Anna's SolidMuse

I Won A Space Navigator!!!

Last week I had a nice surprise when I found out I had won a 3Dconnexion Space Navigator.  A few weeks earlier I had participated in www.spaceclaiming.com's CAD Test 2009.  The contest sponsored by NovEdge and SpaceClaiming.com had each contestant answer a list of about 10 multiple choice questions of CAD trivia.

Not sure how many people participated in the CAD quiz, but about 30% of the participants answered all the questions correctly.  Lot's of real CAD geeks out there.  The NovEdge folks put all the 100%'ers in a hat and pulled a name at random.

What do you know, they managed to pull my name out of the hat.  I think that is the first time I have won anything, ever.  Pretty cool!!!

Late in the week the Space Navigator arrived at the house.  Great service from the folks at NovEdge.

Since I already have a Space Explorer I will be saving the Space Navigator for a future Phoenix SolidWorks User Group meeting raffle. I am sure one of our members will put the Space Navigator to great use.

Thanks NovEdge and SpaceClaiming.com!

Phoenix SolidWorks User Group Meeting, May 7th, 2009

Phoenix Metro Area SolidWorks User Group
Next Meeting

Thursday, May 7, 2009
4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Auer Precision Company
1050 West Birchwood
Mesa, Arizona 85210
www.auerprecision.com

Click For PDF with Map and Directions

Agenda:

SolidWorks Sheet Metal Designed for Manufacturing

Guest Speaker:

Gerald Davis

Gerald Davis will be making a presentation on Sheet Metal Designed for Manufacturing.  The objective is to discuss general best practices and to address any specific questions that the members of the user group may have.  He will arrive with the PowerPoint presentation that was prepared for SolidWorks World 2009 but sincerely hopes that the meeting will be more of a dialog than a lecture!

Gerald owned and operated a precision sheet metal job shop in Denver for about 20 years.  During that time he developed his skills as a CAD jockey and, since 2004, has been working as an independent design contractor.  His experience with SolidWorks started in 1998.  He passed the CSWP in 2005.  He is the past group leader for the Colorado SolidWorks user group.

Please RSVP with the meeting sign-up form located at www.phxswug.com so we can plan refreshments and pizza for everyone.

Looking forward to seeing you May 7th.

Regards,

Anna Wood

Phoenix SolidWorks User Group Meeting, Feb 5th, 2009

Phoenix Metro Area SolidWorks User Group
Next Meeting

Thursday, February 5, 2009
4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Auer Precision Company
1050 West Birchwood
Mesa, Arizona 85210
www.auerprecision.com

Click For PDF with Map and Directions

Agenda:

SolidWorks Ten Essentials for Assemblies 2009
This is what every effective SolidWorks user needs to know about assemblies. Topics are based on using SolidWorks every day for fun and profit, with an enthusiastic intention of separating what’s useful from what is not. We will discuss Virtual Components, Multiple Mate Mode, Master Modeling Technique, SpeedPak, and much, much more.

Guest Speaker:

Phil Sluder,  Mechanical Engineer, while just a dumb engineer, has found his calling by presenting various SolidWorks topics at user groups and world conferences. His firm, TriAxial Design and Analysis, is an engineering service provider near San Diego. Phil has conducted SolidWorks training courses since 1997, and also finds time to lead the San Diego SolidWorks User Group. Additionally, he is the Western U.S. Representative on the SolidWorks User Group Network (SWUGN) Committee.

Please RSVP with the meeting sign-up form located at www.phxswug.com so we can plan refreshments and pizza for everyone.

Looking forward to seeing you Feb 5th.

Regards,

Anna Wood

Phoenix SolidWorks User Group Updates

User Group Meeting Schedule For 2009

For 2009, user group meetings for the Phoenix Metro Area SolidWorks User Group will be held on a quarterly basis.  Meetings will be held on the first Thursday of February, May, August and November.

2009 Meeting Schedule:
February 5th
May 7th
August 6th
Nov 5th

Meetings will start at 4:30 p.m. and be held at Auer Precision Company in Mesa.

We are working on an agenda for each meeting and hope to have that info posted soon at www.phxswug.com.

Zach Wilsterman Is Retiring...

Zach Wilsterman, long time leader of our Phoenix Metro Area User Group is stepping down from his duties as user group leader.  Zach has been leading the group for as long as we can remember and will be taking a well deserved break from those chores.

Thank-you to Zach from the entire user group for your years of service to the group.

Anna Wood has volunteered to take on the leadership duties for the group.

More PhotoView 360 Renders

My latest project at Auer is an order for three new die designs. These tools are being built to work with three new ballistic press systems we are also doing the design and build on.

I am almost done with the designs and have quite a few of the common components already released to the shop for build. Been going through all the designs, tying up loose ends and getting the rest of the detail drawings completed and ready for final release.

We have a four day weekend for the Christmas holidays so I have brought my files home to work on over the weekend. I get pretty bored after about a day at home with not much to do. So I figured I would get some busy work done on these designs here at home.

Today I spent some time setting up one of my tool models for rendering in SolidWorks new PhotoView 360 rendering program.

On my list of things to do, is to send a request into the Luxology/SolidWorks PhotoView 360 Resources Forum for some new materials. Being in tool design there are a few materials we use all the time that are not represented. Black Oxide for fasteners is high on my list, along with some more refined appearances for machined and ground tool steels. More colors for anodized aluminums would be great to see also.

Here are the results of my rendering session this afternoon.

Cheers,

Anna