MikaiaVal - Mikaia Val

The Power of Surface Tools in Onshape – Black Panther Mask

Surface design is quite overwhelming in Onshape or other CAD applications. Because of the parametric approach you need to set up, it will take time, and you might not achieve the surface you want.

Here are a few tools and techniques I recommend you use if you want to create a surface concept like Black Panther. I will divide it into these categories:

Curve Tools
Surface tools
Surface modifier tools

Curve tools

In Onshape and many Professional CAD software programs such as SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, Fusion 360, or even FreeCAD, curves are the most powerful tool for drawing surface boundaries.

With Onshape’s ability to create and manipulate 3D curves, you can create awesome, complex shapes. So here is the list of curve tools you can use in Onshape

Projected Curve

Projected Curve is one tool to combine 2 sketches or a projected sketch into a surface (or faces) as a result of a 3D curve

Composite curve

Composite curve is used to turn existing edges into one curve

Bridging Curve or 3D fit Spline

The 2 tools have quite the same use by creating 3d curve using points and vertices

Edit Curve

Edit Curve is most important if you need to adjust a 3D curve curvature. So, instead of keeping the curve that has been built from the previous tools, you can adjust it with Edit Curve.

Trim Curve

If you need a partial curve, you can Trim or Extend Curve at a point or mate connector boundaries.

2D Sketch

Lastly, 2D Sketch is still a powerful tool to set boundaries in the 2D plane. Therefore, we cannot ignore it.

Within those curve tools, you can create awesome surface boundaries.

Surface tools

Once you have all of your boundaries, you can create your Surface. In Onshape, you can create a surface from Open Boundaries and Closed Loop boundaries.

Let’s take a look at those tools one by one.

Open Boundaries

For Open Boundaries, all four (4) basic 3D tools can be used on it. With Open Boundaries, your surface result is very smooth but not very precise in terms of curvature matching.

Remember that in these tools, there is a “Surface” tab.

Extrude

In case you have a simple sketch, and your final result is a linear surface, the Extrude tool is the best fit for that. So do not seek any further; the simpler, the better

Revolve

In case of a half-circle surface or something that has a central axis revolution, just use revolve.

Sweep

If you have one sketch that goes around a path, use sweep to make everything simpler

Loft

This is the most powerful tool that is mostly used in Surfacing. You will use the tool to join 2 different curves or sketches. Loft can be used for both open boundaries and closed boundaries.

Ruled Surface

Ruled Surface is quite similar to Sweep, but it is more advanced.

Closed boundaries

For closed boundaries, you can create a more precise, smooth surface curvature because you can control all parameters within it.

Loft

As stated above, we can use the Loft feature in closed boundaries by using the closing boundaries as a guide and continuity. Besides, you can use an extra parameter as a path.

Fill

You cannot use fill with open boundaries. Fill only works on loop curves. Like Loft, you can control your fill curvature with a guide that intersects boundaries.

Boundary Surface

Boundary Surface is quite similar to Loft. Unlike Loft, you have to assign all curves and match them within U and V orientations

Surface Modifier tools

Once you have created your surface, you often need to tweak the existing surface in order to accomplish the design goal. So here are a few tools you mostly use to modify your surface:

Split

This is one of the most useful surface modifier tools, in order for you to split some surface and delete faces afterwards for some surface curvature change.

Delete Face

After splitting, we always delete the face parts for curvature change.

Offset Surface

This tools also is most common in case you need to bridge 2 offseted surface for some carve or emboss pattern with the same curvature flow for example

Move Boundary

You need to move boundaries (Trim or extend) in case you want to intersect them with other Surfaces for you to use tools like Mutual trim or simple trim

Mutual Trim

If you have two (2) surfaces that you want to trim and merge at the same time, this is the perfect tool.

Within those tools, you can create an awesome Surface concept such as a Helmet or Hero’s Masks like Black Panther Mask.

I designed this Black Panther Mask using almost all the tools I mentioned above. I generated the BluePrint of this one using Gemini.

You can download the BluePrint Here.

You can even expand your creativity by creating a Car surface bodies.

I guess this Post help you to choose the best tools for your design.

Let me know your thought about it.

See you soon

The Power of Surface Tools in Onshape – Black Panther Mask Read More »

SPHERE PATTERN – GOLF BALL IN ONSHAPE

MikaiaVal

Creating pattern around sphere, such as Golf Ball is quite challenging in CAD like Onshape, Fusion360 or Solidworks. Wrapping profile into 360 deg sphere is quite impossible. The profile will be distorted or it will be placed in wrong map.

