CSWP Drawings Intro and Sample Exam

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This article is a guest post by Jim Lucas

Drawings… I’d love to live in a world where these are obsolete, and 3D files became the vehicle of communication. Unfortunately and surprisingly, engineers have never seemed to carry much weight in decision-making. We have somehow been wedged out either by the jealously of our razor-sharp analytical abilities or the disgust of our lack of deodorant and social graces.

As a result, SolidWorks provides a way to communicate 3D drawings in a 2D format. As you can imagine, it is very difficult to generate a test that measures “drawing” abilities in SolidWorks (which is renown for its ease of use). They are no testing ISO/ANSO standards, they are no testing best practices, they are no testing the ability to clearly show the function & form of a model, there is no dimensioning or annotation questions. They are testing to see if you know how to use the various tools in SolidWorks- mostly views, BOMs and custom properties.

I know a few people who have had difficulty with the CSWP Drawing exam. They failed because they were more concerned on figuring out the correct methodology (using drawings) instead of just figuring out the right answer (or close enough to guess). These guys are exactly the people you want doing your drawings (because they are perfectionist) but they lack the credential I got because they don’t adjust to the “game” objectives. The “game” is to get the correct answers & pass the test, not make a pretty drawing. My world is in “part-mode”. There were a few questions in the exam where it was easier for me to solve the question as a part rather than in a drawing. I also brought some calculations out to excel. I don’t remember if it was because I couldn’t figure it out using the “right” method or if I was just taking a shortcut… but it worked.

Work through it and then review the answers:

CSWP Drawings Sample Problem #1:

This one falls into my “answer the question, don’t worry about being pretty” rant perfectly. The secret to this one is that sketch entities cannot be reference UNLESS they are in the same drawing view.

Problem: Insert part into drawing that has an imbedded line segment.

Solution: See the solution for CSWP Drawing Question 1

CSWP Drawings Sample Problem #2:

CSWP Drawings Sample Problem #4:

Problem: Extract part count information from a BOM

Solution: See the Solution for CSWP Drawing Question 4

CSWP Drawings Sample Problem #5:

Problem: Sort the BOM into a useful format

Solution: See the Solution for CSWP Drawing Question 5

CSWP Drawings Sample Problem #6:

Problem: Sort the BOM into a useful format

Jim is a CSWP and on the road to getting his CSWE.  He works for HawkRidge Systems, an authorized reseller of SolidWorks. Jim also runs i-elf, a product development consulting company.  He can be reached at Jim.Lucas@i-elf.com.