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Motivation for Writing this Book
My reason for writing another “Introduction to SolidWorks” book is to emphasize the role and
importance of computer aided design (CAD) and engineering drawings in communicating design
ideas. The old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” is true in mechanical engineering
design. Often it is impossible to describe a complex design in words and we must use
engineering drawings.
Many introductory CAD tutorials focus only on the software and train students to be skilled CAD
operators. This book also places equal emphasis on creating engineering drawings that comply
with accepted design standards. Although much effort and resources have been expended in
technologies that reduce or eliminate the need for paper documents, most organizations still
depend on engineering drawings in paper or electronic form.
Engineering drawings are still the most important and efficient method of communication
between the design and manufacturing functions. They are also necessary for the maintenance
and repair of consumer and industrial products as varied as automobiles, airplanes, earth
moving equipment and cruise ships. Lastly, engineering drawings are legal documents and
commonly used to determine and apportion fault in product liability lawsuits. For all these
reasons, every engineering and manufacturing professional must be proficient at creating,
understanding and using engineering drawings.
Target Audience
This book is written primarily for classroom instruction at the high school, vocational and college
level. With that audience in mind, SolidWorks commands are introduced while designing a
skateboard.
Experienced CAD professionals that want to learn SolidWorks on their own will also find the
book useful. The book is organized in a way that allows experienced users to easily find and
learn the commands needed to customize SolidWorks, and to create solid models, assemblies
and drawings.
All readers, students, as well as practicing professionals, will find that this is also an excellent
reference book. The alphabetical index at the end of the book can be used to find information
about the most common SolidWorks commands and examples of how they are used.
Prerequisites
To get the maximum benefit from this book, the reader must be computer literate and familiar
with the complementary roles of hardware and software. In addition, the reader must be familiar
with the Windows operating system. SolidWorks was one of the earliest CAD programs written
specifically to run within Windows and takes full advantage of the Windows interface, and file
naming and handling conventions.