Disqus - Latest Comments for bigmikeo

Re: The SolidSmack FaceBook Fan Page. BECOME A FAN… or Be Consumed With Guilt.

bigmikeo — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:50:19 -0000

Darn I missed the chance to set it up myself and hold it for ransom!

Re: Ask the Reader: Do You Have A Software/Hardware Upgrade Plan? {Poll}

bigmikeo — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:40:52 -0000

I plan on trying to get our systems upgraded next fall. Our fiscal year ends in August so September is a clean slate. I've already told people we cannot go on with XP and SolidWorks so they are all aware. Our current systems are 4yrs old and I keep mine up and clean, the other guy not so much. Our systems will move onto other people when we get new ones just like Scott mentions.

Re: SolidWorks Back-ups. It’s Not Like a Party, but It Does Shake the Booty.

3Dgeorge — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:21:14 -0000

thanks, I have never really looked into it. But that info is good to know.

Re: SolidWorks Back-ups. It’s Not Like a Party, but It Does Shake the Booty.

bigmikeo — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:43:38 -0000

3Dgeorge, there are several good backup programs that can do what you want. I use Cobian backup. I runs while I'm at lunch and compresses my files locally and then transfers the zip file to the sever.

Re: Kirkham Motorsports Creates THE High Octane, Aluminum Roadster of Your Dreams

bigmikeo — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:48:58 -0000

I go to the Cobra Car Show in Ohio every year. With the amount of polishing going on with this one I would add a zero at the end. That 56K starting price is chassis and body, nothing else. If you run thru the list and pick all the "goodies" I ended up with 123K.

Re: SolidWorks Back-ups. It’s Not Like a Party, but It Does Shake the Booty.

bigmikeo — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:41:20 -0000

Very similar although I don't have them expire for 30 days. Just my paranoia I guess.

Re: SMAAAASH! Power Armor Claw Will Explode Items From Inside Out

bigmikeo — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:32:28 -0000

I think the local firehouse would like the power claw to get trapped people out of a vehicle. Or the guys at Blackwater.

Re: Design Engineers, Look Out. You are Becoming Extinct.

Matthew Loew — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:50:48 -0000

Doing it all is part of what makes the design engineer so valuable. I think we are much closer than you indicate. I'm not above anything - I just know what I need out of a design engineer. I need to have other skill sets on my team as well. Some of the best contributors on my teams have been CAD Engineers - I just can't do all of the basic engineering if that is all I have. Send me an invitation to connect - my network will be stronger with you in it.

Re: Design Engineers, Look Out. You are Becoming Extinct.

bigmikeo — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:51:00 -0000

Matthew works for a high-end consulting firm, I would not expect any less requirement for the positions defined. Other corporations, like where I work, have a different requirement for Mechanical Design Engineers. Would I ever apply for a job at Daxcon, knowing what kind of work they are contracted for, probably not. I'm a Electrical guy that does mechanical work. Could I do CAD layout work there, maybe, but I don't know the GD&T standards so probably not.

In my small world I'm an asset. I do it all, from concept to owners manual, BOM's to assembly docs, Engineering builds to drop testing, program manager to P.O. requests. Were a small company with five engineers, Power, Software, PCB layout, a real ME and myself. There is no one for me to hand off to nor for them to hand off to me.

I'm not complaining, I love it!
Matthew would not accept my LinkedIn request I imagine.
He's above me, I know it, he knows it, we're both fine with that.

Re: So, Was Hangin’ Out in CahnCord at SolidWorks HQ, and…

bigmikeo — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:47:30 -0000

BINGO!

Re: So, Was Hangin’ Out in CahnCord at SolidWorks HQ, and…

joshmings — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:26:37 -0000

Thanks man. That's a good point, there's a lot of people that could go up to Concord and do the same thing. You don't have to be a blogger even. I'm almost positive they would give any user an ear or two, maybe even take them out for lunch, oh no!

Re: What In the Wide, Wide World of Sports Is 3DVia TV?

joshmings — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:22:58 -0000

Are you talking about 3DVia Composer? The price actually dropped significantly. To the point it doesn't look so ridiculous. I forget the exact number though.

Re: What In the Wide, Wide World of Sports Is 3DVia TV?

bigmikeo — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:40:28 -0000

I've seen the 3DVia software demo twice and it is pretty impressive, granted I think the price is over the left field wall and out of the park.

Re: So, Was Hangin’ Out in CahnCord at SolidWorks HQ, and…

bigmikeo — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:33:21 -0000

Maybe you should have told us how to orient a view so it would be considered "useful"?

