel in your head some Wheaties and let’s get down to business.

How to Play

The rules are easy. Somewhere, buried in one of the 113 posts since I started blogging, there is a single hidden mail hyperlink. Clicking the hyperlink will launch your default email program and automatically enter a special email address just for this contest. Just so you won’t be tempted to guess the email, it is made of a completely random sequence of letters and numbers. You will have to work for this one.

Now before someone gets mad that I made this contest so hard, I decided to give ya’ll some hints. Every couple of days, at varying times, I will post a new hint as to where the link is hidden. I will continue posting hints until someone finds the link and uses the hidden address to email me their contact and mailing information. Sounds good?

Only One Prize?

I am looking for some more prizes but for now the first three submissions will get a prize:

First Prize: Sign copy of SolidWorks 2010: No Experience Required

Second Prize: A SolidWorks Geeks coffee mug

Third Prize: An AMD t-shirt

What are the clues?

The following clues will give you information as to which article the link is located and how to identify the link. Think of the clues as riddles. Once you figure out the answer to a clue, you will have one more bit of information. As the days go by, the clues will get you closer to fining the link but remember you are not the only one looking for the link. Don’t wait for too many clues or someone else could find the link before you do. The clues may seem hard but you really need to think outside of the box. The clues could be describing a location on the page, the date of the post or even what the post is about. Remember Google is your friend.

Clue #1: I live near the centers

Clue #2: I just got back from a Chinese restaurant and they called me a rat!

[NEW] Clue #3: I will keep track of the witness, he is right down there.

What are you waiting for?

Okay, you got your second clue, now get searching! Have fun and I look forward to announcing a winner real soon.

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With less then two weeks till SolidWorks 2010: No Experience Required goes on sale, I decided to give you a chance to receive a free signed copy.  The list price for the book is $39.99 and a signed copy has got to bring it up to $40.00 at least. Since the stakes are so high this time I decided to try something different. It may be awesome and fun or it may flop but either way you are gonna get a free SolidWorks book full of tips and tricks.

In the past I have done contests that were extremely easy. This time it is not going to be so easy. This contest will require a keen eye and an attention to detail. So get the hamster on the wheel in your head some Wheaties and let’s get down to business.

How to Play

The rules are easy. Somewhere, buried in one of the 113 posts since I started blogging, there is a single hidden mail hyperlink. Clicking the hyperlink will launch your default email program and automatically enter a special email address just for this contest. Just so you won’t be tempted to guess the email, it is made of a completely random sequence of letters and numbers. You will have to work for this one.

Now before someone gets mad that I made this contest so hard, I decided to give ya’ll some hints. Every couple of days, at varying times, I will post a new hint as to where the link is hidden. I will continue posting hints until someone finds the link and uses the hidden address to email me their contact and mailing information. Sounds good?

Only One Prize?

I am looking for some more prizes but for now the first three submissions will get a prize:

First Prize: Sign copy of SolidWorks 2010: No Experience Required

Second Prize: A SolidWorks Geeks coffee mug

Third Prize: An AMD t-shirt

What are the clues?

Clue #1: I live near the centers

[NEW] Clue #2: I just got back from a Chinese restaurant and they called me a rat!

What are you waiting for?

Okay, you got your second clue, now get searching! Have fun and I look forward to announcing a winner real soon.

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In the past I have done contests that were extremely easy. This time it is not going to be so easy. This contest will require a keen eye and an attention to detail. So get the hamster on the wheel in your head some Wheaties and let’s get down to business.

How to Play

The rules are easy. Somewhere, buried in one of the 113 posts since I started blogging, there is a single hidden mail hyperlink. Clicking the hyperlink will launch your default email program and automatically enter a special email address just for this contest. Just so you won’t be tempted to guess the email, it is made of a completely random sequence of letters and numbers. You will have to work for this one.

Now before someone gets mad that I made this contest so hard, I decided to give ya’ll some hints. Every couple of days, at varying times, I will post a new hint as to where the link is hidden. I will continue posting hints until someone finds the link and uses the hidden address to email me their contact and mailing information. Sounds good?

Only One Prize?

I am looking for some more prizes but for now the first three submissions will get a prize:

First Prize: Sign copy of SolidWorks 2010: No Experience Required

Second Prize: A SolidWorks Geeks coffee mug

Third Prize: An AMD t-shirt

So what is the first clue?

Clue #1: I live near the centers

What are you waiting for?

Okay, you got your first clue, now get searching! Have fun and I look forward to announcing a winner real soon.

