Recent CAD Designs

Solidworks - Parts & Surfaces

Textured Vase

In Bangkok, I had a vase very similar to this one (though it had one consistent diameter). I found a tutorial video to help me learn how to model it (this link will take you there if you're interested). This was a great exercise in texture development and surface knitting and I can't wait to use more tutorials by this author to further (re)build my Solidworks skills!

My vase in Bangkok, featuring some blooms I bought at the Chinatown flower market!

Mobius Strip

Modeling the infamous mobius strip was a great warm up for a day full of modeling and involved revisiting sweeps, curvature patterns, and combine features before concluding with a motion study. Here's the link to the tutorial I followed for the Solidworks model.

Scissors

These functional & personalized scissors were actually inspired by one of my "fifteen minutes in Onshape" activities that I couldn't finish in my allotted time. I ended up following a tutorial to finish the design in Solidworks.

Spoon

I keep hearing about how important surface modeling is for mechanical design careers, so I followed this tutorial to learn how to bring that new skill to the table. I'm not sure I had ever used boundary surfaces before this project, so I'm extra glad I did here!

Headphone

This was an exciting step in my back-to-CAD journey as I was able to predict some of the steps that the author of this tutorial video would take to model this wireless headphone casing. I love how it turned out!

Ice Cream Cone

This ice cream cone was a quick exercise in parametric modeling (or the use of equations in my design). I wanted to figure out a way to make the waffle ridges look consistent and crunchy without having to repeat the same steps 19 times, so a little bit of math paired with linear and circular patterns came in handy.

Water Tap Fitting

This was another delightful foray into the world of surface modeling alongside CADCAM Tutorials. At this point, I'm truly becoming confident with using surface revolves, sweeps, trims, and knits.

Plastic Beverage Bottle

This little bottle took a bit of time to get just right, but I had fun learning how to use an image as a surface! Here's the tutorial in case you want to try it.

Bottle Cap with Logo

I learned how to use and edit decals in this tutorial, and this bottle cap was the outcome!

Solidworks - Assemblies

Basket Mold Assembly

This was actually the first time I've made a mold in Solidworks! It was great to learn more about configuring and using the mold tools as well as making an animated exploded assembly. Here's the tutorial that introduced me to these design tools.

Belt and Pulley Assembly

This belt and pulley assembly (tutorial video here) was a great refresher on how to use motion studies as well as the belt/chain feature in Solidworks. I'm hoping to design a bicycle soon, and I know that this experience will come in handy when I get started on that project!

belt and pulley.mp4

(🎵You're my) Flashlight Assembly

I designed this flashlight following the instructions from chapters 5-8 of Engineering Graphics with SOLIDWORKS 2021 by David Planchard. The lens cap, o-ring, lens, bulb, battery cap, battery, housing, and button all fit together to form a 90's - reminiscent design. I learned a lot during this chapter about injection molded parts (the plastic elements depicted would be manufactured in this manner, which means that they need to have smooth fillets and slanted edges for ease of removal from a mold) as well as design intent and best practices.

"15 Minutes in Onshape"

I've been trying to stay current on my design skills by taking 15 minutes every few days to independently design something from the world around me as efficiently as possible. These exercises always turn into great mini-projects and lessons for students. Here are some examples!

Basketball

This design was rather simple - it just needed three sketches, two revolves, and one extrusion. It came in super handy the week after I made it when a student asked if they could 3D print a basketball keychain for a friend & I was able to quickly add a small loop to the side & start the print right away.

Chinese Window

My friend is a Chinese teacher and asked if I could design and laser cut a decorative Chinese window for her to hang in her classroom. I used a picture she provided as my reference material and got her approval on this design. Now it is happily on display next to her classroom clock!

Binder Clip

One of the homework assignments in a design book I've been reading was to design a binder clip. I made this one while on the phone with a friend to test my visualisation/imagination skills while I'm distracted, and I have to say- I'm impressed with myself though it's clear I also have room for improvement.

Water Bottle

This one was a bit of a challenge to do in 15 minutes, but I am pretty happy with the bottle and spout -with a bit more detailing, the lid would more closely resemble my reference object, so I hope to get around to working on that sometime. I used slider and revolute mates to make a functional screw-on lid in my Onshape assembly.

Tealight Lantern

This little tea-light lantern was inspired by a design I saw on Glowforge's design database but didn't want to pay for. I made my own version complete with the thickness of the wood I had available and sent the finished product home with the student who helped me laser cut it as a gift for their mother! It uses a cross lap joint at the top and four mortise and tenon joints at the bottom to stay together without needing glue.

Mid Century Modern Nightstand

This might have been the design that started my 15 minute CAD project - I originally designed it with two goals in mind: 1 - to match a dresser I had built based on a Pinterest design and 2- to show my students how to make a time lapse of their design processes. We'll see if I ever get around to actually building it!

Flathead & Phillips Head Screwdrivers

I made these (along with instructional videos) to show my students how to use the spline tools as well as create angled planes. "Copying" the Flathead part file and editing it into a Phillips head saved time & hopefully taught my students something about working smarter, not harder.

Yarn Box (for Laser Cutting)

This was another instructional design as I taught a unit on Design for X. In this case, X was laser cutting, and I wanted my students to be able to "find the flaw" in my design - that is, the bottom right box joint isn't properly aligned with the edge. That's an easy fix, as long as you catch it before you start the laser cut!

"Origami" Flowers

Once I figured out that teaching students to design things in CAD that they had made physically using origami was more effective than anything else that I'd tried, there was no going back. These flowers are a great way to introduce students to many advanced topics in Onshape, including assemblies, 3D fit splines, lofts, and circular arrays.

Bonus: "More than 15 minutes" in Onshape

Having students design a personalized C-Clamp is one of the most fun and rewarding lessons of the CAD unit (until they start designing things independently of my examples, that is!). Each part takes about one class day to teach and then the assembly usually takes one class day as well. By the end of this mini-unit, students are able to design helixes, add text to their design, reference previous work to find important measurements, and so much more. The final result is a functional C-clamp, courtesy of ball, slider, cylindrical, and screw mates in Onshape!

CSWA Prep

I'm currently practicing for the CSWA (Certified Solidworks Associate) test and figured it would be worth sharing some of my work for the practice problems. Enjoy!

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