Software training firm Infinite Skills Inc. has introduced its "SolidWorks Molded Part Design Tutorial," a brief training course targeting the palette of tools and features available for modeling custom forges, casts, and other molded design elements.
SolidWorks is a CAD program that uses a parametric, feature-based assembly system for building mechanical models. Mold design in SolidWorks enables designers to easily incorporate design changes throughout the development process, through to final manufacturing.
Infinite Skills "SolidWorks Molded Part Design Tutorial" provides a detailed guide for mastering this set of tools. It begins with simple examples and develops toward a multi-body complex part, helping students begin creating molded designs in a matter of hours.
Course author Dean Kerste is a college professor with more than a decade of experience in industrial design and more than twenty years' experience as a professor of mechanical design technology. Kerste began his career as a draftsman, detailing large industrial combustion systems for power generation and transitioning them into natural gas distribution systems. After working as a CAD operator and systems administrator, Kerste began pursuing a career in academics. He holds multiple degrees, including a bachelor's in industrial design and a doctorate in high education.
The course starts off with a simple molded part example. Kerste introduces fundamentals and guidelines, and demonstrates how to create drafts and templates.
The course then covers the elements of molded parts, demonstrating how to add hinges, slides, lips and grooves, and more.
From there, Kerste covers complex molded shapes, showing how to create the base shape, and add curvature and features. Other chapters cover parting line design, manual draft fixes, and performing an analysis of your model. Finally, the lessons are synthesized in a project that guides students through a multi-body complex part method.
"This course is designed to help experienced SolidWorks users get a handle on all the aspects of modeling molded parts," Kerste says.
"We'll start from scratch with the types of tools SolidWorks provides, and I'll show you how to create templates to help you create designs down the road, and help you understand what tools to focus on, as well as what they do in terms of helping you produce your models."
