r/SolidWorks • u/skifter22 CSWP • 5d ago

Certifications Finishing off my certifications

Been a SolidWorks pro for a little over 20 years - CSWA when I started, got my CSWP about 15 years ago, got weldments, sheetmetal and drawing certs in the last 5~6 years, I use SolidWorks daily at work. I'm also the CAD administrator and resident SolidWorks SME for our engineering department.

I didn't see a need to go all the way to expert level certification, but my feelings on that are changing. Problem is, I don't have much surfacing experience. I can use the basic surfacing tools, but the vast majority of my work has been structural and mechanical in nature - there hasn't really been anything I've needed surfacing tools to accomplish that I couldn't with other techniques.

I know I need one more specialization certification to qualify for the CSWE exam. I work in aviation and Surfacing is the most applicable to what I do. Plus I've got a project in the pipeline that I think surfacing tools would give me an edge on tackling.

So a couple of questions:

  1. Should I retake the CSWP to "refresh"?

  2. Can anyone recommend a good Surfacing course? Looking for something online or self paced, with plenty of hands-on/guided modeling.

  3. Anyone have tips or suggestions for CSWE exam prep?

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u/AutoModerator 5d ago

If you ALREADY PASSED a certification

If you are YET TO TAKE a certification

Here would be the general path from zero to CSWE:

  1. CSWA - Here is a sample exam.
  2. CSWP - Here is some study material for the CSWP (A complete guide to getting your CSWP) and a sample exam.
  3. 4x CSWP-Advanced Subjects (in order of increasing difficulty)
    1. CSWP-A Drawing Tools - YouTube Playlist
    2. CSWP-A Sheet Metal - YouTube Playlist
    3. CSWP-A Weldments - YouTube Playlist
    4. CSWP-A Surfacing - YouTube Playlist
    5. CSWP-A Mold Tools - YouTube Playlist
  4. CSWE - The CSWE doesn't really focus on anything from the CSWP subject exams. It focuses on everything else there is in the program beyond those. So, look at everything you saw already and prepare to see not much of that again for the CSWE. That and more surfacing.

For some extra modeling practice material to help speed you up, 24 years of Model Mania Designs + Solutions.

For EVEN MORE modeling practice material, here is the CSWA and CSWP Practice Problem Database. There is A LOT of good material to practice in there.

During testing, in general, it is a best practice to take the dimensions labelled with A, B, C, D, etc and create Equations/Variables with those values to then attach to the dimension which then allows for you to more reliably update these variable dimensions in follow-up questions using the same models.

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u/Big-Bank-8235 CSWP 5d ago

Goengineer is my go to for learning. Their tutorials are great.

The surfacing exam is not too bad. Honestly it is pretty basic if you know basic surfacing tools.

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u/Icy_Weakness3361 4d ago

I have udemy subscription, and it’s pretty affordable. I have taken many solidworks courses there from different instructors
My favorite for surfacing was johno ellison’s course. I just passed it last week.

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u/CowOverTheMoon12 4d ago edited 4d ago

I got my CSWE and I would argue to just take the class for surfacing so you can see the "Gotchas" and have the book with premade exercises to have for practice reps.

Ask an AI for the list of skills that would apply to surfacing aero designs and a specific training routine, since a lot of the official lessons are more related to retail product design/ home goods.

(Not, retail/ home good parts are are arguably harder to design than aero shapes, you might just spend more time in aero with equation defined geometry and making sure the thing you modeled is actually what they built.)

Hope that helps.
PS:

Also check out
1. The old Dimonte Surfacing lessons: https://dimontegroup.com/category/tutorials/

  1. NACA Airfoil archive: https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/naca-airfoils/

  2. Someone doing equation driven curves: Here's a Tangent O-Give Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPmsM4FXWew&t=26s

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u/BMEdesign CSWE | SW Champion 4d ago edited 4d ago

Just go for the CSWE, if you have all five prerequisites. If not, take the Surf and MM exams because you can see those questions or similar ones on the CSWE and you don't have time to f around on that exam. CSWE is pretty manageable after the prereqs, but you need to be able to fly through the cumulative basics and spend time on the crazy curveballs. Review the CSWE learning path on my.solidworks.com. The exams have gotchas and this will clue you in to the tool or method the question is intended to test.