Starting Solidworks

[AntonyUK]

Hi.

I am just getting into CAD modeling and I have Solidworks ver 2005.

I am learning the very basics at the moment. Not easy at when your over 60.

The purpose of learning this is I want to do a very detailed cross section of the Victory.

My question is... Is there anyone else out there using Solidworks ??

I have found a few very good Utube starter videos.

Any advice apart from telling me to change software is welcome (as I already own Solidworks the cost will kill the project).

 

Many thanks Antony.

[WackoWolf]

Antony,

 

   If you are just learning this I do feel sorry for you, not trying to be disrespectfully to you or anyone else. But this software is very hard, I know for a fact I even went to collage for it just for this hobby. Making frames isn't easy like making gears and other stuff, I have books and more books plus videos etc. I wish I could tell you different but I can't. I am going to post some pictures for you and maybe you might understand what I am saying. And yes I know what the software cost, I am using version 2011 and believe me it not cheap at all and I got a break because of collage and the service.

[WackoWolf]

more. The jpg 7_27_13 is from work I had done yesterday on two of the frames and the keel and stern post. I have been working on this well over a year now.

Edited July 28, 2013 by WackoWolf

[WackoWolf]

Wish you had ask before you bought the software, I would have told you to try some other software first. Now don't get me wrong, once you know how to do it you can do anything, it is just the learning curve that is the big set back. Wish you the best of luck.

[AntonyUK]

Hi Wacko.

Thanks for the pictures. They look brill.

I had the software some years ago. A friend went to collage and bought the software and quit collage and engineering design. So I ended up with the software

How did you get the curves for the frames ? Inport a scan or draw freehand ?

 

Regards Antony.

[WackoWolf]

First off I am not the best person to ask this. But let me see if I can help some. You got to use the plans. Then use the body plans to get the hull and then you can go on from there. This isn't shown in any books or videos. I was taught this by a good friend who gets on line with me every few weeks, and I always make sure I record everything he shows me and go from there. You also have to learn how to make planes ( not air planes ). You get your shape of the hull from the plans for the ship. The ship I am working on is the Confederacy, which there is no framing plans for, so it had to be made. This picture here you can see the framing plan or part of it.

Edited July 28, 2013 by WackoWolf

[WackoWolf]

I did the body plans in AutoCAD, then I imported them into SoildWorks and then use the spline command to draw them in.

[smatsik]

Antony,

 

I am not sure about Solidworks, but in AutoCAD I would import the scan and then trace it with a spline command. You should be able to do the same thing in Solidworks but I cannot give you the command sequence as my experience with it is about 2 days work on a flat plat we were designing at work. In looking over how to do things I saw what looked like all the commands to do this just never tried it myself. Solidworks looks interesting, particularly the lofted surface to use in defining a hull then intersecting it with a plane to get the curves you need. But as others have said it also has a vicious learning curve. My suggestion is to just play around with it on a simpler project like a ship's  boat for a while till you understand how to do things efficiently.

 

Hoss

[AntonyUK]

Hi Joe or is it Wacko ?

I am following a Utube vid "Canoe hull loft in Solidworks". By Behnt.

This looks like the best bet for me.

I have the Longridge and the McKay books on the Victory.

So it's going to be a long hall. But self satisfaction is the key to enjoyment while learning.

I will report any major steps here as I go along.

 

Thanks Antony

[AntonyUK]

Hi.

After 1 and a half hours i produced the keel.

Its my First ever CAD item.

 

Thats it for tonight

Regards Antony

[terryoneill]

Antony, I use solid works 2005 every day at work. I use it for parts used in blowout preventers here in houston. If you have any specific questions I will be more that happy to help.

[pompey2]

Hi Antony.

Same here, I have been using SolidWorks for my 'real' job for about 8 years.

If I can help please feel free to ask.

My thoughts are that using 3D is certainly harder that 2D (AutoCAD etc) but a lot more satifying and ultimately a lot more useful.

 

Nick

[AntonyUK]

Hello Terry and Nick.

Thanks I might take you up on that offer if I get stuck.

Doing alright at the moment and just tracing the frames into Solidworks.

Again thanks for the offer.

 

Regards Antony.

