Richards SolidWorks Blog

Some Final Pictures of the Offset Tower Project

                     SolidWorks is a can do MCAD Program

                                                                                     by Richard Williams 8/13/08

Hi Everyone,

     Well the last time I sent out an update on the Cargo Shipping Container project, I got a lot of feedback.  Thank you everyone.  The feedback I did get for this project is really invaluable for the inspiration I need to keep going ahead.  These screen shots are from the “Offset Towers” that is virtually and finally finished now.  I am very surprised that I was able to accomplish this.   No, it is not the “Trump Towers” that we see here in Las Vegas on the Strip but there is a real difference in the price for one of those Penthouse suits and the cost of this whole project.  Designing and placing these structural steel members and walkways, gantries and platforms with the supporting steel I beams etc…, can drive you nuts.  To make things match and model properly I had to reopen many finished part sub-assemblies to make ECO’s.  J  What really is surprising to me is that SolidWorks could not only do the job for this project but it kept me from making disastrous mistakes many times.  I saw plenty of warning messages, which if they were not there within the program, I would have become very discouraged and might have given up.  All add on’s additions in yellow were mind boggling to make for me, a non professional user.  But I have to keep in mind that they are only supposed to be conceptualizations of the possibilities of using Cargo Shipping Containers as emergency portable housing units.  Enjoy the pictures.

Richard Williams

cplrich@cox.net

Download cargo_shippint_containers_the_offset_tower_project. 8_13_08.doc

Where are the Limits with SolidWorks?

Where are the limits with SolidWorks?

                                                                                                                                             By Richard Williams 8/8/08

            Well, I haven’t found them yet myself but then again I am not a power user like those that make their livelihoods with this SolidWorks program.  I’m more like many of you reading this article.  I struggle to find ways for using it in our schools here in our district.  I’m constantly working to find new and different things to do with SolidWorks to promote its use in so many other ways that many of us have not tried as yet.  So I took upon myself another project recently.

           I was asked by one of our university professors here to do some conceptual designs for the conversion of Cargo Shipping Containers that will be used as emergency or highly portable temporary housing units.  I took the challenge up and started to work with some other conceptualization programs that are easier to use with this type of idea phase.  (You might remember my last article about that where I suggested two free programs to go get for yourself.)  Eventually, my ideas took shape and in order to do the fine detailing and exacting assembly work, I had to move into SolidWorks itself with my conceptualization ideas.  Now as you already know, SolidWorks was never meant to be an Architectural program.  Now having said that, I will let you judge the results for yourself.  Mind you now, I’m not a professional user of this marvelous program, so in the hands of one of the CSWP (Certified SolidWorks Professional) I’m sure a much greater level of creativity and design would be obvious.  However, I will submit my screen shots of the final assembly work I did over this last week or two.  Now the two basic designs are done and I can use them to place a small to large community of them on the desert.  I have not yet finished with these concepts and more are going to be done in the near future.  But these screen captures will show you what is not only possible but doable when using SolidWorks.  Enjoy the pictures and comments.

             It is easy to make mistakes when bouncing back and forth between different versions of deigns you have up and running at the same time.  Today I put some finishing touches on both of the two configurations so far of the CSC’s.  For instance, in this triplex unit, I did not realize that the beds were wrong.  I had to design a bunk bed that would go into each of the four bedrooms.  To finish out the rooms I installed a full length mirror across from the bunk beds along with a small night table.  I also placed the dining table with six chairs in the center middle CSC.  It takes time to design furniture and then to install it you must make those “mates” to place things where you want them.  I have learned how valuable certain mates can be in the placement of things like furniture.  Especially the distance mates I used for home furnishings.  No, I have never played with a doll house but I did make one for my daughter once, many years ago. This has been a fun project but it does take time.  I still have a long way to go yet.