If we refer to a sphere from meshed 3D application like Blender, By using triangle or quad polygon, We can see the best pattern distribution. And translating that into CAD needs an advanced maths, by creating a point center by mapping it into the sphere surface. Quite complex, but here are a few distribution list you can apply on a sphere

In Onshape, Default wrap feature is still limited on Cylinder and Cone. Wrapping profile on a sphere is still impossible, unless we created a Custom Feature Script.

So here are 2 Custom Feature Script that you can try if you want to wrap some basic profile (circle, hexagon, square, diamond) on a sphere that I called it Sphere Pattern, or if you want to create a golf ball design.

These scripts are not stable. You can custom and improved it. You can share your improved version with me as well.

Stay tuned, I will share to you an Advanced Wrap custom script soon.

https://youtu.be/6Gj9WQtNdkc

SPHERE PATTERN – GOLF BALL IN ONSHAPE Read More »

X-Plane 12, the best Flight simulation ever.

MikaiaVal

Flight Simulator is one of the famouse simulation games. I am a big fan of simulation games, such as driving simulations with Euro Truck or American Truck and flight simulations. I played the flight simulator for the first time in 2010, just for a few months. I stopped playing it because the game was quite heavy on the laptop I had at that time. It was hard to play the game using a keyboard and mouse. In a flight simulator, the landing is one of the most challenging phases.

16 years passed, and I just bought a used Logitech X3D Pro joystick. Therefore, as a flight simulation enthusiast, I got back into the game.

There are many flight simulation games available in the market. The one I am really interested in is X-Plane by Laminar. Here are the main reasons why I chose X-Plane:

Offline playing

I can play X-Plane offline as long as I download all the tools I need for the game, such as scenery and aircraft. You can add additional add-ons if necessary (aircraft tools, airport tools and services, etc.)

Free Demos

X-Plane offers free flight demos for all users to test the game before purchasing it. The free demo version allows users 15 minutes of use before the game becomes locked. Then, the flight will start again, and the 15 minutes will restart at the same time.

Affordable simulator game

Regarding the game itself, it’s quality; mainly, the game is very affordable. You can unlock almost everything for about $60. Then enjoy the game fully.

You can choose whether you want to play it on Steam, or you want a digital download. You can even buy a DVD copy of the game. I recommend this one if you live in the US or in Europe.

The purchase is straightforward. Once you make it, you will receive an email confirmation with an installation guide.

Once you install the full version of it, you unlock another scenery globally with more than 30k airports, additional aircraft, and some extra tools such as PMDG, “Flight Factor”,etc. Plus, your flight is not limited to the 15min anymore. You can fly for as long as you want with real-time weather.

In addition, you are part of the Laminar Research Family.

One challenge I faced when I installed X-Plane in it’s demos version is that my internet is very slow. My average download speed is about 300kb/s. Also, I cannot keep my Laptop on all days. I switch it every 12 hours due to my solar panel system as my power plan. So I need 2 days or so to download all 25Gb of x-plane data as a demo. The additional data, after you purchase it, is about 60Gb, including all scenery globally. Fortunately, you can download it one by one.

So how could I overcome that challenge?

When you run the X-Plane installation, a Windows pop-up appears to guide you through the installation steps.

As you see in the picture above, normally, you should wait until the download finished. The only available buttons are: cancel installation, buy X-Plane, and back. And the new X-Plane 12 installer does not even have a close button.

So here are the steps you should follow if you need to download the demo version in 2 days or more:

Run the X-Plane installer and follow the prompt. In your first installation, when you decide to stop and switch off your laptop and your internet, go to Task Manager and look at X-Plane 12 Installer Apps, then End task.

One thing you should do before you end the task, in case you are afraid of it, is copy everything that has been downloaded as a backup in a new folder. The default X-Plane folder is located in C:\X-Plane 12. So copy everything inside that folder as backup just in case.

To continue your installation and download, run the installer again and click on “update demo”. If you see that button Update Demo, it means that everything you downloaded the day before are not lost.

After that, pick the destination where you put the previous data that you downloaded.

Next, after checking the server, scanning existing files, and your disk space, the installer shows what is left to be downloaded.

Then you can run the installation until the end.

One thing I want to highlight is that: If you cannot download all data continuously, Never hit the “Cancel installation”. Once you hit it, all data will be erased and you will download everything from the beginning. I recommend you follow the steps above.

All in all, X-Plane is one of the great games for those who like flight simulation. However, if you are a fan of Flight Simulator, you can play it because it has very good and realistic scenery too. The reason I do not choose Flight Simulator is my internet connection limit. And if you want to test and try flight simulation for Free, you can try FlightGear. I even started with FlightGear before switching into X-Plane.

