My slef designed frame

This year in university we have a unit which through it we learned a mechanical engineering software called Solid works. Like all the other units all students just wanted to pass the exam and get rid of it but I really got interested in the software .In university we only had time to learn the basics but at home I spent many of my spare time discovering it . The first thing that got in my mind was MTB components I have made many MTB components with it such as DH frames ‘ Forks (just the outer leg ‘ crown ‘ stanchion and steering tube ) disc rotors ‘ handle bars rims and ………
But this time I attempted to make a frame with all standards and features . So I started dimensioning my Giant Iguana frame from the basic things like the diameter of the top tube to all the tiny and accurate distances . It took me 4 days to complete it ( each day I worked 2 or 3 hours on it ) and here it is . What do you think about it.

More pix

And these are some other pics to show other angles and features.

Your frame looks great!

Solid works is a very very popular CAD package with a lot of support: It is quickly become THE default CAD package simply because it seems to nail the cost / performance balance nicely. It's probably the best software to learn right now: and your skills can transfer fairly easily to other packages (such as Pro-E) without too much trouble.

Here's some suggestions from someone who has spent a LOT of time using this software (and who is still learning!).

I noticed that your frame looks like it's one part model: you might want to think about making every "component" one part model and making your frame an assembly. This is nice because if you ever actually make your frame (or a different one), you can make drawings for every part (i.e. every tube, every CNC machined part, etc...) so that you know how to miter each tube and how to machine each part. This will also allow you to make vairable frame sizes while keeping the parts consistent.

You can also use configuration tables to quickly lay out different sizes, or even different frame geometries for each size. This gets really cool, because you can have the software "miter" the tubes for you for each different frame size, put welding / heat treating breath holes in the correct locations, etc...

Also, trust me on this one: take the time to lable ALL of your part features, parts and assemblies: I.e. if you make an extrusion for the head tube, then lable it "head tube". Then, if you make a revolve cut for the head set bearing seats, lable it "head tube bearing seats". Once your models and assemblies get fairly complicated, you'll spend a lot of time searching for a feature when you need to change it. Renaming it makes it way easier.

Here's a couple of pictures of the V-tach frame that we manufacture: Photoworks and other plug-ins can be a lot of fun too, but can suck up a lot of time to get everything just right. I'm sure some people are really, really fast with photoworks, but I don't spend enough time with it to make it worth while

Cheers and good luck!

knollybikes.com said:

Solid works is a very very popular CAD package with a lot of support: It is quickly become THE default CAD package simply because it seems to nail the cost / performance balance nicely. It's probably the best software to learn right now: and your skills can transfer fairly easily to other packages (such as Pro-E) without too much trouble.

Here's some suggestions from someone who has spent a LOT of time using this software (and who is still learning!).

I noticed that your frame looks like it's one part model: you might want to think about making every "component" one part model and making your frame an assembly. This is nice because if you ever actually make your frame (or a different one), you can make drawings for every part (i.e. every tube, every CNC machined part, etc...) so that you know how to miter each tube and how to machine each part. This will also allow you to make vairable frame sizes while keeping the parts consistent.

You can also use configuration tables to quickly lay out different sizes, or even different frame geometries for each size. This gets really cool, because you can have the software "miter" the tubes for you for each different frame size, put welding / heat treating breath holes in the correct locations, etc...

Also, trust me on this one: take the time to lable ALL of your part features, parts and assemblies: I.e. if you make an extrusion for the head tube, then lable it "head tube". Then, if you make a revolve cut for the head set bearing seats, lable it "head tube bearing seats". Once your models and assemblies get fairly complicated, you'll spend a lot of time searching for a feature when you need to change it. Renaming it makes it way easier.

Here's a couple of pictures of the V-tach frame that we manufacture: Photoworks and other plug-ins can be a lot of fun too, but can suck up a lot of time to get everything just right. I'm sure some people are really, really fast with photoworks, but I don't spend enough time with it to make it worth while

Cheers and good luck!

Click to expand...

OMG that render is amazing, I'm designing a frame too, and believe or not I'm using Autocad ... It's because I'm studing Arquitecture and that's the program that we use all the time.

Right now I'm deciding which Bearings to use, designing pivots, bolts, washers and all that stuff. The last stage will be learning how to use a FEA program and check if the Frame is strong enough.

Bye.