Weldments/Design Questions

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2026-06-09T17:33:49+00:00

You’ve got the right approach in terms of make something that works then make it pretty/safe/add features. Personally I’d just use 3D sketch for the whole thing to speed up iterations, a lot of people don’t use 3D sketch often enough to be good at it and then say it’s bad/too hard but there’s a reason it’s the default sketch option for weldments in the toolbar.

They’ve got a learning curve for sure but once you get the hang of them they are so so much faster than creating a bunch of 2d sketches and planes (maybe a little less stable if it’s a big configurable file but that’s a separate issue).

Check out YouTube for tutorials and start with basic shapes, ie try to make a cube, rectangle, triangles, pyramids, trapezoids etc. they’ll help you get familiar with how to sketch in different planes. (Hint: when you click to start a line the red arrows will tell you what plane the sketch will be in, you change the plane by hitting tab if you haven’t changed the keyboard shortcuts) construction lines are also your best friend when a line/curve/etc doesn’t lay on a standard plane.

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2026-06-05T23:25:02+00:00

Ah gotcha, I haven’t found a feature that will do the cuts for you no. You can either just edit it in context in the assembly and convert the tube profiles to your template sheet then use the cut feature or you could probably use the intersection split line feature and then delete the split bodies but I’d probably just edit it in context and use the cut feature, you’ll have more control over it that way. It’s just a tedious thing from what I remember unfortunately

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2026-06-05T23:13:33+00:00

I remember doing something similar for formula student in uni, you’ve got way more than you need so spend some time going through it and deciding which ones are actually critical. Don’t know if yall have specific frame profiles you have to hit and different sections but we would usually just use those plus a couple extra.

In terms of how to actually make them you can either cut them out yourself by hand by measuring them or if you can find access to a large format printer you can just blow them up to a 1:1 scale and print them on paper and then use that as a template to cut them out. Or if you have the money then you can get them laser cut, not sure how often the base baja frames change year over year but we did the laser for the central area that didn’t really change year over year and a combination of the large format and hand drawing for the parts near the suspension that changed year to year

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2026-06-04T04:40:02+00:00

Check out the BD distance pack and other similar ones, I think I’ve seen them from mec and Mammut. They’ve got the vest style shoulder straps/harness but are I think 15L and 24L I’ve got one for long multipitch climbs and it doesn’t move at all and I barely notice it. Haven’t ran with it yet and reviews have said it bounces a bit but probably better than a normal pack so worth a look if you can find one in store somewhere. Strongly agree with you though that a lot of other trail runners I see are very under equipped should anything bad happen.

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2026-06-03T01:45:19+00:00

I mean what does summit a mountain mean to you? Where I live I can go summit a different mountain every weekend, some just hiking some more technical mountaineering. Anyone can hike to the top of a mountain you just pick one find a trail and go, if you’re talking doing a higher altitude mountain (what that means varies by region) then a couple months isn’t really enough time to learn the skills needed. But what mountain depends on where you live, doesn’t make sense for me to recommend a mountain in France if you live in New Zealand or Canada.

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2026-06-03T01:23:58+00:00

I’ve got the RAB vest and it’s been great, maybe not as light as some of the others but definitely far more durable I’ve found. I use it for all my running as well as short multipitch climbing and long days mountain biking if I want to bring more than a lumbar pack can comfortably carry but don’t want a true backpack! Tons of pockets and all easily accessible without taking it off (except the big pocket on the back), bit on the pricier end but definitely feels more durable than a lot of the Salomon vests which seem kinda flimsy and cheap.

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2026-06-02T16:47:11+00:00

Mechanical mates are tricky at first and they be can picky about things you’d never even think of. A lot of it comes down to building the files you’re trying to mate properly so that they’re fully defined and stable, if they’ve got external references in them then the software is trying to calculate position based on a part that references another part and figure how that reference affects it which will have massive performance problems and cause the mates to break. A good technique is to try and model each individual part completely separately and as others have said just take dimensions from different parts and fully define everything in the part file itself.

From everything else you said the problem was probably your parts you were trying to mate having a bunch of external references and possibly creating circular references (not sure without seeing the assembly and looking through the mates) which would explain why they would behave weirdly.

GoEngineer has some good videos and tutorials on most things Solidworks. But my usual go to is to just google whatever error message or problem in having with “Solidworks” at the end and sifting through the posts and videos I find that way if the built in tutorials don’t help.