As part of Laminar Research Family, I can use my skills as CAD designer for the research by designing some basic scenery and advanced aircraft tools.

One of my next challenges is driving simulation once I have all the gear for it.

X-Plane 12, the best Flight simulation ever. Read More »

The Secret of Stunning Microphone Woven Wired Mesh Grid Design in CAD With 6 main steps

MikaiaVal

Have you ever noticed the detailed mesh grid on a microphone and wondered how it’s created? It’s not just a repeating pattern—it’s a result of smart engineering and advanced CAD skills. Making a realistic, interlocking mesh that fits smoothly over a sphere might seem difficult, but with the right steps in Onshape, it’s easier than you think and leads to impressive results.

This guide will walk you through the process of designing a complex, curved woven wire mesh—like the kind you see on professional microphones. Instead of a flat texture, we’ll show you how to replicate the smooth, natural curves found in real products. You’ll learn each step in a clear, easy-to-follow way, focusing on surface modeling and 3D splines.

The secret to this complex geometry lies in a sophisticated interplay of surface splitting, 3D splines, and a specialized sweep feature. This process allows us to generate intricate, interlocking wave curves that precisely map onto a curved surface, which are then transformed into robust wires. It might sound complex, but by the end of this tutorial, you’ll have the knowledge to execute this masterful design.

The Foundation: Building The Base Surface Shape

In this guide, we will use the sphere surface as an example. That’s the base surface we are working on. Do not worry, all steps apart from the base shape example are valid for the other shapes that we most often see on a microphone head.

Design half of the sphere: Begin by selecting a Plane (front plane or right plane is OK) in Onshape. This is your primary sketching environment. Think of it as looking straight at the microphone head you intend to design.
Sketching the Profile: On this plane, draw 2 lines and turn them into construction lines. Then use 3-Point-Arc and draw an arc from the End of the 2 lines you drew. Set the dimension of the line. In my case, I chose 40mm as a radius. But most of the microphone Head is about 45mm in Diameter.

The Revolve Feature: Once your sketch is complete, use Revolve/Surface. Select your sketched profile and an axis (typically the central axis of your sketch). Onshape will then spin your 2D profile around that axis, generating a perfectly smooth, 3D spherical surface. This surface is the very foundation upon which our intricate mesh will be built.

Crucial step: Patterning the Mesh Guides

Now that we have our spherical base, the next step is to define the initial guides that will help us segment this surface. These guides are crucial for establishing the underlying structure of our woven pattern.

Guide sketch: Switch your view back to the Front Plane (or Right Plane). This is where we’ll sketch the lines that will dictate the first stage of our mesh pattern.
Drawing the Radii: Draw a line that passes through the origin and passes through the Sphere’s surface. Turn that line into a construction line. Add a Dimension between the end of the line and the origin as an offset dimension. You can experiment with that Dimension. In my case, I chose 30mm.
Create Angular lines Patterns: Create lines that we need for the guides. Use the bottom End of the 1st line we drew as the angular origin. Drew lines that fit the base surface. In this Example, I chose 4 lines. Then set the angle. So the angle between the construction line and the 2nd line, in my case, is 7.5 degrees. And between the 2nd line and the 3rd line is 15 degrees. And the rest will be this 15 degrees.

Extruding the Guides: After that, Extrude/surface those lines. Make sure that the Extrude Distance you set covers your base surface. Do not forget to check the “symmetry” option when extruding.

Custom Checker Pattern Guide

This is where our flat 2D guides begin to transform into dynamic 3D elements that conform to our spherical shape. Surface splitting is a powerful tool that allows us to carve our base surface using other geometric entities.

Circular Pattern: Pattern the Extruded lines we created in the previous step. Use a Circular pattern, and pattern bodies 4 times.

Create a Custom Checker Pattern Guide: After patterning, click on the Split commands and choose the Face tab. Choose the sphere as the Face to split with, and choose the other surfaces as the entities to split with. Uncheck “the keep tools” because we do not need the tool anymore.

Refining the Canvas: Preparation and Offset

Before we can start drawing our intricate 3D wave curves, we need to refine our split surface and create the necessary space for the “weaving” effect. This involves a bit of strategic cleanup and duplication.

