[MFchief]

Hi All,

Just wanted to tell everyone about an offer from Solidworks for folks that might be thinking of trying it out.

You might know they have a student edition, good for a year, for $150.00 US, but for US military veterans, that version is available for only $20.00.

It may be available for other country's veterans, I don't know.

Here's the link, if anyone wants to check it out.

https://store.solidworks.com/veteran/default.php

Terry

[mountaindew]

Help a me understand!
A student version requires you to be a registered student right?
To be a registered student in my area costs as much or more then the software.

[MFchief]

Yes, for students you are correct, and it's doubtful it would make sense for anyone to enroll as a student just to get that deal.

But perhaps I wasn't clear, veterans get the $20 deal even if they are not students. It's just that the software they receive is the student version, with restrictions such as non-commercial use only.

Terry

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[mountaindew]

That is so awesome for vets!
Access to such high end software to learn new or improve skills on would be very helpful imho!
And a excellent benefit for them! I would love to learn and use the software!
Solid works gets my respect!
md

[tmarks11]

There is an advantage of the student version: it gives you the full $13k Solidworks PREMIUM version. It is fully functional... and you can integrate HSMWorks with it for a great CAD/CAM solution.

The downside (as mentioned above) is that everything you print out has the "STUDENT EDITION" banner across it, but for home shop, noncommercial use, it is awesome.

[LeeWay]

I do everything in Turbocad. I have thought often about taking some night courses to get my hands on SW. Could never really afford it at full price. You can enroll in a Junior or Community college for a lot less than any University.
Anyway, I am a Vet. Twice. Once in the Army (RA) and once ANG. I am copying one of my DD214's and I will let you know how it goes.
Thanks a bunch for the heads up on this.

[LeeWay]

Here is the reply.

"Thank you for submitting your application. We will review your application form.

On approval, you will receive an email from SolidWorks.Edu with directions to complete your order. Please allow 2 business days for application review."

I'll follow up with the results.
Again, Thanks a bunch!

[MFchief]

Lee,

I did it and got the same Bot email reply, they actually replied the next day for me with the link to pay them the $20.00. Turned out pretty painless.

Terry

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Lee,

I did it and got the same Bot email reply, they actually replied the next day for me with the link to pay them the $20.00. Turned out pretty painless.

Terry

[LeeWay]

It was just that simple. They just approved me and sent me a link to pay the $20.00. That $20.00 is actually for shipping and handling, so SW is effectively free. I had resigned myself to just drool over SW and others projects with them. I just could not justify the purchase price when TC did everything I needed it to.
I am looking forward to using it. It should help knock out some of the cob webs developing in my noggin.

Thanks a bunch for the PS announcement. It does pay to serve.

[kvom]

Thanks for posting this. I'm a vet and have a copy of Cubify Design that I got through Novakon. I'm going to get the SW offer and see if the effort I put into learning Cubify will cross over. HSMWorks may also be a benefit.

[BAMCNC.COM]

Very cool, I paid full price for SW a couple months ago. It was tough, but worth it.

No need for schooling, just watch YouTube videos, it's how I learned. Don't learn from my SW videos lol, but Rob Lockwood has some good ones. I was making money with SW in 2 weeks, its' already paid itself off, I say if anyone is thinking about it - just DO IT!

[kvom]

duplicate

[CadRhino]

Hi Brad,

I am a fan of yours. Thanks for all of your Youtube posts. The have been really insightful & educational.

If you don't mind my asking, which version of solidworks did you get and how much, roughly did you pay?

How has it been making money for you? Is it allowing you to work with other shops better or is it that you are more efficient at running your Tormach and CNC lathes.

Thanks,
Nathan

Very cool, I paid full price for SW a couple months ago. It was tough, but worth it.

No need for schooling, just watch YouTube videos, it's how I learned. Don't learn from my SW videos lol, but Rob Lockwood has some good ones. I was making money with SW in 2 weeks, its' already paid itself off, I say if anyone is thinking about it - just DO IT!

[tmarks11]

I am a happy participant in the "SW Vet" thing, been enjoying it for the past year.

I found "Solidworks 2014, Part 1 Basic Tools" and "Solidworks 2014, Part II - Advanced Techniques" by Paul Tran to be money well spent. Walks you through making complex assemblies, and I think I would have missed a lot of the GUI manipulations if I had tilted that windmill on my own.

I started with Solidworks Bible by Matt Lombard. It might be useful as a great reference book, but definitely not the way to learn Solidworks (at least for me). Fortunately, I figured that out after plowing through several painful chapters, and switched to Paul Tran's series.

[BAMCNC.COM]

Hey Nathan - THANKS!

I bought the cheapest version - standard I think it was. It was around $4000 if I remember right. Does everything I need. I bought it from a local place (Des Moines), which was a mistake as I had to pay hundreds in sales tax, so I'd suggest looking in another state to buy it. (done all online)

My current Kickstarter project was 100% designed in SW and programmed with HSMWorks. So LUCKILY it paid itself off in a few hours. With the help of Rob Lockwood I was able to get up to speed with both SW and HSMWorks. So in as little as a few weeks I knew enough to turn an idea into a prototype (funny, that's my YouTube playlist name) - I'd guess it will be years before I really know what SW is capable of.

Before HSMWorks I was hand coding my lathes, which takes quite awhile and there are more crashes. Now I can draw the part and have it cut on my lathe in less than 20min - unthinkable before.

The ONLY Training I paid for was here - Learn modo, SolidWorks, and Rhino for product design.

[CadRhino]

Hi Brad,
Thanks for the detailed feedback.
Congratulations on your continued Kickstarter successes. I am sure they will get better and before you know it you will make something that takes off like the Coolest cooler. Then you will need to get 10 Tormachs (!)
-Nathan

Hey Nathan - THANKS!

I bought the cheapest version - standard I think it was. It was around $4000 if I remember right. Does everything I need. I bought it from a local place (Des Moines), which was a mistake as I had to pay hundreds in sales tax, so I'd suggest looking in another state to buy it. (done all online)

My current Kickstarter project was 100% designed in SW and programmed with HSMWorks. So LUCKILY it paid itself off in a few hours. With the help of Rob Lockwood I was able to get up to speed with both SW and HSMWorks. So in as little as a few weeks I knew enough to turn an idea into a prototype (funny, that's my YouTube playlist name) - I'd guess it will be years before I really know what SW is capable of.

Before HSMWorks I was hand coding my lathes, which takes quite awhile and there are more crashes. Now I can draw the part and have it cut on my lathe in less than 20min - unthinkable before.

The ONLY Training I paid for was here - Learn modo, SolidWorks, and Rhino for product design.

[BAMCNC.COM]

coolest cooler - ahaha wow.

[Gerry Sweetland]

If you are new to SW and to get you started go through the tutorials that come with SW. They are are really pretty good and get you sketching and extruding your own designs quite quickly
Gerry

[tmarks11]

If you are new to SW and to get you started go through the tutorials that come with SW. They are are really pretty good and get you sketching and extruding your own designs quite quickly Gerry

++++1

I wish solid works would offer more tutorials. They were very helpful. For me, the Paul Tran books I mentioned above where a good place to go next after finishing the tutorials.

[LeeWay]

Okay. I have installed it. The only icon I see is for SW composer. Is that the CAD platform? I was having real issues installing this. I eventually did a fresh windows install. Then I found out that my DVD drive would basically time out. I used a USB DVD drive and it worked as expected then.