 

Inspiration can come at the very oddest and inconvenient times.  More than once I have had to get up in the middle of the night to draw some ideas out that were not allowing me to sleep.  It is all for a very good cause so I really don’t mind.  This is basically a humanitarian project right now.  From building Fettuccini Pasta Bridges to this is a big jump into another direction but both were challenging and fun to do.  I’m happy to share it with all of you out there.

Packing things in tightly is one of the parameters here with these conversions.  They must be completely portable as these Cargo Shipping Containers are designed to be anyway.  Everything is supposed to go inside for shipment.

As you can now plainly see, doing architectural designs within the SolidWorks program is very possible.  The major time element here was the building of the house furnishings.  I went around my house to measure things that we have here in order to build things digitally.  J  I believe it goes without saying that for these screen captures or shots, I hid walls and roof sections to allow a deeper look into the inside setup.

After remembering what life was like in the US Marines, while on maneuvers and even when back in the Marine barracks on the base, all of these designs are better than what we had as a normal routine.  These designs were not meant to be for the normal family but rather to provide shelter to those on construction projects working far away from their homes and out in remote areas in the desert regions.  Why you would ask?  One reason is that there is a great need for them and if you have ever tried sleeping out in the desert in tents and a blanket you would know what I mean.  This is being done now by construction crews working on modern cities in the United Arab Emirates.  They have a tremendous foreign workforce there and living conditions are horrible.  The have the worst conditions possible there, so this project for ideas is being pushed hard and not only by me but by those leaders in that country as well. J

          Once ideas are approved, then plans can be formulated for the prefabrication of them into these highly portable living units.  Their design was meant to provide housing for sleeping comfortably, getting cleaned up, including clothes washing and of course food and drink.  Deserts can get mighty cold or hot depending upon the time of the year.  I live on one in Las Vegas, Nevada and I’m always surprised at how cold it gets out there at times.  I did not even include the wind that seems to love the open areas of this Mojave Desert.  I’ll be using that factor in a little wind power generation to provide electrical power to these units.  Photovoltaic power is already planned for it. 

            One other consideration has to be mentioned.  We have a severe energy problem here in the USA that is costing us tremendous amounts of money to be sent to those countries that have the oil for sale.  If we are ever going to cut way back on that dependence on foreign oil, we will need to utilize or designate large areas of open deserts we have here in this country for the conversion of solar power to be fed into the electric power grid.  In doing this we will need large numbers of construction workers from all the different trades and specialties to work at these sites.  So I guess you can see where these converted units might come in very handy.  J  Small temporary cities were built for the workers on projects like the Hoover Dam and many others, including the Nevada Atomic Testing range.  As a former construction electrician that had to travel to many, far away from home jobs, I would have loved to have something like these units, to share with my fellow workers rather than to rent high priced one room apartments.  Some of us slept in campers and trucks.  That is just a small look into how things get done and accomplished on large job sites and the sacrifices that are made in order to build America.

           Here is hoping that this article has inspired some of you and also that it has shown you what is also possible to do with the SolidWorks program.  Bye for now.

Man's Future on Earth

What we need to do to be less of a problem to Mother Earth.  By Richard Williams  7/15/08

           Mother Earth is straining at the seams, or so it seems like these days.  We need to start thinking outside of the box on many different fronts.  I don’t have the latest figures on this but we are between 6-7 Billion people now, which goes to prove that we are the most successful species of all the animals here on this planet called Earth.  So far that is.  But that success is being threatened as we demand more and more power from the use of oil, gas and other products that have a finite amount.  Finding more oil to burn or transform into other products with a large carbon footprint is not the answer.  We need non-polluting types of energy that we can grow with that won’t kill us as we grossly affect the earth from its use. 