[AntonyUK]

Hi.

Ok sort of stuck..

If I draw a line on a angle and I want to draw another line mirrored from the first line. IE same angle and length. HOW is this Done ?

Photocopy of part below.

Just spent hours and Failed. Have googled for videos

 

Regards Antony

[terryoneill]

Hi Antony, Use the mirror function , you will need to draw a center line first for it to work, don't use the solids mirror but the sketch entities one. If you use the center line sketch entity it wont show up when you generate a solid.

 

 

Terry

Edited August 2, 2013 by terryoneill

[AntonyUK]

Hi Terry.

 Thanks M8 took me a few mins to figure it out. Works like a dream now

 

Many thanks Antony.

[terryoneill]

Hi janos, It takes a lot of memory to use splines and surfaces. If you have 8 gig on your machine it is slow but works. The machine that Antony probably has may not have enough to create a hull as you have described. I have also modeled the olympia this way and could create bulkheads where ever I wanted but had to leave the room to wait any time I made new geometry. Glad I could help Antony ! Have fun with it.

 

Terry

[AntonyUK]

Hi Janos and Terry.

I am not the best person when it comes to what's inside of my PC

I know that the CPU is an i7 and the Graphics card is a Nivida.

My son is a computer buff and looks after it for me. (Professional)

I am very happy with what I have created so far. One compleat frame in sections at 1 /36 scale of the victory. And the keel and the keelsom.

 

BTW . Janos I love the work you are doing on your CAD on MSW

 

Regards Antony.

[stevepax]

Hi Anthony

 

Have you looked at he SolidWorks Bible?  The tutorials seem thorough and the online videos are very informative.

 

 

Steve

[Don9of11]

I started learning Solidworks when it first came out back in 97 when I was a forging die designer and I found it to be very easy to learn and use. That said, I also had several years of board experience and several years of using a 2d CAD program called Anvil 1000. I still use SW 2004 and wish I could get a more recent version.

 

Lofting a ships hull is a rather "lofty" and ambitious goal for someone just starting out, but with perseverence and paitence I'm sure you'll succeed. However, you might want to take a step back and learn some basic concepts on how to use SW. I learned by taking out some of my old vocational drafting projects I did in high school and worked with it evey day until I got the basics under my belt. Within a couple to 3 weeks I was pretty much back to my previous produciton level using 2d CAD.

 

If you need any help just ask, I'm sure I can help you.

[nrg710]

Just discovered this forum and particularly this discussion. I'm currently planning a model of The Titanic at 1/87, and I want to get the hull right.

 

I'm planning it in solidworks, with a view to having the frames laser cut and the bow and stern sections CNC milled. I'll then stick it all together and use high speed tape to emulate the hull plating. Not sure how I'm going to do the rivets yet... I'll figure that one out later!

 

I'm having a bit of trouble getting the loft for the hull to work. I have tried all of these techniques, and still can't get a sensible loft:

 

- 2D sketch on planes that are at each frame - loft between the 28 or so frames.

- 3D sketch of the main rail, 2D sketch of the hull contours at 6", 3', 6', 9', 12', 18', 24' and 30'

 

I'm also experimenting with creating a boundary surface and then freeforming to meet the shapes described in the half breadth diagram (as described https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I00QBv9khMA&list=HL1386170537)

 

I think my sketches must be dodgy, because I just can't get anything to work. What do I need to look out for when sketching for a loft like this?

[Don9of11]

I have had some experience in this area but I have SW 2004 so I may not be able to help you. I used SW to develop the hull of the USS Zellars DD-777. One of the problems I ran into was a zero thickness issue at the bow and stern areas because I was trying to form the hull using all the sections and SW kept barking at me about zero thicknesses. I ended up loftng the bow and stern separately. If you can post a couple photos maybe I can give some suggestions or PM me with more particulars.

