Trebuchet03's JettKamm (2000 VW Jetta)

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by Daox

Too bad I don't have Cosmos... I do SW work all day long and the machine is built for it (2 dual core Xeons @ 2.3 ghz, 4 gb ram, scsi hd, and a Quatro FX 1500), and I'm just a designer. You should see the guy's machine running Ansys (our FEA software), its amazing.

mmmm I wish I had Ansys My school hasn't upgraded yet because of budget - but I doubt they would put that on student boxes...

What version of SW do you have? And, will it utilize both processors and all four cores? I'm on 2007 with a single core hyperthreading processor - SW won't take advantage of the "2" processors available Which I guess means that it wasn't coded to multi-thread.

I'm just curious if I should wait for a used dual core processor desktop rather than a fast single core. That is if the next versions of SW will utilize the hardware

[Daox]

I'm on SW08 atm which doesn't take advantage of multiple cores sadly. 09 takes advantage of multiple cores for boolean operations and a few other things like opening multiple files. They're slowly converting it over to work with multiple cores. Recommendations from our reseller say to stick with dual core unless doing FEA since there isn't a huge advantage and single cores really aren't getting THAT much faster for the buck.

BTW, you can go into the bios and deactivate hyperthreading and you should see a performance boost in SW. But, I think Cosmos should take advantage of it.

[Daox]

BTW, how are you running out of ram? You should be able to increase your swap file size to accommodate as much as winXP 32 can handle. It just gets incredibly slow as it has to access the hard drive so much.

Another thing to search for is the "3 gig switch" in XP. Its a registry hack that alters how much virtual memory XP allocates to itself out of the four gig max. If you are literally running out of memory that XP can handle, the 3 gig switch will help.

[Cd]

I don't know if anyone here is aware of this, but students can purchase SolidWorks along with FloWorks for EIGHTY NINE dollars* from places like

SolidWorks Student Edition w/ Cosmos 2008-2009 (1yr) with Academic Discount at JourneyEd.com

The catch - it has a one year lifespan. After a year, the product license goes dead and the program won't start up.

So .... anyone here have high school kids ??? ( YES they qualify ! )


* That's a savings of over $ 2,900 !

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by Daox

I'm on SW08 atm which doesn't take advantage of multiple cores sadly. 09 takes advantage of multiple cores for boolean operations and a few other things like opening multiple files. They're slowly converting it over to work with multiple cores. Recommendations from our reseller say to stick with dual core unless doing FEA since there isn't a huge advantage and single cores really aren't getting THAT much faster for the buck.

BTW, you can go into the bios and deactivate hyperthreading and you should see a performance boost in SW. But, I think Cosmos should take advantage of it.

Already killed HT I'm looking into building an eBay desktop... Older, used, motherboard - ~$30 processor and then as much memory as I can cram.

BTW, how are you running out of ram? You should be able to increase your swap file size to accommodate as much as winXP 32 can handle. It just gets incredibly slow as it has to access the hard drive so much.

I've restricted VM to prevent the solver from getting too out of control... It's a slow laptop hard drive... When I gave it a lot more, solver time went up in excess of a week. It's just too much time for something I'm not sure will even work

Question for you... Is there a way to scale assemblies? That is, I have a rather large/complicated 1:1 assembly that I want to scale down to maybe 1:8.. I haven't been able to figure out how to do that

[tasdrouille]

Originally Posted by Cd

So .... anyone here have high school kids ??? ( YES they qualify ! )


* That's a savings of over $ 2,900 !

No, but my wife is a full time student! Thanks for the tip!

[trebuchet03]

Okay! Time to put some thought into manufacturing....

In cost order $-->$$$

Resin Options
Epoxy
Polyester
???