Strategic Face Deletion: This step might seem counterintuitive, but it’s essential for simplifying the design process. You’ll need to delete faces from your newly split spherical surface. This focus allows for clearer visualization as you construct the intricate spline paths. Delete faces like checkers. Keep the center faces, but delete the rows next to them. It will help you with the pattern in the last step. And only delete faces on the half of the sphere.
Offsetting the Surface: Now, select the entire remaining surface (not just a single face) and use the Offset feature. This creates a parallel duplicate of your surface, positioned at a specific distance from the original.

The Heart of the Mesh: Crafting Interlocking Wave Curves

This is arguably the most artistic and critical step in the entire process. Here, we’ll use 3D splines to draw the paths that our wires will follow, creating that characteristic woven look. The key is careful point placement and alternating between your two offset surfaces.

Initiating the First Wave: Activate the 3D Spline tool. This allows you to draw curves directly in 3D space, unbound by a single sketch plane.
Alternating Points – The Weaving Secret: The magic happens by strategically placing the spline points. You can check here for more explanation
- For your very first point, start on the offsetted surface.
- For the second point, switch and place it on the original surface.
- Continue this pattern: the third point goes back to the offsetted surface, the fourth to the original, and so on. This continuous alternation between the two surfaces is what generates the natural “over and under” effect of a woven mesh.
- Pro-Tip: Pay close attention to the visual cues provided by your split surfaces. The grid lines created by the initial splitting will serve as excellent guides for where to place your spline points, ensuring a uniform and aesthetically pleasing pattern.
The Next Wave – Opposite Start: When you begin drawing your next wave curve, it’s crucial to start on the opposite surface from where your previous curve began. If your first curve started on the offset surface, your second curve must begin on the original surface. This ensures that the two curves interlock correctly, creating that authentic woven appearance.
Repeating the Pattern: Continue creating all the necessary wave curves for one segment of your mesh. Remember to alternate the starting surface for each new line to maintain the interlocking pattern. This meticulous process builds the core weaving structure.

Bringing it to Life: Wires and Final Pattern

With all your intricate 3D spline curves in place, the final steps involve transforming these abstract lines into tangible wires and then replicating them across the entire sphere to form the complete mesh.

The “Circle Sweep” Feature Script: This is where Onshape’s flexibility truly shines. Instead of using the standard, more manual Sweep feature, leverage a custom Feature Script. We recommend searching the Onshape App Store or community forums for a tool like “Circle Sweep”. This script is a game-changer because it allows you to quickly generate a uniform, round 3D wire body along your selected spline curves with minimal effort. This significantly speeds up the process compared to sketching a circular profile and sweeping it manually for each curve.
Applying to All Curves: Apply the Circle Sweep feature to every single one of the wave curves you meticulously created. Watch as your delicate 3D splines instantly transform into robust, metallic wires, forming the initial woven segment of your microphone mesh.
The Grand Finale: Circular Pattern: With your primary wire segment complete, the very last step is to perform a final Circular Pattern on all the wire bodies you’ve just created. Select all the individual wire components, choose your central axis, and define the number of instances needed to fully encircle your spherical base. Onshape will then replicate your woven segment, completing the full, stunning microphone mesh grid.

Beyond the Mesh: Your Design Journey Continues

And there you have it! A comprehensive breakdown of how to design a highly detailed, realistic woven wire mesh on a non-planar surface using advanced Onshape techniques. This method transcends basic patterning, allowing you to create designs that truly mimic the organic, complex nature of real-world objects like microphone grids.

This Technics can be used with other CAD software such as Solidworks, Fusion360

What complex geometric challenge will you tackle next?

If you need a clear explanation video, Watch here 👇

The Secret of Stunning Microphone Woven Wired Mesh Grid Design in CAD With 6 main steps Read More »

Design 4 times faster using Hotkeys in Solidworks free tips

MikaiaVal / Design faster, hotkeys, keyboard shortcut, Solidworks

Designers can perform tasks quicker than using menus or mouse clicks. Consequently, it will boost your productivity. In Solidworks, Apart from mouse gestures and any other shortcuts, you can simply press a key for a tool or features.

In Solidworks, it’s easy to setup keyboard shortcut. You can assign any keys you want to any tools and features in Solidworks. For example, pressing “C” at sketch mode to draw a circle or press Alt+S for a sweep.

I used keyboard shortcut when I design the multi-layer coil in this video.

Before assigning any other hotkeys, it is preferable to see all Solidworks default Keyboard shortcut.

To see all default keyboard shortcuts, go to the top bar / left click / Customize and Click on the Keyboard tab. On the “Show” Section, choose Commands with Keyboard Shortcuts

You can download this Solidworks default shortcut list here.

