*** News ***

Catwards now offers 3D Printing

Working with our strategic partners, Catwards is delighted to announce we now offer 3D printing.

Your models can now be turned into the real thing - just by clicking 'print'

Yes really - 3D printing!

• With physical models you can easily communicate your concepts & working solutions.


• 3D printing transforms a virtual CAD model into a physical part or assembly.


• think of a CAT scan, but in reverse. The printer builds the model up in layers of approximately 0.7mm thick in ABS plastic.

How many of you know we offer a plotting service? Well we do…………..
We recently undertook what can only be described as a mammoth plotting job. We shipped out 2400 plots, went through over 30 rolls of paper, produced plots from A3 to A0 and all to a very tight deadline!

Every drawing needed looking at to make sure that all the title blocks had been completed correctly and that the correct print styles were being used. this is something that needs to be done by someone who knows the industry and the software. Taking us away from the competitive printing business and into the CAD niche.

As you can imagine, this now elevates us to plotting guru status, so please dont hesistate to contact us if you require some plotting. No job is too big!

Here at Catwards we consume alot of hot drinks! We therefore thought that it was only right that we become exclusively fair trade. We still consume the sameamount of hot drinks but now all the tea bags and coffee we buy are produced to fair trade standards.

Also, continuing our support for local business, we nowonly buy Clipper tea bags. Clipper Tea ltd is a global tea company based out of Beaminster that are invloved in a number of worthwhile causes. Pop over to their website to find out a bit more! http://www.clipper-teas.com/

Now please excuse us while we head off and polish our halos.

Happy Birthday us!

Catwards is seven years old today! No time for celebrating though, because Catwards is extremely busy at the moment!Therefore the time forcelebration will have to wait!

Here at Catwards we have been even more immersed in the world of CAD than usual!

As well as attending to our day to day work schedule, we have been out of the office, further developing our CAD knowledge.

We have attended a tips and tricks day which wasran by Solid Solutions.Theevent wasa resounding success andproved avery helpful resource in maintaining and developing our knowledge in Solidworks.

Secondly, we were present at a very busy Inventor user group day, ran by Adris. The event draw a huge number of Autodesk Inventer fans and as well as a lovely lunch, we were treated to a number of presentations that detailed the very impressive, just launched, Inventor 2010.

The software looks amazing and certainly has been improved on from the last release. Can’t wait to to start playing with it!

Our thanks go out to Solid Solutions and Adris who both ran excellent user days.

Having produced all the technical information (complete set of 3D models and engineering drawings) for one of our clients - MEP, we were presented with the task of creating something visual for them to use intheir presentation.

Far beyond just a rendered image, Catwards decided to create an animation. This animation would allow the client to visually show the product at work, thus allowing a greater understanding of the product between the client and those that the clientwas presenting too.

With the use of the existing 3D data, the above animation was created and presented to the client as a gift from Catwards.

Two frustrating CAD problems have been solved here at Catwards recently! As we are keen CAD supporters we are sharing these solutions with the CAD world!

Problem 1 - Solidworks Duplicate BOM Column Properties

If your BOM (bill of materials) is creating seemingly duplicate column properties i.e. two possible entries for “drawing number”, then make sure that back in your part properties there are no hidden spaces in the title. Solidworks decides that a hidden space makes the title different even if the text is exactly the same. Delete any hidden spaces, then update your drawing and hey presto, no duplicate column properties.

Problem 2 AutoCAD Automatically Rotates Text

If your text within a text box is being rotated 90 degrees when you place it in a drawing then here is the solution. Check the text style you are using (it will normally be “Standard”) and then open the Text Styles menu. Check that the font you are using does not have the @ symbol in front of it i.e. @arial. This @ symbol is causing the text to rotate. Simply find the text you want to use without the @ symbol in front of it. This problemis one found within the software and hopefully Autodesk will solve it!

Hope these have been of help to you!

Found a cool video on Youtube that uses an Inventor assembly and animation to explain the workings of a differential mechanism.

Catwards is now certified member of Buy Dorset Buy Local.

Buy Dorset Buy Local is a network of over 300 local organisations that have pledged to source goods and services from within Dorset.

This is a great initiative that will no doubt help our local economy grow.

For more information head over to the BuyDorset Buy Local website.

http://www.buydorset.co.uk/

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Found a video showcasing Autodesk Inventors animation ability.

The animation shows the working principle of a Bugatti W16.4 Engine!

Amazing stuff!