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Did you know that you do not need to switch between these two tools? As crazy as it sounds, you can use the trim to to extend sketch entities as well. Today’s Quick Tip will show you how that can be done quickly and easily.

1. The sketch below shows a couple of lines that need to be trimmed or extended to make a single rectangle. Yes I know it would be easier to just use the Rectangle tool, but this is just an example.

2. We are going to close the rectangle all without changing tools. The only tool we will need is the Trim Entities tool.

3. In the Options section of the Trim PropertyManager, select the Trim to Closest option.

4. The first trim is pretty straight forward. All you need to do is just select the side of the line that needs to be trimmed to the nearest intersection.

5. Now this is where most users would switch to the Extend Entities tool in order to extend the vertical line to the top horizontal line. But instead of switching tools, we are going to stay in the Trim Entities tool. Select the line by pressing and holding the left mouse button with the mouse pointer closer to the end of the line that needs to be extended. While still holding the left mouse button, drag the mouse pointer to the line that will terminate the selected line. Once the mouse pointer is over the target line, a preview of the line with the extra length will be shown in orange in both the gap and on the existing line.

6. If the preview is what you want, release the left mouse button and the line will be extended.

7. You can then finish the sketch by clicking the last dangling segment of the upper horizontal line, all without switching between tools.

NOTE: Notice that in Step 5, I mentioned that you need to select the line that should be extended with the mouse pointer closer to the end of the line that needs to be extended. That is the key phrase that must be repeated, otherwise the selected line will not extend as expected. If you select the line towards the other end of the line, the line will not be extended. The line would instead move to the short gap, leaving a larger gap where the line used to be. The image below shows that instead of selecting the line to be extend towards the top of the line, the bottom portion is selected.

The orange preview appears to be the extended line at first glance but if you look closer you will notice that the orange preview is only in the gap and is not on the orginal line like it is shown in step 5.

If you were to release the left mouse button at this time, the line would move to the gap rather then extending itself to fill the gap. That maybe useful in some situations but in this particular scenario it is not the desired outcome.

That concludes today’s Quick Tip. I hope you find it information and useful. If you would like to see a quick tip about any other functions in SolidWorks, please feel free to send me an email at blog@theswgeek.com.

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Today we are going to build the front plate of the staple cradle. The front plate is a sheet metal component that covers the gap in front of the Staple Cradle. The cover is a real simple part that is held in place by pressing tabs into the sides that coincide with holes we added in the previous model.

Since we have covered making simple sheet metal parts before, we are going to explore another technique to create a sheet metal part. Instead of starting with a sheet metal Base Flange, we are going to make a solid model then convert it to a sheet metal part. Then we will create two configurations of the part. One configuration will show the part as it is made, the next configuration will be the installed state of the part.

The Sheet Metal Form Die

To save time, I am ommitting the step where the form die is being made. Instead, you need to download it here: Cradle Front Dimple Form (40). If you are interested in how to create a form tool, check out the post when we created the forming tool for the Arm Brackets.

After downloading the zip file that contains the form die, save it in your forming die folder of the Design Library. It doesn’t matter which folder you save the tools into as long as it is designated as a Forming Tools Folder. To make it easier for me to remember, I created a separate folder just for the stapler models but you are free to save them anywhere.

The Base Feature

With the forming tool downloaded and saved to the Design Library, we can begin with the cover piece. Create a new part model and name it Cradle Cover, Stapler. I mentioned earlier that we are not going to begin with a sheet metal feature, instead we will begin the part with a regular Extruded Boss/Base. Then we will convert it to a sheet metal part. This approach has quickly become my favorite approach to creating sheet metal components. I think by the end of this tutorial you will know why.

So, let us get started by creating the base feature:

1. In the new part file, press S on your keyboard to access the Shortcut Bar. In the Shortcut Bar, select the Extruded Boss/Base button.

2. Since a sketch has not been created yet, you are asked to select a plane that will be used to create the feature cross section. In the Graphics Area, select the Top Plane.

3. Now it is time to create our first sketch. Press the S key on your keyboard and select the downward pointing arrow next to the Rectangle button. In the flyout, select the Center Rectangle button.

4. For the center of the rectangle, select the sketch origin. Move your mouse away from the origin to create an undefined rectangle. Using the dimensions in the image below, fully define the sketch that will be used to create the base feature.

5. Click the Exit Sketch button in the Confirmation Corner (the upper right corner of the Graphics Area) to exit the sketch and to initiate the Extruded Boss/ Base tool.