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2013 by Don9of11

[WackoWolf]

I went to collage to learn AutoCAD and SoildWorks just for this reason. You do need a good amount of memory, I have 32 gig in my machine and can go up to 64 gig if needed. Yes it does use a lot of memory to do POF, the spline tool I use all the time also planes. I have to turn them off when I get to a certain part of the frame build or my eyes go nuts. Here is a pictures from last weeks work on the ship I am doing. The second pictures is showing some of the Planes that I am using, you will notice that is an older picture because of the amount of frames that are now done. Takes time. I am using 2010 version. I also learn after some time with working with the program how to crash it, I have done that more than once believe me. Once you know how it can me force to crash you really start to understand the program, it isn't as easy as one might think for this hobby but for other things that you might want to build it is easy to learn. Building ships is different in a lot of ways, but it can be done and I am so far doing it and learning more and more each time I make another frame. Just my option.

Edited December 6, 2013 by WackoWolf

[nrg710]

Wow, Wackowolf- that's some project! And dedication- going to college to learn SW. Well, the results are looking good.

 

And Don- many thanks. Your idea looks very much the same as mine. I won't upload the main hull, because it's quite a complex set of sketches but the principle is the same as for the lifeboats: tracing each frame and then attempting to loft between them.

 

Trimetric:

The gunwhale is highlighted. This is a 3D sketch and is a spline joining the top point of each frame.

 

This is a view from the front. Note that the centre profile is on the origin- this will then be extruded about 1mm to replicate the 3" thickness of the spine of the boat.

 

The side profile:

 

Attempt to loft the 3D sketches that are the gunwhale and where the bottom of frames join the spine of the boat

 

Attempt to loft together the 2D sketches that are the frames (only 3 frames selected, but I get the same error with selecting all the frames. Each frame is selected as an "open loop").

 

And here is the solidworks file (created using SW2013) http://www.filedropper.com/lifeboat3

 

I suspect that the "open loop" things is creating the problems that I'm having.... if you could share the benefit of your experience, that would be appreciated!

[WackoWolf]

your trying to knit them. try doing just a loft and not a knit. That is the only thing I can see. This isn't easy. But I have never done it as a knit. Let me know what happens.

[nrg710]

Tried to educate myself about the differences between a loft and a knit, but I'm still none the wiser.

 

However I have played around with the surface loft (why didn't I think of this before) and this is what I have come up with

 

 

Could you suggest a way of tidying this up? I was thinking about sketching over the frames with one spline, but I'm not sure if the "waves" on the side of the hull indicate bad sketching or construction. I'm still quite new to model boatbuilding and solidworks, so please bear with me!

[WackoWolf]

I am lost as to what happen. But I was sure that trying to knit it wasn't right, when I was at that stage was about a year back and I am not sure at this point in time which way it was that I did it. I will have to look back at the video files I have on hand to see how I did it. I make a video recording everytime I do work on mine so that I can go back and see which way I did it. This is a old picture I have of when I did the loft. Not sure how it's going to help you but figure I would put it up for you.

[Don9of11]

nrg710, the waviness in the surface is caused by the irregularities in your cross-sections. In the photo you posted showing the front view, I can see that the sections don't form smooth curves, so you need to do a little work with those to smooth them out. Also, make sure that the sections run along a "fair" curve from one end of the keel to the other. I call these "guide curves" and if the guide curves are smooth and fair that is with no dips or high spots then your hull will form more nicely. Otherwise you work looks very good.

 

WackWolf, awesome work on your model. How many guns on this ship your building.

Edited December 10, 2013 by Don9of11

[WackoWolf]

The Confederacy had 36 guns. The thing about the guns is that if you do it to the real history not all the guns will match, they got the guns from wherever they could at the time. So a person would have to make all the guns the same which isn't true to history. Oh well such is life. Thank you.

[nrg710]

After playing around with the sketches (a lot!) I've finally come up with something that I'm reasonably happy with.

 

http://youtu.be/CyKVafTTl7Q

 

I created a surface loft between the gunwhale and the keel and used surface fill to fill in the gaps left at the front. I'm not that satisfied with the surface fill, but it's a minor point.

 

This is what I'm trying to model:

 

 

 

Any tips for improving my model would be much appreciated.

 

The next step is to start putting the planks on... steep learning curve here we come!

 

BTW I make no apology for using terms like "front", "back", "left" and "right" as opposed to fore/aft/bow/stern/port/stbd" etc. I do this because of my flying background, safe in the knowledge that it annoys the navy!!!