If you do not want to assign any other shortcut keys, that’s fine. You can just memorize and be familiar with the default keyboard shortcut that has already assigned.

But you can design quicker if you assign hotkeys for the tools and features that you use often. Sketch tools at least.

As suggestion, you can assign hotkeys for:

Line
Rectangle
Circle
Arc
Offset
Convert entities
Trim
Toggle to construction line
Some common constraint
Measure

Memorizing All hotkeys might be overwhelming.

Hence, Here are 2 tips:

Assign a keyboard shortcut for tools and features that you use frequently.
Choose a hotkeys that you are familiar with. Like mine, I have chosen the first characters of the features or tools. Combined it with Alt, shift or ctrl if it is the same character.

But I can assure you that the longer you use it, the more you like it. You can try it for free in solidworks.

I hope it will help you to design faster in Solidworks.

Design 4 times faster using Hotkeys in Solidworks free tips Read More »

Spring with taper profile in Solidworks

MikaiaVal / cad, Solidworks, Spring

Creating spring with taper profile is quite tricky with Solidworks. Sweep feature does not have yet an option of taping the profile while using circle as profile.

Fortunately, it is possible to create such a design by using a loft feature. I will show you the main step of it.

1. Create the base Sketch of helix

Choose a working plane such as Top plane and sketch a circle that you will use for helix path.

2. Create the helix path

Create the helix from the circle base sketch by using helix function. Put all needed parameters you need to create your helix. In my case, I have chosen height and revolution as a based definition. You can have a look at creating rectangle spring to know some details of where to find the helix and spiral function. You can check also this Youtube video for a basic knowledge of Helix and spiral.

3. Create the first profile

Choose a plane normal to the start of the circle and create your first circle profile. In my case, the first start of the helix is normal to the right plane. So I chose the right plane to draw the first circle. Draw it to the center point of the path. To get that center point, derive the 3D helix.

4. Create the second profile

Like the previous step, draw the second profile to the normal plane of the end of the helix path. In my case, the front plane is the normal plane of the end. Note that I have chosen 3.25 as the number of revolution in order to have different normal drawing plane of the 2 profile. But in most cases, the normal plane of the 2 profile is the same.

5. Create the spring with Loft

Last step, use loft feature to join the 2 different profile sketch. As we draw the profiles to the center of start and end of the path, we will put the helix path as centerline parameters.

So instead of guide curves, use Centerline parameters.

Now you know how to create this kind of spring. It seems simple, but sometimes we have a struggle in using some option on Solidworks features.

Keep practicing and see you next time.

Spring with taper profile in Solidworks Read More »

Top 5 best freelance platform websites

MikaiaVal / cad, Fiverr, Freelance, Mechanical engineering, Upwork

Starting from 2020, because of Covid-19, remote work has become more popular. Freelancing grows up and many people, fresh graduate people and even students start their career as a Freelancer. In this article, I will give 5 websites that you can get a job as a Freelance.

Everyone needs a job. People should work and need money for life. The goal of each person who does freelancing is to do the work they love, earn money, and have more time for their own need such as family activities, personal businesses, …etc.

Freelance website, or freelance platform, is a place that people can search for a project. It is also a place where business people or individual people seek for a Freelancer to help them with their projects. So the 5 Websites for Freelancing are:

Fiverr
Upwork
Freelancer
LinkedIn
Guru

Fiverr

I put Fiverr at the top of the list because it is the best platform for those who want to start in the freelance world. Besides, this is my preferred platform because I got almost all the projects I work on Fiverr.

On Fiverr, you show up your skills and sell your services as gigs. For example, I am a mechanical engineer, specializing in CAD design. Therefore, I sell a service of CAD design and mechanical engineering. So I am a seller. After that, people who need my services see your gigs and ask you if you can work on their projects. These are buyers.

On Fiverr, buyers find service sellers.

So, Fiverr is for selling services. Before, sellers could search for projects and apply on a “buyer request”. But Fiverr remove this feature recently and replace it with “best match”.

On Fiverr, you can use one account to sell your services and seek sellers. You can toggle between it easily.

To get started with Fiverr, it is better to follow some tips from experts. You can check the video below as an example.

Upwork

Upwork is one of the most popular freelance websites. Personally, I got my first freelance project on Upwork. there are a lot of projects posted on Upwork every day.

Unlike Fiverr, you search for a project on Upwork and apply by sending a proposal. If the project owner finds that you are suitable for their project, you get hired and start working.

So, Upwork is for finding projects. One advantage of Upwork is that you can create a project catalog. Something similar to “Gigs” on Fiverr. Therefore, the Client also can hire you through this feature.

