Customer Reviews

SolidWorks 2010: No Experience Required

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I purchased this book to learn SolidWorks. I'm 55 years old and was downsized nine months ago as a Mechanical Engineer. I have 30+ years of experience in technical documentation and manufacturing. There are a lot of books on the market; and the title and price (cheapest) caught my eye. I'm very disappointed with this book. Amazon states, "The only continuous, step-by-step tutorial for SolidWorks". There are tutorials in the book; but they are few and short and far from being step by step. Skipping five to six steps in a tutorial is not step by step and sometimes more. I'm learning more from the SolidWorks help files and tutorials than from this text.

The dimensioning and 2D drawing section is appalling for anyone who wants to learn SolidWorks and apply the ASME Y14 standard. The author presents dimensioning incorrectly, improper usage of leader line gaps, incorrect hole dimensioning schemes, incorrect arrow placement, and it goes on and on. I'm also surprise that the text did not include any models for the new use. This would have been very helpful. Then I realized that the book is written by a blogger. One star is all it gets.

In the normal course of writing about SolidWorks topics, I was provided a copy of this book to review. This short version of my review is being added to Amazon.com to provide a bit of balance to the rating for this book. This book takes a detailed approach to teaching SolidWorks to new users. Though the book is structured as a tutorial, it is also a reliable reference guide to fundamental aspects of SolidWorks.

For experienced 3D CAD users, much of SolidWorks user interface and functionality is intuitive, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be covered in a book designed for new users. This book takes a detailed approach to learning SolidWorks. It is so detailed that even some experienced users may learn something by browsing its pages. In doing so, this book gives the reader context for each topic. For example, the FeatureManager (one of the primary user interface areas) is frequently discussed in the context of its use within each particular area. This helps the reader gain real understanding of its value as they perform certain tasks.

As book addresses each topic, it thoroughly covers every detail of the choices presented to the reader. This gives the reader a clear understanding as to why they choose one option over the other within the tutorial tasks. This adds significant value to this book as an actual reference guide. The reader learns more than just how to go through a simple step-by-step process for one exercise. They learn how to use SolidWorks for any design project.

However, sometimes the detail may be too much in the context of a tutorial. For example, chapter 1 teaches the reader about the SolidWorks user interface, but it also provides information on how to customize that interface. Perhaps a chapter on editing the user interface might be better at some later point in the book (or even in another book)?

Even still, this book is a great source to learn SolidWorks for new users. Academia might find this book very useful in their 3D CAD courses. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have this book available in any company that often hires people that may not be completely familiar with SolidWorks.

This book is NOT for advanced or expert SolidWorks users. CAD managers should not buy this book thinking they will learn something new. It is an education tool for new users, and a reference guide for others.

I've been using SolidWorks since 2005, but my company has not kept up on subscription and I'm new to the 2010 version. First; SolidWorks 2010 is a major improvement over the older version. Huge improvements across the board in the user interface, toolbars, drawings, manufacturing capabilities, assemblies, features, material library, help and it just goes on.

I was looking for a SolidWorks 2010 book and saw this one written by Gabi Jack - blogger who I respect very much. I obtained a lot of tips from her blog on Solid modeling over the years. The book starts off very slowly; and frankly never really gets there. As an example:
On page 89 - you create your first sketch.
On page 146 - you finally finish your first simple part (base for the lamp).

In 500 pages of text - you create a single lamp assembly; which looks very similar to the one that SolidWorks Corporation used in their older tutorials.

The book does not provide a CD/DVD of examples, templates or before-and-after files of the models in the book. This would be helpful to any user.

To obtain access to needed and additional files or models, you need to download them - which can be an issue if your company has internet download blocks. Example:
On page 151 - download the install FDC Size B drawing template. This is not good!

The book is way too slow for the beginner; and is fairly useless to a present SolidWorks user - especially if you visit Gabi's blog along with others and attend any local SolidWorks user group meeting. A very weak book in general.

PS - Per the 3 posted comments to my review which occurred within 10 minutes of each other - Gabi you rock, but this is the way I feel about the book. Too slow is just too slow for anyone. For the general public, which is not part of the blogging community, what does this say about comments in general?

No Experience Required sums it up. If you are new to SolidWorks this book will logically walk you through the steps to build a desk lamp. While it may not be what you really want to build with SolidWorks it covers all the commands necessary to build basic mechanical items. This is not an advanced book but will move you from ground zero to a competent modeler in an organized fashion. The author takes time to explain why certain proceedures are used so you also get a feel for best practices along the way.

The style is cookbook fashion but it pauses along the way to explain why you are doing the steps. A good grasp on what is taught in this book will eliminate the need for the week of basic training provided by SolidWorks vendors at a cost of thousands of dollars. If you are planning on doing free form design this is not the book for you but it does cover the basics of modeling that will not likely be covered in a freeform design or surfacing guidebook.