As you can see, after selecting the Exit Sketch button the Extruded Boss/Base tool is automatically initiated. That is exactly why I began the model by selecting the extruded command before creating a sketch. Of course, you can still opt to create a sketch first then initiate the Extruded Boss/ Base command. It will just require one extra mouse click but every saved mouse click is time saved in the overall scheme of things.

6. To mix things up a little bit more, instead of entering a value into the Boss-Extrude PropertyManager, we are going to specify the extrusion depth using an on-screen ruler. select the vertical arrow, by clicking and holding the left mouse button. As you drag the arrow, ruler next to the mouse pointer will be displayed. Move the mouse directly over the tick marks and drag the extrusion to a depth of .450.

7. After achieving the desired depth of the extrusion, release the left mouse button. Then click the green check mark in the Boss-Extrude PropertyManager to exit the command.

8. Press S on your keyboard and this time select the Extruded Cut button.

9. When prompted to select a plane, face or existing sketch; select the front face of the model.

10. Press CTRL-8 on your keyboard to make the sketch plane normal to the viewing plane.Select the Line tool from the Shortcut bar. Begin the line by selecting the lower left corner of the rectangle face. Make sure the the corner is highlighted with an orange dot and the Coincident relation icon is shown next to the mouse pointer. If you the starting point is not coincident with the corner, the final sketch may not act as expected.

For the second endpoint of the line, click the upper edge of the rectangle and make sure that you are not selecting a corner.

11. Now it is time to fully define the sketch, press S on on your keyboard and select the Smart Dimension tool. Select the line you just sketched. Then select the left edge of the rectangle, being careful not to select a corner. The dimension previewed will change to an angle dimension. Place the dimension above the sketch and set the angle to 10°.

At this point the sketch should be fully defined. If you look on the Status Bar below the Graphics Area, you should see the words “Fully Defined”. If you see Under Defined or Over  Defined, double check your sketch dimensions and relations. If the Status Bar displays the “Fully Defined” statement, exit the sketch by clicking the button in the Confirmation Corner.

12. After exiting the sketch the Cut-Extrude will be displayed. This time, since the sketch is an open profile, the only option that is available is the Flip Side To Cut option. Look in the Graphics Area and make sure that the arrow is pointing towards the smaller section of the rectangle. If the arrow is pointer towards the largest side, select the Flip Side To Cut option. Click the green check mark to cut the material and to close the PropertyManager.

13. Now we need to add a couple of radii before we convert our model into a sheet metal part. In order to add the fillets, it might be helpful to rotate the view slightly to the right to give better access to the edges on the angled face of the part. Press and hold the middle mouse button or scroll wheel and move the mouse to the right. Once you see both the top and bottom edges of the angled face, release the middle mouse button.

14. Select the Fillet tool in the Shortcut Bar. In the Items to Fillet section of the Fillet PropertyManager, set the radius to .075. Then select the bottom edge of the angled face. Click the green check mark to apply the radius to the specified edge.

15. Using the same process, add a .050″ radius to the top edge of the angled face, as seen below.

Convert a Solid into a Sheet Metal Part

Now that the solid has been completed, we can now convert it to a sheet metal part. Since we did much of the work ahead of time, the part is really easy from this point on. Before moving on, I must remind you to save your model often. I would hate to have you lose all the work you have done up to this point.

To convert a solid into a sheet metal part, do the following:

1. If the sheet metal tab is not visible in the CommandManager, enable it by right-clicking one of the CommandManager tabs and select Sheet Metal in the flyout.

2. Select the Sheet Metal tab and click the Convert to Sheet Metal button.

3. The first select that needs to be made in the Convert to Sheet Metal PropertyManager is the a fixed entity on the model. This is the part of the sheet metal part that will not move when bends are added to the part.

Rotate the part around and select the back face, as shown below.

4. After select the face, you will see a yellow preview of what the sheet metal part will look like. You can see that the material thickness seems a little thick. That is because we have not specified a material thickness yet. In the Sheet Metal Parameters section of the PropertyManager set the Sheet Thickness to .020. Also, since we are in the area, set the radius to be .005.

5. Now we need to specify how the solid should be converted into a sheet metal part. To do this we are going to specify which corners are meant to be bent. SolidWorks will then be able to determine which material will be converted and which will be removed. Make sure that the Bent Edges window in the PropertyManager is active.

Then select the left and right edge of the face that was specified to be fixed. The preview will update to show how the sheet metal part will look like when created, as seen below.

If everything looks good, click the green check mark at the top of the PropertyManager and the part will be fully converted into a sheet metal part.

