3-D Design

Like many engineers of my generation (I programmed in Fortran and know what a PDP-11 is...), I began my professional career using quad-ruled paper and lab notebooks with carbon paper. Eventually we got IBM-PCs and I learned how to use AutoCAD, the ubiquitous 1-D program that many of us started designing with. Around the time that my engineers were learning how to design in 3-D using SOLIDWORKS, I was focused on contract and engineering management. So I never learned the "real" stuff. So here's my version of "solid works."

The example problem here is to design a tablernacle for my Potter sailboat. After sketching out a bunch of ideas on that quad-ruled, I decided to just head down to the shop and knock something out -- a little model that I could hold in my hand and show my sailing buddies to get their comments. Here's what I built...

I used poster foamboard for the base and sides, along with some picture framing mat board to tie it all together. There are plenty of safe glues that you can find at Walmart or Staples. Today I would use my glue gun to speed up the construction process. The scale one inch to the foot and I made a little ruler that I could move around. I probably spent less time putting this model together than I did on my pencil scratchings.

Yes, this design example is simple. But I wanted to show that you don't need to use SOLIDWORKS to design a boat or to figure things out. That said, you DO still need to analyze the stresses and strains -- stuff that the computer can really help with analyzing and visualizing. And that's why the experienced design pros get the big bucks -- just another example of YGWYPF ("you get what you pay for").