        The following update is something I have been working on for our local University.  I was asked to come up with some ideas that might work with the conversion of Cargo Shipping Containers that we seem to have plenty of that are sitting around getting rusty.  Here in the USA we have evolved into an importing country more than an exporting one.   That is why we now have a surplus of these amazingly strong containers that everyone has seen stacked up high on top of one another to bring manufactured goods to places all around the world.  The project that I have been given is a rather complex one and not only of design ideas but to allow for the operation of this portable home on a completely self reliant energy consumption basis.  Setting up these communities in a desert region and using Solar Power and Wind Turbine Power is the goal.  Things necessary for sustaining life itself like water can by recycled in many ways.  Solar power can be used for that purpose as well.  A zero carbon footprint would be the idea accomplishment here but close to impossible.  Knowing full well that we use carbon sources of power to make the silicon cells and metals used in the creation of Wind Turbine Generators initially but the intent here is to maximize the return on those expenditures of energy use.  That is the goal for this project.

       I wanted to share with all of you out there that might be interested in this, what I have done so far to date.  No this is nothing original being done by me.  Check the internet on Cargo Shipping Container Conversions and you will find some truly impressive designs.  What I am trying to accomplish is also nothing new but what I am trying to get going are “ideas that work.”  So enjoy the work I have done so far and a lot more has to be done yet.  I am only getting my feet wet in this project so I have a long way to go yet.  For the purpose of those using the Metric System of measurements I have included this small paragraph below here to get you more comfortable with the size here.

Using the 40 foot long cargo containers (12.192 meters) x 9’ 6” tall or “high cube” as they call them (2.8956 meters) x 8’ wide (2.4384 meters).

      

            In this first picture down below here I have hidden the walls, doors and rooftop and also to some of the internal rooms for visual clarification purposes.  To the extreme left you see the kitchen, small but functional.  Next, adjacent to the kitchen is the bathroom.  Again small but functional and I chose a shower stall instead of a bath because the water usage will be very carefully monitored and recycled so it will be scarce.  These Cargo Shipping Containers are for deployment to a desert region that will house construction crews from what I have been informed about.  The efficiency of everything using energy will be of prime importance in this project and we will learn much I am sure. I was honored to be asked to design some ideas on this.  They are only ideas and I will be learning some valuable things with the use of SolidWorks in doing this project and writing some articles as well.  This project is headed up by our University (UNLV) and I am fortunate to be able to work with some terrific people.  SolidWorks was never meant to do Architectural work but I have been able to get around that with a little creativity.  I wish they would come out with an “add on” for that type of work.  Sure would be nice, it is always better to stay with a program you know than to have to have a few up and running, jumping back and forth.

Almost in the very middle just to the right of the bathroom is a little hallway with two extra storage cabinet units for clothes or whatever.  They can be eliminated if they are not needed and the space utilized for something else.  Laundry room is next and unless they send all their clothes out somewhere, construction clothes can get rather stinky.  Cutting oils, wire pulling compounds and various other things used to get on my work clothes all the time.  Because I don’t know how things will be done yet, I thought I might as well utilize a room for it.  Perhaps one Container in the community could be used for a Laundromat instead?

 

The last room all the way to the right is for extra storage.  When I worked away from home I had to rent a room with a very small bathroom.  Ones I lived in were about the size of the kitchen down below with a bathroom.  This design keeps all the major utilities maintained in the main container floor unit as per verbal instructions over the phone that I received.  The spare little room at the far right end could also be used to house the electric panel, transfer switch for safety and main disconnect switch and other items not known to me at this time.   Perhaps even a large water storage tank could be used.  I just don’t have anything on that yet, from what I was told.  I know whatever happens in the design phase, it still must be functional as a workable design and I am trying hard to accomplish that here.

I have worked in many of these containers at various construction job sites around the USA.  They were always dark and damp during the cold winters and they were meant to keep our electrical supplies in them and not to protect the men.  They usually had wooden shanties with a heater and benches for lunch time and maybe coffee break when it was really miserably out.  So I put in windows to make it seem like a home and let some sunshine in and air circulation as well when needed.  In the picture above, you see the cut out on the one long side.  That will be used to do the “pop outs” or “build outs.”    The opening is 32 feet long x 7’ 1 ½” tall.   That is about the maximum size that can be used for any additional add on’s.  Remember this is only just one of the basic designs I have come up with.  Stackable designs and side by side ones are also being planned.  Hope this might have inspired some of you out there.  Sincerely,

Digital and Physical can both be reduced.

