This solidworks tutorial was created because you hear constantly today from companies that no one has the time or money to train anyone. Then the same companies go on to complain that they cant find good people.
When I started drafting in the 1970's, I was first trained by my employer, as were most mechanical designers and drafters at the time.
It's a vicious cycle for young people wanting to enter the field today because no one wants to train them. Well fortunately one solution is for anyone wanting to become a designer is to train themselves.
Nowadays, with the internet, that is possible. It's not one on one training, but its the next best thing.
A way to get your foot in the door at least.
To get you started I am starting my own training course. This tutorial takes you through an entire drafting and design project. In this case its a blower table, a fairly simple project but one which touches on most of the important aspects of mechanical drafting.
Through a succession of YouTube video's you can see how I set up all the models and drawing documents, solving problems and documenting the project as I go. It's not just drafting skills either, I am giving up a lot of practical shop knowledge so you can get a handle on things are actually made.
This part of the solidworks tutorial deals with the information you are given
Video number 2, carries on with adding the six square tubes which make up the legs of the table. It touches on these points:
Video number 3 of the solidworks tutorial, shows how I place the table top and also how a center brace gets added:
In Video number 4, I have a pile of gussets to add, 12 in total, 2 on each table leg. Here's how I go about adding them in:
Our nice strong table needs some nice baseplates to sit on, with holes in them so the table can get bolted to the ground. The video talks about :
In this part of the solidworks tutorial, the table gets finished off with a nice big hole on one and then we proceed to setting up the bill of material or cutlist.
I talk about some ways you can set this up so it makes life easier for those who have to work with the drawing :
Now that we have a nice strong table it seems to make sense to put a honkin great motor on it. So in this video I show how I used the WEG website to download the necessary files for the 40 HP 324T frame motor thats needed for this project.
I like the WEG site because they have done a very thorough job of providing a wide range of electric motors for use in just about any CAD system. I also talk a little bit about SolidWorks own 3D Content Central :
The Weg Motor Download site I use in the Video
The motor needs to sit on a slide base because it weighs almost 400lbs and you cant exactly tighten the belt by dragging the motor by hand.
I found a nice motor base, one that's not that expensive either, but the company has no 3D model or many dimensions so this Video shows how I set out to model this base for my drawing.
Heres what I needed to do:
This video completes the modeling of the motor base. I get the basic size and shape, so I have something to put underneath the motor. The manufacturers website for the base does not give any dimensions, so I will have to call them to see if they will help out.
But just by looking at the photograph from the website, I was able to get an idea about how this base is put together. The base has slots which allows the motor to slide so the millwright who is setting it up can get the drive belt tightened.
The motor base also has a seperate sliding frame moved by long fine thread bolts. That way the millwright can move the motor with powered socket wrenches instead of by hand or 2x4's. I didnt model this, but its important that this base has that feature considering the weight of the motor.
Heres what I needed to do:
After going to all the trouble to make this fancy table, we need to put the star attraction on it - the blower. Its very similar to the superchargers you see on top top of dragster engines. But the problem is I only have a 2D autocad drawing from the manufacturer, no 3D model.
To get around that I started by saving out the right side, top and front views as seperate autocad drawings and them imported them into Solidworks as a sketch. Heres the process I followed:
AAA Drafting > Mechanical drafting tutorial
Using SolidWorks > The most popular 3D modeler
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