I have no problem with this post. Sure I'm jealous, but important people always get the benefits. Granted you wont get a star in Hollywood "important" but I still tune in for the details and the funny wacky stuff. Those are what make this blog worth reading. Maybe I should start a blog then I can go too, but I'm bad at details funny and wacky. Not necessarily in that order, or maybe in that order...so much for my blog I can't even decide on comments!

Re: Ask the Reader: What Kind of 3D Model Check Process Do You Have?

bigmikeo — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:54:31 -0000

I guess most of this gets caught in our engineering proto types. Granted I spend a lot of time looking over my model, I don't use a checklist, I'm terrible at that, I'll use interference check in SW to help. We will build several first to find the major flaws and then do a pilot production run to see what the people on the floor have an issue with.

Re: Ask the Reader: What Kind of 3D Model Check Process Do You Have?

joshmings — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:37:09 -0000

I'm refering to the basic practice of a check happening on a model. As SWPriest goes into there's a lot of different types of checks that can be done depending on the model/industry. But do people actually do model checks and if so, when do they take place?

In the 2D days, it was a check on format, callouts, and maybe fit to a certain extent. With 3D models there are a lot of other aspects that are now available to check. It's to the point where a significant portion of our bids including check time for models.

This use to not be as much of a concern as 'check' via production would produce redlines for engineering to incorporate. This still happen, even with 3D... because most are still producing 2D drawings and the coordination between engineering and manufacturing is lacking.

Re: Ask the Reader: What Kind of 3D Model Check Process Do You Have?

bigmikeo — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:59:50 -0000

What kind of "check" are you referring too? An actual design check, like a group of peers? A design review meeting where all involved parties get together (engineering thru production)? Talking about the overall design with a supplier? Or having a finance person question why the parts are so expensive?

It's me and one other guy, we bounce stuff off of each other, other than wrenches. Others times we don't "it's mine mine all mine". Problem is everyone is a Mechanical Engineer just ask them, no one questions the PCB layout guy or the power engineer or the software guy but "its just aluminum plates and screws how hard can it be? I've put a desk together."

Re: The Raddest CAD Magazine Cover in the History of CAD Magazine Covers

bigmikeo — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:57:33 -0000

Looks like something from Corvette Summer.

Re: Google Chrome OS to Pound the Suck Out of Start-up & Webify Your Apps

bigmikeo — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:50:55 -0000

I use Firefox but I've set my wife up to use Chrome. She hasn't had an issue yet, IE would lock up every single time she started it after boot. If she got it to close and restart she was fine but I got tired of hearing about it.

Re: Sum Simple Equations

bigmikeo — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:37:15 -0000

I'm trying to do a simple equation in a drawing table. I have the mass of my parts shown in the table and then the quantity of parts in the next column. The third column has the total mass, the obvious equation is SUM(C2*D2) but it will not accept it?

Never mind, the SUM is not required.

Re: Yes You Can! Graphic Design for Print and Web Using SolidWorks

joshmings — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:50:46 -0000

I love hearing that. I really push engineers/designers, if they have the interest in this stuff, to go ahead and do it for the company to show what can be done. It shows some initiative and helps learn some rendering stuff, and it doesn't take that much and could save the company a lot of money!

Re: Yes You Can! Graphic Design for Print and Web Using SolidWorks

bigmikeo — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:34:21 -0000

I've rendered all our current products for the sales/marketing folks. They wanted photo's and paid good money for crappy pics. Then they asked me to give it a shot and people felt they are pretty decent. I mean if you get in on it you can tell it's not the real thing but it's good enough.

Re: PTC/USER - SolidSmack on the Scene, Crispy and Cleeeeean.

joshmings — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:19:15 -0000

Hope you caught the follow-up post to PTC/USER. There's some updates coming in Wildfire 4.0/5.0/6.0 that I think you'll like. specifically about what you talk about man. Let me know what you think!

Re: PTC/USER - SolidSmack on the Scene, Crispy and Cleeeeean.

bigmikeo — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:11:36 -0000

We use the sheet metal package so they did not appear to focus much on it back then.

I would like to know how they insert forming tools in sheet metal. SW is so ridiculously easy. There is probably one guy, if your lucky, who knows how to do it. I had to return to the booth 3 times to finally catch the guy when he was there. Also ask about sketching in drawing and see how those tools are.

Re: PTC/USER - SolidSmack on the Scene, Crispy and Cleeeeean.

joshmings — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:55:18 -0000

Thanks bigmikeo. I'll do my best to tell what's new with PTC. I'm still getting familiar with all the product lines. Seems there is a big focus on the 'Social Product Development' (runs on a Sharepoint backend) and the new integration that windchill has across all the product lines and other CAD platforms. The INSIGHT product compliance software looks interesting for handling regulations.

Let me know if there's somethign specific you're interested in! Thanks!