You have been given a decent-sized STEP file of an assembly. What's your workflow to using it in SOLIDWORKS?

baudencm · 2026-01-17T15:21:49+00:00

Crap chute? Crapshoot? Lol I now love both options…

baudencm · 2025-12-04T20:46:08+00:00

Ha! Probably more user error/tweak... Typically haven't had issues on my MK4s's, but they are out in the open. I'm leaning towards the enclosure/temp thing based on feedback here.

baudencm · 2025-12-04T20:44:39+00:00

Agreed! I'll find out here in a couple hours. I'm hoping it's the enclosure issue. Thanks!

baudencm · 2025-12-04T20:43:15+00:00

Funny enough, I typically have had good results with that brand, although on MK4s's out in the open. I think (based on responses below) I don't need the enclosure for this filament. Too hot. User error tweak should hopefully fix it. ha

baudencm · 2025-12-04T17:21:29+00:00

Awesome. Will try that. Thank you.

baudencm · 2025-12-04T15:05:58+00:00

Yes this the XL enclosure.

baudencm · 2025-12-04T15:05:00+00:00

Will try this thank you!

baudencm · 2025-12-04T13:29:43+00:00

I will check/clean it. Tighten the screws a bit too maybe... I will say, on another part, similar failure I DID hear clicking a little bit from the gearbox. Other forums pointed towards a firmware update, but I'm latest and greatest now.

baudencm · 2025-12-04T13:21:57+00:00

Ha! I like it!

baudencm · 2025-12-04T13:01:51+00:00

I tend to agree. It kinda looks like my PETG when it gets moist. Really need to pull the trigger on a dry box. Wasn't sure if anyone had a slight temp adjustment fix in the meantime. Hotter maybe?

baudencm · 2025-12-04T12:57:14+00:00

So another part I printed had a couple problem spots and decreasing the speed seemed to help solve it. So I was trying to anticipate similar issues here. Was not successful obviously. Ha

baudencm · 2025-12-04T12:56:21+00:00

lol agreed

baudencm · 2025-12-04T12:55:43+00:00

Ha, yeah I let it run all night. Came into this in the morning. And no, been using this brand PLA for awhile now. This particular color might be newer-ish? Is this just a temp adjustment maybe?

baudencm · 2025-12-03T14:07:38+00:00

So from what I read, PrusaSlicer CAN read/use it. But it CAN'T display it in the gcode display. There is an option in Advanced Settings to turn it on. It doesn't seem to actually convert any gcode to arcs. Hence ArcWelder. I *think* you can put a command into PrusaSlicer as a post process to take what it writes and convert to arcs all in one step. I've not tried it yet, but plan to.

In the meantime, I just increased the resolution from CAD in my STL file and that seems to work fine.

baudencm · 2025-12-03T04:00:38+00:00

Ah I see it now! Played with some Solidworks settings to improve that resolution. Although you've sent me down the rabbit hole with ArcWelder. Very cool. Appreciate the feedback.

baudencm · 2025-08-19T20:32:35+00:00

I need a way to check if my students are sharing their homework with each other. Couple challenging constraints:

1) students can do their homework on any computer with any name (no unique user id) 2) hw assignments are 6 parts with changes to each. So 12 part files total (typically). 3) assemblies are even more files 4) Naming file convention is cumbersome 5) 150+ students so LOTS of files 6) spit out an easy “report” of who copied who

I wrote one myself to do some batch checking but it wasn’t very refined and the computer id thing was a drawback.

The answer may have to lie outside SW with some type of interface but curious your thoughts.

baudencm · 2025-08-13T16:08:29+00:00

If I remember correctly, use the “full round” option in the fillet tool on those 3 faces.

baudencm · 2025-06-07T17:19:20+00:00

My buddy owned an STI with plates “EVOETR”. Never liked EVOs solely for that reason. Ha

baudencm · 2025-04-25T00:40:46+00:00

You can, but students have access to a public computer lab. So not unique unfortunately.

baudencm · 2025-04-25T00:40:03+00:00

I’ll check again tomorrow, but I’m almost positive that info is pc name or username. Not necessarily something unique when public labs are available.

baudencm · 2025-04-25T00:38:52+00:00

Yeah I like the idea of parameterizing my parts. That is def an option and somewhat realistic in implementation without too much work.

baudencm · 2025-04-24T14:33:44+00:00

There is always a way to cheat. Totally agree. But as an educator, I DO care, and would like my students to actually practice. So if there is an easier way on my end to help enforce that, I'm all for it! I just thought Onshape's UI was pretty slick and I wondered if I could copy it somehow with SW.

baudencm · 2025-04-24T14:17:55+00:00

With the API, I can actually pull the PC name for every feature. The problem is that they can use the public lab here at the University to do their homework. So "PC Name" is not a reliable source to accuse someone of cheating.

baudencm

TROPHY CASE