On Upwork, you sign up as Freelancer or as a Client in 2 separate accounts.

You can check the video to guide you with Upwork.

Freelancer

Freelancer is the first freelance platform I discovered 10 years ago. It is still a popular freelance platform.

Freelance is almost similar to Upwork. You will find a project there and you will bid for it. And if clients find you are suitable for their project, you will get hired.

You can also take part in a contest there and you can earn money if you win.

Look at the video below to get inspired and take part of freelancer at freelancer.com

LinkedIn is more likely a social media. But, it is also one of the best places to find a project and get hired.

As a social media, make a social connection. Show your skills by posting something and being active.

Many fresh freelancer start their freelance journey on LinkedIn and they are success.

Check out the video below to use linkedIn for freelancing.

Guru

Like freelancer and Upwork, you can find also projects at guru. There are people who post projects on guru. If it matches your skills, you can apply.

Compared with Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer; Guru is less popular than the 3 other platforms. Hence, it is the best option for those who start freelancing. You have a high chance to get your first freelancing project on guru.

Check out the video below to discover more about Guru.

All in all, if you are still hesitate or don’t know where to start, you can visit the 5 freelance platforms below and explore more.

The most important thing is that, if you want to work as a Freelance, start and be patient. Always learn new thing. For example, you can learn CAD to increase your skills. You can see a post I have written about Free CAD you can use. You can contact me or email me if you want to learn it deeply.

Top 5 best freelance platform websites Read More »

How to use Solidworks for free.

1 Comment / MikaiaVal / cad, CAD design, CAD software, Solidworks

HOW TO USE SOLIDWORKS FOR FREE Online

Solidworks is one of the most useful CAD in the industry. Thus, many schools and universities use Solidworks to train students. Besides, there are many people trying to learn this application because it is a required skills, fun and mainly a most powerful. However, Solidworks license is quite expensive for personal use and many people cannot afford it. Fortunately, we can test and use Solidworks for free. In this article, I will show you how to use Solidworks for free step by step. If you want to know other existed free CAD software, I have a list of the top 5 free powerful CAD software you can use.

So, let’s get started.

To have the access of free Solidworks, what you need are an Internet, a device with an Internet browser. Recommended Internet browser are Google chrome or Safari.

First, open your browser and search on Google mysolidworks and go to this site

After that, signup. You can find the signup link on the top right of the website.

Then, follow these 6 steps carefully.

1. Provide your e-mail address and check I am not Solidworks customer or I do not have Solidworks license. In case you have Solidworks license or Solidworks customer, you will check the second one and put your license in the filling box bellow. Then, click Next

2. Go to your e-mail address and copy the validation code you receive. You will get this validation code instantly. In case you encounter any error during the process of signup, go back to this step to request a new validation code.

3. Paste it to the validation code area and click next.

4. Next, provide the information, including your institution/company and physical address.

5. After that select the account you have created in the previous form and click on pick this account

6. This is the last step. You fill out forms about yourself and create a password. Read Solidworks Privacy policy and check that you agree.

Then click next.

After that, you will receive a welcome email to confirm that you register to Solidworks online account.

Therefore, you can log in to try Solidworks online and use it for free. You can see login next to signup on the top right of the main page. Use the e-mail address you use to register and put your password and login.

After login, click on “Try SOLIDWORKS” menu

Then scroll down to the next section after the header, check the agreement, choose language you want and Launch Solidworks.

Wait until Solidworks launch. While launching, there is a license agreement that will pop up. Click accept and Solidworks will open

Finally, you have access to Solidworks. You can fully test Solidworks for free with all functionality, features, and news.

Congratulations.

Bonus.

You may ask if you can import external Solidworks files to online Solidworks. And, you may also ask if you can save the project you made to your local device.

The answer is YES. And I will show you how to do it

First, let us start with process of saving the project you worked on Solidworks trial to your local device.

1. Save your project. Go to file/Save. Save it in “home folder” or “template folder”.

2. Then, click on the “My files” (As shown in the pictures below) menu of the launcher. Go to the folder you saved the file previously by double-clicking on it. After that, click on the “arrow down” on the right of the file you want to save locally and click download.

Specify the download path on your device, and you have your design saved locally.

Second, if you want to import your file from your device to be used on the Solidworks trial, follow this step.

1. Go to “my files”/ Upload files. You can see the upload files button on the top right of my files dialog box.

2. After that, browse to the file you want to import from your device, then open

3. You have your files uploaded.

Then you can just go to your working area. Go to file/open. And open the file you have just uploaded.

