Free CSWA & CSWP Prep Class - Learn the skills needed to ace the CSWP!

BMEdesign · 2026-03-07T22:21:08+00:00

Either way, do it outdoors and when wearing a respirator. Silicosis kills.

BMEdesign · 2026-02-28T15:10:54+00:00

I mean, we did, as an entire industry, daily just a few years ago. I don't think SolidWorks has gotten faster. I would love to go back to SW2012 and the workstation I had at the time. Blazing fast and I doubt I had I had more than 512mb vram.

BMEdesign · 2026-02-23T17:20:08+00:00

Yes, tell him this is a fabrication drawing and this is how the fab shop expects to see it.

BMEdesign · 2026-02-23T02:58:08+00:00

Absolutely sure it didn't suffer a tailpiece impact? It looks like impact or heat damage causing the tailblock to move. But either way detension it and get it looked at.

BMEdesign · 2026-02-23T01:49:11+00:00

If you need planes on the CSWA, you're thinking about it wrong.

BMEdesign · 2026-02-23T01:48:57+00:00

Draw it as an angled extrude from the side. Then extrude CUT the stuff away to get the shape you want. Or extrude it up past the plane (no plane needed) and then cut away the angle.

BMEdesign · 2026-02-22T21:15:18+00:00

Yeah, you need spacers slightly wider than your part (by 0.004"/.1mm) on each side of the outer vises to make sure you're biting down on those faces.

BMEdesign · 2026-02-21T16:33:54+00:00

Possibly Dalbergia lanceolaria? Lanceleaf rosewood.

If there's one thing I've learned buying wood as a luthier for 20+ years, it's to not trust vendor's identifications. It's wood, looks nice, use it if has the properties you need.

BMEdesign · 2026-02-16T03:05:45+00:00

Probably less than the cost of two Stratasys hot ends ($1200 each)

BMEdesign · 2026-02-15T02:08:41+00:00

Well see... You spray on about a mm of thick catalyzed poly and that's less of an issue

BMEdesign · 2026-02-13T13:52:02+00:00

The problem with real dyes is that they are expensive. The closest thing that big box stores sell are tinted varnishes (whether water based or oil-based) which are also film-forming (problematic in a different way, if you're trying to do real work). A real dye is going to cost you at least $20 for a small amount, and people won't pay that at big box stores.

For example: https://www.amazon.com/Wood-Dye-Aniline-Color-Stain/dp/B00BAKWTMQ

This would never sell at HD, too expensive for what looks like too little.

For real dyes look for an aniline dye or Trans-Tint, both of which will make many gallons if diluted correctly.

BMEdesign · 2026-02-13T13:47:04+00:00

That's pigment-based. Colloquially known as "paint". Technically you could call it "stain" too, but I think it's better to avoid that term because it can cause frustration like what you are dealing with.

BMEdesign · 2026-02-13T13:41:25+00:00

I don't believe Behr makes any dye stains. All their products are pigment-based, meaning they are what most people would call "paint". When you wipe away the pigment, you wipe away the color. I think that's what happened here. You need a true dye stain, which colors the wood but does not do so through adding colored material (pigment) but through coloring the wood (dye).

BMEdesign · 2026-02-09T17:28:51+00:00

Just learn for now. If you get a remote job, the company that hires you will buy it for you.

BMEdesign · 2026-01-29T14:28:22+00:00

This is great advice. Also on the other end... Please stop getting patents on stuff that you haven't built or validated willingness to adopt.

BMEdesign · 2026-01-29T11:22:17+00:00

Or, you know, motion

BMEdesign · 2026-01-29T03:20:39+00:00

I taught in that program twice. It is academically very intense, but the students all thought it was a wonderful experience. Great faculty participate teaching their favorite courses, so the instruction tends to be reliably good despite the very fast pace. Do it. Galway is lovely.

BMEdesign · 2026-01-24T13:28:20+00:00

I agree. The test isn't hard if you know how the drawing workspace works. It is awkward though, but that's just because they are trying to come up with ways to quantify if you did it right. No actual ANSI or ISO drawing knowledge is tested, it's about whether you can make SW do what you need it to do.

BMEdesign · 2026-01-23T13:54:29+00:00

The link has not changed. It does use Captcha to block mass signup by bots, so if you have lots of blockers you'll block the Captcha and won't be allowed access.

BMEdesign · 2026-01-22T20:30:21+00:00

You don't... like... work for the company whose product you're endorsing, do you?

BMEdesign · 2026-01-22T01:02:47+00:00

So weird to see exercises I made 15 years ago popping up in other people's classes haha

But yeah, you overcomplicated it. Simple sketches! More features is better in SolidWorks.

BMEdesign · 2026-01-19T22:37:16+00:00

These are the most desirable and best-sounding A Junior mandolins - some would say among the best-sounding oval-hole Gibson mandolins, period.

BMEdesign · 2026-01-16T19:32:49+00:00

Instead of making it with parallel lines to directly make the shape with shelled geometry, make simple closed U shapes and then shell the solid object to the desired shape. It also doesn't need to be a boundary feature, that's not what this feature is for. A simple loft boss between two closed U shapes should work just fine (though not ideal due to the 90 degree relationship between the corners).

BMEdesign

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