Template Options
Cardboard+
Skin on rib (like cardpaper on ribs (wood?)
Foam - medium density insulation stuff (pink or blue)+

Core Options
Cardboard+
Foam -insulation type+
CoreMat (cheap bulking stuff)
Purposed Foam Cores

Fiber
Plain Weave Glass
Biaxial Weave Glass

Polyester resin is cheaper, but nastier to work with. The stuff at the hardware store is pretty nasty to work with (all gloopy and difficult to work out). Epoxy is more expensive, but "safer"

Templates.... If I use cardboard, I can use that as the core. The downside to cardboard is it's difficult to shape exactly as I want. I can also use insulation foam as both the template and core. It's more expensive (ie, not free) but I can shape it much easier. If I use foam, I must use epoxy because I'm not willing to spend even more money on urethane foam that's compatible with polyester.

Cores.... If cardboard or insulation foam are used for templates, they'd probably be used as the core. For even more strength, however, I could use purposed foam core. CoreMat is cheap and decently strong, but will be heavy.

Fibers.... Plain weave is anisotropic - it's strong in one direction, but not the other. That means, I'd need to have more than one layer in different directions. Biaxial is strong in two directions, but a little more money per linear yd. The biaxial stuff is heavier - but significantly stronger. Per pound, biaxial is cheaper


I'll post dollar figures later... Now it's off to the bookstore...

[Christ]

I've had relatively good luck with the Bond-o resin that you can get at Wal-Mart, but I'm not building large panels or stuff like that... I've used it for speaker boxes and replicating small plastic parts for cars that are hard to find (84-87 CRX parts, etc.)

I can't say much about the fabric, b/c I usually use polyester (fleece blankys). I used to get scraps free from hobbyists, and I could usually stretch some of them out enough to make the part.

I, again, can't comment on templates, since I've never did anything one-off that the first application wasn't the final result (speaker box).

I usually apply grease to the original part (or Stoner brand mould release), apply something like greatstuff over it, wait for it to fully cure, remove it from the original piece, and smooth out the inside, changing any features that need to be changed/altered/fixed.

Core, obviously, I am only making the part from fiberglass... the only thing I've ever used for a core was chicken wire, laying fiberglass over and under it, to add strength to the shape.

I think I pretty much covered everything...
Anyway, that's my .02 about it, hope it helped somehow.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by Christ

I've had relatively good luck with the Bond-o resin that you can get at Wal-Mart, but I'm not building large panels or stuff like that... I've used it for speaker boxes and replicating small plastic parts for cars that are hard to find (84-87 CRX parts, etc.)

Yeah, the bondo stuff is what's at the hardware store When you use the good stuff, you know just how terrible it is

Originally Posted by Christ

I usually apply grease to the original part (or Stoner brand mould release), apply something like greatstuff over it, wait for it to fully cure, remove it from the original piece, and smooth out the inside, changing any features that need to be changed/altered/fixed.

I've got PartAll wax and PVA for mold release My experience with great stuff has been less than great :/



If you're resume is what you've made in the past... Here's part of mine
UCF Human Powered Vehicle Team

As far as where I get my stuff from (resins, et. al.) Fiberglass , Epoxy , Composites, Carbon Fiber - U.S. Composites, Inc. I've had no complaints from them since we started

[Christ]

heh.. those little things are cute.. .they look like bugs.

I firmly believe that a person's past should be considered part of their "resume" in all facets of life... but I don't believe that their past should be held firm on all accounts of what they could do in the future.

Honestly, if my resume is created from my past projects, a few of them I'd rather have never done.

I've screwed up pretty good on a few things, but mistakes are another way to learn.

When I stated that I use greatstuff, then have to work the inside of it to "fix" parts of it, that's because I haven't had the greatest results either, but for the cost (nearly free) it works great!

All I do is whip up some plastic filler, like bond-o, then apply it really thin to fill in the gaps... like I said, my projects aren't concerned with being perfect so much as being "workable".

I've been thinking about trying a few other things though, instead of the greatstuff, for instance: pourable urethane foam, model clay, similar things.