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As a mechanical engineer, this is the key to efficient work. Never CAD anything until you have done mental experiments, paper drawings, and thought through all
by javiramos 10y ago
As a mechanical engineer, this is the key to efficient work. Never CAD anything until you have done mental experiments, paper drawings, and thought through all the possible issues.
- _Adam 10y agoI'm a software engineer dabbling in mech design. I always do mental experiments and paper drawings, but I find that until I actual model it in SolidWorks I don't know for certain it will work. In your mind, do you see a "mental picture" of the model before you CAD it?
- karthikb 10y agoYou'll get better at visualizing with practice. Making sketches lets you nail down the big picture without the tool and all of its detailed needs getting in the way.
- jpace121 10y agoNot the OP, but I swear by cardboard, hot glue, and play doh. I make lots of rough scale "prototypes" with the above tools to get started, and spot lots of problems this way.
- javiramos 10y agoEveryone has different ways of thinking - I imagine the models before CADding them but some people might like to make cardboard, playdoh etc models. If you like going directly to CAD, I would recommend starting with coarse CAD models.
- newman314 10y agoCheck out Quip. I love using it for multi device note taking and paper notes in the shower.