SWOOD & SolidWorks Where a section cannot describe the shape.
Casework platforms are built for casework, and they are very good at it. When an assembly is a metal frame carrying timber panels and a glass front, with a curved surface that has to be made from discrete pieces, a different environment does the work.
What this environment is for
- Assemblies rather than units.
- A fixture is one object made of several materials, and modelling it as one object is what makes the interfaces visible before fabrication rather than at assembly.
- Geometry a section cannot describe.
- Curved and faceted work, compound surfaces, and continuous forms built from discrete parts. A section through a curve does not tell a fabricator what the surface does.
- Interference checking before anything is cut.
- Where components from different trades occupy the same space, a model shows it and a set of separate drawings does not.
- Parts extracted from the model.
- Sheet-metal components, timber parts and their flat patterns derived from the same source, so they cannot disagree with each other.
What we do inside it
Modelled assemblies for mixed-material fixtures. Complex and feature millwork geometry. Sheet-metal parts and flat patterns developed to your fabricator’s parameters. Derived drawings that stay consistent with the model, and part geometry extractable for fabrication.
Everything is produced in your environment where you run one, to your conventions and under your title block.
What we do not do
- We do not offer structural analysis or simulation.
- Where a condition raises a structural question, it is flagged for a qualified engineer rather than answered in the model.
- We do not write post-processors or G-code.
- Machine-specific output stays with your programmer or your machine integrator.
- We are not a SolidWorks or SWOOD reseller, partner or implementation consultancy.
Platform capability block
When a casework platform is the better answer
Worth saying plainly, because it is true more often than a platform page usually admits.
For repetitive standard casework, a parametric casework environment is more efficient and produces better downstream data. Modelling straightforward casework adds cost without adding certainty.
The case for modelling is geometry that cannot be described any other way, and assemblies where materials meet. If your work is mostly the former, use the platform built for it.
Services that apply
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you model in SolidWorks or in a casework platform?
Whichever suits the work and the environment you run. Mixed-material fixtures and complex geometry are modelled. Repetitive standard casework is usually better handled in a parametric casework platform, and we will say so rather than model something that did not need it.
Can you produce fabrication drawings from the model?
Yes. Derived drawings come from the model so the two cannot diverge, and part geometry is extractable for fabrication.
Do you do structural analysis?
No. Where a condition raises a structural question it is flagged for a qualified engineer.
Can you detail the metal parts as well?
Sheet-metal parts and flat patterns are handled in-house, developed to your fabricator’s supplied bend parameters. Welded assemblies are detailed with our fabrication specialists where the scope requires it.
Send an assembly that is more than one material
That is where modelling either earns its cost or does not.
- Mixed-material assemblies modelled as one coordinated object
- Derived drawings generated from the model, never diverging
- Structural questions flagged for a qualified engineer, not answered
- One named contact, not a general queue
Send a set from SWOOD & SolidWorks
Scope and questions come back, not a template.