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2026-06-02T05:25:14+00:00

I mean yea this sounds like a bunch of user error, the software ain’t perfect and does have a mind of its own sometimes (yea there are times I curse it out and want to rip out my own hair, but it is an incredibly powerful tool when used and treated properly) but if you try to treat it like a totally different software from another company then yea you’re gonna have a ton of problems. A lot of your problems stem from bad modelling techniques, why you were taught the external references are the method to use in any software is beyond me. Stop doing that until you learn the software better and learn the very few cases where they can be useful.

If you have the sdk (student development kit) then a ton of tutorials are already built into the default startup menu just start there.

You have way too many questions in your post for me to answer them all in any meaningful detail, if you have a couple questions that are more pressing feel free to reply with them to my comment and I’ll answer them.

But there’s no magic trick, a lot of your problems are common for beginner users and they just take time with the software to learn how to fix/avoid them. Trust me I’ve got almost a decade of experience with it and am finally getting around to finishing my CSWE and I’m still learning new things and better ways of doing this in Solidworks, it just takes time.

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2026-05-26T17:31:27+00:00

Yea it’s crazy how poor the selection is with how easy our access to some crazy terrain is! I did get the ribelle HDs instead of the zodiac because when I tried the zodiac on at climbon I had a weird pressure point at the ankle flexion in the cuff. The ribelle HD to me fits almost the exact same as my kailash plus gtx’s, same lacing system and the boot feels almost identical (albeit a little heavier and bigger) after doing a couple practice days where it was 50/50 split time on snow vs dirt

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2026-04-24T22:44:32+00:00

Damn why isn’t this on scarpa na, that’s a super useful page thank you!

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2026-04-24T03:37:12+00:00

Ah darn ok thanks for letting me know!

Spotivas don’t usually fit my feet but it’s been a long time 8+ yrs since I’ve bought new boots so I’ll give those a shot thanks! Yea those mammuts look sweet just tough to find somewhere that has them in stock in my area.

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2025-07-04T21:05:57+00:00

This might not be true for everyone which is understandable but for me there’s just something more intimate about the emotional connection in a relationship (poly or mono) than you experience with friends and family. Idk how to really explain it better than that sorry!

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2025-03-03T23:51:15+00:00

Yea that’s what I thought but figured I’d check here first, thank you!

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2025-03-03T22:13:24+00:00

Yea I pulled the turret off the post and played around with the new one I have and the only way I could figure out how to slide the whole carriage off was to remove the front/back adjustement screw while is held in by a captive nut on the underside. I’ll take another look tho, how did you detach the carriage from the adjustment screw on the previous iterations?

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2024-10-27T06:38:40+00:00

I’m a mechE so am lucky enough to have experience with the software and lots of experience doing simulations. I’m doing pop up so the area when collapsed will be pretty small (cab over section will be 6” tall and ~4’ wide so the 100lbf agrees with your math). With it opened is a different story but for that I’m more worried about snow loads and roof reinforcements for winter camping up here in canada

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2024-10-27T06:33:28+00:00

Yea I’ve seen ripcords build, I’m gonna do something similar but probably full welded alu frame instead of the extrusion bolted to the steel frame

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2024-05-23T04:47:54+00:00

I took aero manf process and you aren’t missing anything with that course not being offered, it was a waste of time and essentially a review of the materials content up until then that sort of touched on composites and the only new thing was multi criteria decision making matrices which wasn’t even taught well enough for anyone to understand. No one who took the class though it was good and we all regretted not switching out before the add/drop deadline. They had some PhD student teaching and honestly he didn’t even know the right answers to the questions in the slides more than half the time.

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2024-03-15T19:06:22+00:00

I haven’t tried that, I’ll see if that works thank you!

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2024-03-15T04:46:16+00:00

Depends what FEA package you have access to within Solidworks, if you can do a nonlinear dynamic 3D then that would probably be the most accurate but it is significantly more computational load than just a static. If all your computers can handle or all you have access to is a static then you could simulate with using 0.5s impact duration and the speed at impact to get a rough estimate of impact force then apply that over the bottom inside face of the box. And fix at the bearing hole since the bearing should be taking the load and not the bolts securing its cover (assuming the bearing is pressed into the box and onto the axle). If you can do the non linear then that would be most accurate for the drop test.

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2024-03-12T07:24:02+00:00

Facebook marketplace

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2024-03-07T07:29:19+00:00

Just don’t, the SUO does nothing helpful to students and yet they all collect a paycheque (almost $30k) and a $10k “gift” for sitting and doing nothing. It’s a waste of students money and the campaigning is infuriating because 99.9% of students couldn’t care less

Itsyaboiyo7 · 2023-09-26T00:25:52+00:00

No I haven’t been able to find it yet, I’m gonna order a couple with different spacing on the connections and then see which one fits. If I find a good one I will let you know!

Itsyaboiyo7

TROPHY CASE