There is a video available here to show this step by step.

Enjoy it and hope you discover something when you try Solidworks online.

To start with you can design a spring by following this step-by-step tutorial.

How to use Solidworks for free. Read More »

Top 5 Free CAD software in 2022

MikaiaVal / ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, cad, Computer-Aided Design, FreeCAD, fusion360, Geomagic DesignX, Inventor, Onshape, PTC Creo, Salome, Siemens Nx, Sketchup, Solidworks

Here is 5 Free CAD software that you can use to do your design project.It is crucial for a company and industry to find something new to make people’s life easier. Consequently, projects or companies need expert design engineers such a job, by finding new things, creating new machines. And one of the main tools that engineers use is software that allows them to design something. However, much professional software is very expensive. Moreover, many people cannot afford it. Hence, the easiest way to learn CAD design is to use Free software which is very useful for fresh engineers and students.

On that account, I will state 5 free CAD software that you can use and learn with their advantages and drawbacks from my experiences.

Solidworks free CAD software trial Online access

Solidworks is one of the most common CAD software because many companies use it. Its Interface is very common and very easy to use. On the one hand, cost of the software is very expensive for professional use. On the other hand, it is less expensive if you want to learn it or use it as hobbies.

Therefore, subscribe to the Solidworks website to have free access to it.

After that, if you want to use it offline and Standalone, you can buy a hobbits license from here. It’s about $99/year.

Advantages of Solidworks:

Many Industries and companies use Solidworks.
The interface is user-friendly.
Very intuitive because of its powerful tools and features
Plastic Add-ins, mold, and sheet metal make work quicker. So you do not need to design these features from scratch.
There are FEA and CFD tools with Solidworks.
Can export files for 3D print, CNC, and 2D floor-plan for manufacturing.
On the contrary, Solidworks standalone needs a workstation, while online access needs a browser with high-speed internet and great CPU and RAM.

Drawbacks:

You should have access to the internet network.
Even though it is online access, you should have enough resources like CPU and RAM to run it smoothly.

After some research, we can upload the file we designed with mySolidworks Online to your local disk. And vice versa, you can upload your file from your local disk to mySolidworks.

Onshape free CAD software Online access

It is also one of the most powerful online CAD applications. Moreover, Onshape interface is very similar to Autodesk fusion360 and Autodesk Inventor. Hence. I really prefer this software and recommend it to those who want to use CAD.

Therefore, subscribe to the Onshape website to have free access to the software. Furthermore, you can upgrade your membership in order for you to secure your project and to have more storage.

Advantages of Onshape:

Like many professional CAD software.
Easy to use.
Import many other files from other CAD software like Solidworks file, fusion360 file, Inventor file, PTC file, ProE file, …etc.
Similarly, you can export and use with other CAD software such as Solidworks, fusion360, Inventor …etc. Hence, you can solve locally.
There are many partnerships with Onshape.
It does not need a workstation.

Drawbacks:

Online only.
Unfortunately, projects are available publicly for a free license.
Better with a good internet speed, high CPU, and high ram.

FreeCAD software

FreeCAD is mostly used by students. Apart from that, Linux and Apple users can use this software because it is open-source. Moreover, there are a lot of features called Workbenches. Plus, many Archi engineers use ArchiCAD with its powerful BIM features. On the other side, as it is an Opensource software, you can use Blender for the best visualization and rendering.

If you need more details about it, go to its official website. FreeCAD is totally free CAD software.

Advantages of FreeCAD:

Free and Open source, available for all operating systems.
Does not require a powerful workstation to run the software.
A lot of workbenches and scripts to help do work faster.

Drawbacks:

The user interface is not friendly.
Slower than other CAD software.
A lot of design limitations.
Better to know python programming for advanced users.

You can check this to get started with Freecad.

Salome Free CAD software

Few words to say about Salome. It is like FreeCAD. It is an open-source one. What makes it different from FreeCAD is on User Interface. For more details go to its official website.

Besides, one advantage of Salome is its ability to run the advanced numerical simulation with it.

Salome is totally free CAD software.

Fusion360 free CAD software

Fusion360 is an Autodesk product that allows the industrial designer to design something. In addition to that, it is one of the most powerful CAD software regarding its tools and ease of using the software. Besides, Fusion360 offers a free version for hobbits and students in order to explore and learn CAD.

To get access to the free version of this software, please visit its website by clicking this link. Explore this website and choose the plan suitable for you.

Unlike Onshape and Free Solidworks, Fusion360 can be installed on Windows as software and you can use it offline. But I recommend you to stay connected while using Fusion360.

