Hi all,

I'm at an intermediate level with SolidWorks — comfortable modeling individual parts, but I want to level up my assembly and mechanical design skills by working on more complete, realistic machines rather than isolated part exercises.

A couple of things I'd love input on:

1. What machines or mechanical systems would you recommend modeling to build solid assembly experience? I'm especially interested in general industrial/mechanical machines (things with multiple moving parts, mates, motion, etc.) rather than pure sheet metal or purely static assemblies.

2. Are there any good reference resources — drawings, exploded assemblies, reverse-engineering projects, or open datasets — that are useful for practicing this kind of work? I've seen some project-based Udemy courses (engines, gearboxes, pumps) but I'm curious if the community has other go-to references, whether that's real product teardowns, open-source CAD libraries, or specific books/tutorials.

Appreciate any pointers — happy to share progress once I pick a project.

Thanks!