which should i purchase solidworks 2004 or solidedge 14

I'm looking for a cad system for my machine shop. Most of the parts
are simple(involve tap,drill, facing, pocketing), occasionally we get
some complicated parts). But not too difficult that we can't handle
them.

Basically what i'm looking for in a cad system is:
1.something that is easy to learn
2.will work on winxp

I'm not planning on getting the maintenance package for any potential
cad system, that we do decided to purchase, since i'm only buying 1
license. And were a small machine shop.

anyway please post cons and pros of each cad system. thanks for help.

 

Solidworks of course!

(Did you expect any other answer from the Solidworks Group)

 

get 'em both and try them.

for the record tho, SW is notorious about SP0.0 being pretty bad, and with
no subscription you're taking a risk.

tho some say you can get the SP's free from SW anyway. (not via convienent
download obviously.)

-nick e.

adrian quipped:

 

Either SW or SE will fill the bill for you nicely for model creation. What
you might want to look into is data interchange and CAM packages that tie
into either software. Since you are a machine shop you will likely be
receiving geometry files from customer in digital formats like IGES (2D and
3D), STEP, Parasolid, Pro/E native, UG, CATIA, ACIS (or SAT), STL and of
course DWG and DXF.

Here is how they stack up:

IGES 2D SE
IGES 3D SW,SE (SW has issues)
STEP SW, SE
Parasolid, SW, SE
Pro/E native SW with addin
UG SW, SE (SE can get some information from UG files that SW can't)
Catia SW with addin or translation service
ACIS SW (SW may have issues), SE
STL don't know, SW can view but not import geometry.
DWG SW (SW has a very efficient way of dealing with these, SE
DXF SW (see DWG), SE

SW at least has issues with IGES because of two things. Although SW complies
with the IGES standard it does not do a good job of flavoring either input
or output and uses some parts of the standard that others do not. It can
also be very bothersome to repair parts imported from IGES if the automatic
repair facility is not able to deal with it (about 50% of the time). Also
IGES 2D (drawing format) is not supported although if you do any work for
Tier 1 or Tier 2 suppliers or some government work you will likely see
drawings in this format.

SW is well integrated into many CAM packages so that you can go directly
from art to G Codes.

SW has copied several good things from the SE user interface over the years
so that that issue will probably be moot. SE has done the same.

I think SW will edge out SE on easy to learn and WinXP is not an issue with
SW.

 

Another option might be Alibre Design Professional. @ $1K vs 4K for the others with pretty good data translation, it might
do what he wants.
R. Wink

 

Kevin
Well said
Regards
Ken

 

SW is pretty good, it is not excellent and apparently Alibre isn't either.

 

others with pretty good data translation, it might

One of the EEs here just bought Alibre for doing fixtures and such. He used
to borrow SW to do that type of work. He seems to be happy so far. He likes
that fact that it doesn't have as many choices available, since he doesn't
need any of the fancy stuff.

Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems

 

If I were in your shoes, my first priority would be "what CAD system do most
of my customers use?" If you don't want to buy the system most of them use,
then which less expensive system interfaces best with the systems that most
of your customers use?

Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems

 

what's solid edge? ;-)

 

Did you take a look at Autodesk Inventor? You might like. By far, its
the easiest to learn CAD software I have ever used. I teach Catia, SW,
Autocad and Inventor, which my students pick up the fastest.

 

- What SW _could_ have been ... ;-))

Rick.

 

what's solid edge? ;-)

- And thank goodness it is not! ;-)

 

Adrian,

"I'm looking for a cad system for my machine shop. Most of
the parts are simple(involve tap,drill, facing, pocketing),
occasionally we get some complicated parts). But not too
difficult that we can't handle them."

You need to be more specific.

How much of your business is receiving solid models from
other CAD/CAM systems ???

How much will you be drawing from scratch ???

"Basically what i'm looking for in a cad system is:
1.something that is easy to learn 2.will work on winxp"

That requirement can be met by almost all CAD/CAM systems at
present.

"I'm not planning on getting the maintenance package for any
potential cad system, that we do decided to purchase, since
i'm only buying 1 license. And were a small machine shop."

This is typical of the approach that many small machining
job shops take.

