Every CAD department has one. You know, "THAT guy". His modeling approach can be best described as "butcher knives & Bondo!". Any attempt to make even a simple revision on one of his parts makes you complicit in a deepening web of bad decisions & questionable modeling practices. A model rebuild is desparately called for, but can be tedious & time-consuming. How can we bring order to such chaos? FeatureWorks! Most users associate it with imported/dumb-lump solids (IF they know about it at all). First off, a quick intro/refresher to core FeatureWorks functionality. Next, we'll pivot to some "BKNB method" case studies from my own career, converting them to stable, easily edited models. Aside from learning a new tool (FeatureWorks), take-aways for beginners include the importance of design intent & sensible feature creation. Intermediate/expert users will benefit from gaining tips & techniques for innovative, "off-label" ways of capturing design intent & taming problematic models.
Speakers
Sr. Mechanical Designer, OMAX
Eric Beatty has over 35 years of mechanical design experience. He began his career on the drafting board and switched to 2D CAD in the mid-1980s. In January 1996, as an educator at North Seattle Community College, he saw a demo of SOLIDWORKS and everything changed. Eric started using and teaching SOLIDWORKS in March 1996 and has used it every day of his professional life ever since. In April 1996, Eric founded SASPUG, the very 1st SOLIDWORKS user group. In 2006, Eric returned to industry and he is currently a Senior Mechanical Designer and the CAD/PDM Administrator for OMAX Corporation, a leading manufacturer of CNC abrasive waterjet machining centers that was spotlighted in the SOLIDWORKS 2020 rollout. Eric resumed leadership of SASPUG in 2017; he is a Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert (CSWE), and was recently honored to be included among the inaugural group of “SOLIDWORKS Champions”.
