Learning Solidworks

I don't know what John Thomas is on, but Michael Minbiole lives up to his legend status. This is hands down the definitive SolidWorks guide of this or any generation. Minbiole's delightful prose flows gracefully yet at the right moment it bites with a rapier wit. Never before has Solid Modeling been described so naturally; it's as if Minbiole eats and sleeps SolidWorks. He totally captured what its like to solid model: the excitement, the confusion, the horniness. He's simply brilliant. I'm not the first to mention his name among better known American authors like Hemmingway and Fitzgerald. I credit Minbiole for saving my career, and consequently my marriage. Plus he's photogenic enough to make teenage girls swoon. If you're considering a guide to SolidWorks, look no further.

I actually studied under Professor Leuptow for a couple semesters and was able to work with him on the latest edition. The new manual is based primarily on the same concepts, the production of the pizza cutter, but has been updated so that the little frustrating incompatibilites should be eliminated. I learned a good deal from his book and several months later was able to use my SolidWorks skills to help at a summer internship in a Biomechanics laboratory that was primarily using AutoCAD. All in all, a good book for those starting out who want a working knowledge of the program. If you are looking for higher level instruction, you might want to turn to someplace else.

The namne of the book says it all, ...Learning SolidWorks. This book is for people who wish to learn SolidWorks, it is not a book on 3D solid modeling, nor is it a book for people experienced with SolidWorks who want advanced assembly training, IT"S FOR BEGINNERS!!!! that's what the title says. right?I have over 10 years of AutoCAD experience and I found this book to be an excellent introduction to SolidWorks. I should point out though that I had previously done the tutorial that comes with 2001 Plus. Maybe the combination of my AutoCAD (all 2D, my 3D experience with AutoCAD was 1997 and earlier, I don't even consider those versions of AutoCAD as legitimate 3D solid modeling) experience and doing the SolidWOrks supplied tutorial made this book easier to follow than the other reviewers who found it lacking.This book is written for 2001 which is what I used, I found there to be no errors in the instructions, the few times that things weren't working right for me I went back a few steps and tried it again, everything then worked as it was supposed to.Having taken 3 classes in SolidWorks from a VAR (Essentials, Sheet Metal, Drawing & Dimensioning) I'd say this book is the low cost way of learning SolidWorks, an excellent introduction to the power of SolidWorks. A wise choice for a person unfamiliar or just starting out with SolidWorks.

Fortunately, I didn't read the negative reviews here before purchasing this book. I'm very excited at the way this book sets about teaching me an amazing new skill... to be able to design physical objects from scratch to the point of producing drawings for a machine shop or injection molder. I just came here to order another copy for my son... I have 4 other Solidworks books also - but I'm a complete beginner and I'm not touching them until I finish this one. It's absolutely focused on teaching Solidworks in a systematic - "bs free" method. For those who complain about the pizza cutter - please - get a life. Also, the book points you to it's website to download a detailed update (18 pages) covering mostly cosmetic differences (dialog boxes) in the latest Solidworks version ... Highly recommended 5 stars.

As a beginner in engineering, really this book helped too much in Software usage with the reasons from manufacturing environment. Instead of a thick manual, a starter should read this book as a completely real practice to understand the features of Solidworks better.Of course you will need a thick manual for an instant help about the commands, too.