A question for you. Do you understand *why* IronCAD is being
recommended vs. SolidEdge or SolidWorks ??? There are some
very important concepts to be understood behind the
recommendation for IronCAD and why IronCAD (and other
CAD/CAM systems not mentioned yet.) have a *far superior approach* for
a machine shop working with imported non-native geometry
than SolidWorks or SolidEdge.

jon

 

what's solid edge? ;-)

A product that has a far superior approach to surfacing
than SolidWorks.

http://www.solidedge.com/solutions/consumer_products/consumer_industry_solid_edge_brochure7.pdf

"Solid Edge shatters the barriers of traditional modeling
systems, combining the flexibility of nonhistory based
modelers that appeal to industrial designers with the
engineering benefits of a history-based approach. While the
history-based paradigm makes perfect sense for solid
modeling, it creates unnecessary complications when it comes
to complex shape design. In contrast, non-history-based
modelers provide a more flexible modeling method, but at the
expense of automating the update of related model elements -
a key drawback in modeling stylized parts which often
require a significant number of iterations. An industry
first, Rapid Blue unites the advantages of each of these
respective modeling technologies. Unique to Solid Edge,
BlueDots provide a flexible system in which the order curves
are created places no restrictions on editing, yet provides
all the benefits of properly updating related geometry when
changes are made."

"Unsurpassed flexibility Industrial design is, by nature, a
creative process that involves a great deal of editing as
designs evolve. Curves are the foundation for all shape
modeling, and it is critically important that they are able
to represent the desired shape and be highly flexible in
their editing. Recognizing this, Rapid Blue provides unique
"shape-preserving" curves, which encapsulate in their
behavior the ability to preserve their general shape
characteristics such that your original design intent is
built into each curve. For example, if a curve is convex
along its entire length (as many consumer product designs
main faces are) it will remain convex through all but the
most extreme edits. As a result, you save significant time
when creating and editing designs using shape-preserving
curves, and experience less fatigue and frustration as Solid
Edge automates an otherwise highly tedious process. "

"Evaluate more ideas in less time Engineers and designers all
design in an iterative manner, and this is truer in
industrial design than anywhere else. Because the style of
the part is a key component, you explore many more
alternatives. And the subjective element of industrial
design calls for the ability to make changes with continual
feedback of the results. With the Dynamic Edit capabilities
of Rapid Blue, you can edit your designs and see the results
instantly as you drag your cursor on the screen. All design
intent and history is preserved, and the graphics update on
every mouse move. This unique Solid Edge feature means that
more iterations can be tried in a shorter time, improving
product quality and acceptance. For the first time, you can
now interactively tweak highlight lines and see the effects
on all downstream rounds, fillets and blends."

"Your designs typically evolve over time, particularly given
input from the various players as they see the design
progress. For example, after review, it may be decided that
more flair is needed in one area of the product - a change
that can only be achieved by swapping a simple arc for a
more flexible curve. With traditional systems, this would
require a significant amount of rework, including having to
manually repair the history tree if the change is severe. In
contrast, Rapid Blue presumes that change is necessary, and
that starting simple and adding further control later is a
valuable workflow."

"Convert to Curve and BlueSurf are two key technologies
enabling a truly iterative workflow. Convert to Curve
allows analytic elements, such as lines and arcs, to be
converted to NURBS with a single click. With no loss of
shape data, the elements become editable curves. Even more
importantly, this conversion does not destroy the
downstream work that has been completed. BlueSurf
acknowledges and accommodates the inevitable increase in
control required as designs progress. BlueSurf is the only
technology in the industry to incorporate sweep, loft, and
blend into a single simple- to-use command. So, when
appropriate, that initial simple sweep can be made more
elaborate without having to manually repair the feature tree."

jon

 

- And thank goodness it is not! ;-)

- Otherwise there would be one less competitor to show
how bad SolidWorks approach to surfacing really is. ;>)

jon

 

Why limiting your choice to these two?

In Adrian's case limit might be the key word if he's stuck
with SolidWorks or SolidEdge's methods of dealing with
non-native imported geometry.

Other CAD/CAM systems have a much more realistic
approach to how the real world works. The small job shop
machining business is ultra competitive and time * IS* money.

It sure doesn't help a small machining job shop to be competitive
if they are stuck with the one tool approach using feature recognition.

In many cases a small machining job shop would be *far better off* using
local geometry editing tools on "dumb solids", which better CAD/CAM
systems provide, than by trying to make the entire "dumb solid" smart.

jon

 

Did you take a look at Autodesk Inventor? You might like.

Why would anyone like dealing with Autodesk ???

jon

 

(Did you expect any other answer from the Solidworks Group)

Time to raise the bar. :>)

jon

 

hi everyone, thanks for all your replies. I'm definetly going to take
a look at alibre.

To answer some of your questions.. Most of the drawings i get are 2d
*.dwg autocad files, which i then import into mastercam. Mastercam is
a great cam package but i think it lacks in the cad department
especially when i have to create complex surfaces.

When the part shows some surfaces, i then take the 2d file and create
a 3d part and the round surfaces that need to be machined.

Sometimes the customer will send me an iges file, which helps me alot,
since i don't have to create the part of mastercam. all i have to do
is the toolpaths.

Yeah so to answer your questions 90% of the files i recieve are *.dwg
while the remaining 10% are iges files.