Introduction to SolidWorks

Lesson 1 – Introducing SolidWorks
Section I – Preliminaries Practice Exercises

SIDEBARS

Practice Exercises

1. Click HelpSolidWorksHelp on the Main Menu and study the section User
   Interface.


2. Click HelpSolidWorksHelp on the Main Menu and use Search to find information
   about the CommandManager.


3. Click HelpSolidWorksTutorials on the Main Menu and find the Tutorial Lesson 1.
   Complete the exercise. (Caution: The units in the Tutorial are mm. A common error by
   beginners is to draw with the wrong units. The result will look identical in the monitor
   screen, but a part drawn in mm will be smaller than the same part drawn in inches.)


4. On the Task Pane, click SolidWorks Resources click to visit the SolidWorks
   Discussion Forum. (You have to register to gain access.) Follow one thread and write a
   paragraph describing the discussion.


5. On the Task Pane, find SolidWorks Resources and locate the most convenient
   SolidWorks user group that you can visit.


6. On the Task Pane, open the Design Library and click to visit 3D Content Central.
   Download one file and open it from within SolidWorks. (Note: You have to register or log-
   in before you can download files.)

Questions

1. You will need a partner to do this exercise. First, find the drawings of the deck in the
   Appendix. Describe the deck to your partner in words. Your partner will draw the part
   while you describe it. Answer the questions that your partner asks for clarification, but do
   not reveal the drawing or look at your partner’s representation of the part. When the
   drawing is complete, answer the following questions:
   a. How accurate is your partner’s final representation of the part? Is the result more
   accurate if both of you know about skateboarding and have the same mental
   image of the deck?
   b. How easy (or difficult) was it to communicate the information needed to draw the
   part? How long did it take?


2. Research the origins and history of skateboarding and skateboards.


3. Research the history of computers and CAD.