Add Forms to the Sheet Metal Part

Now all that is left to do is add the tabs that are created when the part is assembled with the Staple Cradle. If you have not already downloaded form tool for this exercise, do so now and add the part to your forming tools folder. The following steps will describe how to create a “As Assembled” configuration that will be used to show the tabs only in the assembly.

1. Click the Design Library tab of the Task Pane.

2. In the top section of the Design Library tab, locate the folder where you saved the forming tool for this exercise.

3. Select the Cradle Front Dimple Form by clicking and holding the left mouse button. Drag the form tool to the front face of the part. When the preview shows the form completely on the desired face, release the left mouse button to add the form.

4. After releasing the left mouse button, a window will be displayed informing you that you need to use dimensions and sketch modification tools to define the location of the form. Move the window off to to side so that you can better access the sketch of the form. Press S on your keyboard and select the Smart Dimension tool in the Shortcut Bar. First, select the horizontal construction line originating in the center of the sketch. Then select the bottom edge of the face. Set the distance form the bottom edge to the center of the form to be .223″.

5. Select the horizontal construction line of the form sketch and then select the tangent edge on the fixed face of the part. Enter .223″ into the Modify window to specify the distance from the right face of the part.

6. With the location of the form sketch fully defined, you can select the Finish button on the Position Form Feature window.

All that is left to do is add another form to the other side of the part. There are a couple of ways to do the following step but some are definitely easier then others. For example ,if you were to add the form tool once again to the other side of the part you would find that the tab on the inside of the part is on the wrong side. That is because the form was create with the angled portion to one side of the part. You could, once you enter the form on to the face, use the Modify Sketch tool to rotate the form sketch 180°. Then fully define its location but why go through all those steps. The quickest and easiest way is to just mirror the feature to the other side. There would be no need for future modification of the feature.

7. To mirror the form feature, select the Mirror tool in the Features tab of the CommandManager.

8. Click the plus (+) next to the model feature in the upper left corner of the Graphics Area to access the Flyout FeatureManager.

In the Fly out FeatureManager, select the Front Plane. The Front Plane will be used for the mirror feature. The reason why we can use that plane is because we created the base feature with a center rectangle originating at the Origin.

9. Next, select the Feature to Mirror box in the PropertyManager and then select the form feature in the Graphics Area. The preview will show how the form will look on the mirrored side.

If the preview appears as the image above, click the green check mark to create the feature. Congrats! You just created a sheet metal part from a solid.

Add a new Configuration

Sine the formed tabs we added won’t actually be made until the part is made part of the cradle sub-assembly, we will need to add another configuration for the assembled state. To add a new configuration and configure the part correctly for the assembled and default state, do the following:

1. While holding the CTRL key on your keyboard, select the form feature and the mirrored feature in the FeatureManager.

2. Release the CTRL key and right-click one of the features. In the menu, select Configure Feature.

3. In the Modify Configurations window, select the cell labeled <Creates a new configuration>. Type “As Assembled” in the field to create a new configuration then hit the Enter key.

4. Since we only want the selected features to be visible while in the assembled configuration, click the check box in both of the cells on the default row. This will make the formed features suppressed in the default configuration. Click OK to accept the changes and to create the new configuration.

5. Now that the configurations has been created, you can test it out by switching over to the ConfigurationManager. Click the ConfigurationManager tab at the top of the FeatureManager Design Tree.

6. To switch configurations, double click on the one that you wish to show. As you switch configurations, you will see the formed features disappear and reappear.

Whew!

That was definitely a marathon exercise. If you would like to compare your model to mine, you can download it here: [Download not found]. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, even if it was a little long. I wanted to make the first stapler tutorial of 2010 a damn good one. Until next time…have fun playing with SolidWorks.

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Interact with Readers

I would have to say that one of the major advantages to having a companion site; is that it allows me to interact with the readers. After the book is put on sale, readers will have the chance to ask questions, get a topic clarified or even discover different applications to the concepts and tools discussed in the book. I am really excited about the chance to provide a service that many authors don’t get the chance to give.

See the Samples

Even though SolidWorks 2010: No Experience Required is not released yet, you should still visit the website. If you are considering purchasing the book (which I hope everybody is), you can take a look at what the book has to offer. On the menu at the top of the site, there are three links to samples from the book. The Table of Contents, Index and even one complete chapter is available for everybody to read. Just think of it as a test drive before buying your dream car. If you like what you see you can even pre-order the book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders. In fact, order two…One for the office and one for the home. You will not regret it. ;0)

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