Advantages of Fusion360:

Powerful tools and Interfaces are user-friendly.
You can save files locally as a Fusion360 file.
It allows preparing files for 3D print and CNC.

Drawbacks:

The free license has a limit of file edition.
No dwg, Dxf, and pdf export for a free license. To extract a pdf with a free license, choose the print option.
Simulation on Fusion is not free.

Therefore, people like students, hobbits, or someone who are keen on using CAD can get and learn for free by using one of the listed free CAD software. Moreover, it is a versatile software. Other than that, the listed CAD software has its own advantages and disadvantages.

I, personally, prefer using Onshape because I can import and export a variety of other CAD files with it. Besides that, there are a lot of things available on the Onshape AppStore that you can use as an Onshape extension such as Onscale for numerical simulation that personally I really need it. There is a lot of paid extensions of Onshape also available in the Onshape AppStore.

Ultimately, you can try to test all the 5 free CAD software listed above and use the one that you are familiar with.

Rectangle spring in Solidworks | 2 best methods.

MikaiaVal / cad, CAD design, Non-circle spring, rectangle spring, Solidworks, Spring

Solidworks is one the most powerful CAD software that most people and companies use. Beginners and even experts sometimes have a hard time finding some functionality or features to design something. For example, creating non-circle coils. So how to create a rectangle spring in Solidworks? I will give 2 step-by-step methods for it.

I have made this guide because I needed to create a rectangle spring in Solidworks on my project. However, we can get a helical sketch in Solidworks only from only a circle. Hence, I try to find one on YouTube and I found a lot of tutorial about it. Unfortunately, my computer is always stuck when doing it. Therefore, I try to find another method of creating it.

So let’s get started.

1st method: Extract the rectangle helical sketch from a circle helical surface to generate the rectangle spring in Solidworks

The first method is almost used and taught by many designers. Here is some of the best guide to it. But here is how I will proceed on it.

Create a rectangle sketch in one plane and extrude it for the length you need (and add fillet),
Create a circle in the center/bottom plane of your rectangle (not bigger than the main surface) and use Helix/Spiral command to create the coil sketch. Choose the right setting for your spiral which includes height, pitch, revolution, …etc.
Create a line at the end of the coil sketch and normal to it. This line should cover the volume of the rectangle,
Go to Surface/sweep to create a surface coil. Use the line as profile and spiral as the path.
To extract the rectangle Sketch, go to the menu Tools/Sketch tools/ Intersection curve. Then Select all surfaces and OK.
Finally, you have your Rectangle 3D sketches. Go to Features/sweep. Choose a circular profile and use the 3D sketch as a path and define a diameter.Your rectangle spring is done.

The main advantages:

Quicker with high specs workstation
It can generate many other types of shapes such as cone, sphere spring, …etc.

A disadvantage:

It is not efficient for low specs laptop or desktop

Depending on your need, you can choose this first method for your purpose.

2nd Method: Generate 3D non-circle sketch from 2D sketches to generate the rectangle coils in Solidworks

These are the main steps for the 2nd method

Create 4 planes that limit your rectangle. Tips: always create it from the center.
Start sketching in the first plane and do the sketch as shown in the pictures below. Before doing the sketch, choose all of your helix parameters in advance regarding mainly the pitch and revolution. Then pattern it from the revolution you have chosen.
Then choose the next plane perpendicular to it and sketch the other line. Proceed like the 2nd step.
After finishing sketching the 4 planes, verify it. All lines should coincide with each other apart from the start and end.
Next, create a new 3D sketch, and choose all lines you have created by using the Convert entities command. Add fillet in the 3D sketch.
Finally, you have your Rectangle 3D sketches. Go to Features/sweep. Choose a circular profile and use the 3D sketch as a path and define a diameter.

The main advantages:

Nothing new to creating the 3D sketches
Design is very clean
It is better to use this method for visualization purpose
This method is more convenient to create multiple-7layer coils

A disadvantage:

Spending more time using this method.
Spring path is too straight, not like a regular spring path.

That is all I have discovered about this design. If you need more clarification in creating, please follow the tutorial video above so that you are not lost in each step.

Solidworks gives us a better tools to create such a simple design that seems too complicate. Rectangle spring designed are mostly used in electrical and electronic field. For example, a motor coil in rotor or stator. And, we need sometimes rectangle spring details in vizualisation.

Hope you find the above guide useful, and you will not get trouble again in creating rectangle spring or any other profile.

Rectangle spring in Solidworks | 2 best methods. Read More »