Building a Prototype at a greatly reduced scale, made from cardboard, glue, tape and rubber bands.

By Richard Williams   July 9^th 2008

“Don’t fix it, if it ain’t broke”  “If it works go with it”  Those two axioms I swear by.  At this tender age of life I rely more and more on proven helps to accomplish things that many others can do so quickly, accurately and completely.  When I get into my SolidWorks program my ideas come fast and not necessarily in any particular order.  I can sketch quick enough but I lose my trend of thought or more precisely I get too many ideas bouncing around where I once had a hard hat to contain them.  So I need help.  I no longer have a great eyesight to guide me in selecting vertices, lines and other things like surfaces.  Zooming in helps a lot which I admit I do a lot of these days. However, even more than that I like to see the digital design come to life.  You might have remembered some of my other posts about things that I did and built to prove it would work.  Well recently I was asked to get some digital ideas together about converting Cargo Shipping Containers into quick, cheap, highly portable, housing units.  What a challenge this would be.  So how is a Cargo Shipping Container built?  I had no idea.  The internet along with some very nice people I met on line through emails and phone calls gave me the basic information I needed to start the digital design.

   

Eventually as piece by piece was made and brought into the assembly file, I could see that the possibility of this project could be fascinating to do.  Now that I had the basic unit size of a 40’ foot long cargo container (12.192 meters) x 9’ 6” tall or high cube as they call them (2.8956 meters) x 8’ wide (2.4384 meters), I could start to play.  Remember that the deal here is that everything for living comforts has to be installed inside with all the basic plumbing centered in the main portion of the container.  The pop outs must also be stored or folded inside of the perimeter of the container as well.  Actually this size is not much different than many Mobile Homes that I once lived in for five years.  They are very affordable and comfortable and easily maintained.  These Cargo Shipping Containers can be stacked on top of each other for upper rooms and expansion modules added to the main floor in some truly amazing configuration.  A quick internet search will prove what I am talking about.  I would have shared some pictures here but time would not allow me to seek permissions for reprinting them. But there are many really nice designs out there.

 

But I still needed something more here to get this going.  I needed a prototype of this design.  It is one thing to draw it digitally but it is a whole other thing to be able to hold it in your hands and try the various folded walls and floor plans that would come out from the inside of this self contained unit.  When on site in the set up area then all of this will come out from the inside and a crew of three to four men should be able to set one up completely in a day or maybe two.  The purpose of this article is not to show the use of the Cargo Shipping Containers but that of a prototype that can be used to identify trouble spots not easily recognized with the digital format.  My next article will show the cardboard model in much better details and be more enjoyable to see.  Stay tuned as I exploit the tried and proven ways of doing great projects.  I also see no reason why this could not be done in school science classes.  Bye for now.

Pasta Testing Stage: The Beginning Tests

Pasta Testing Stage: The Beginning Tests

By Richard Williams  5/9/08

     Hello there, I have an update on the Bridge Pasta Building I wanted to share with all of you. I started stress testing my bridge components today.  I’m posting some pictures down below.  My typical I-beams made from this pasta material measures, 8 inches long, by 3/16” wide by .06” thick for each of the three pieces that make up the I beams when glued together with the Elmer’s Wood Glue. I suspended two pieces of wood wide enough to be the length of the I beams but indented inwards 3/16” on both sides so it could overlap the two pieces of wood supports while being testing.   The thickness of the beam is the overlap support distance.  This one I-beam I tested withheld an incredible amount of weight when it itself only weighs 4 grams (0.0392 Newton’s Force).  The total weight it finally failed at, after about twelve seconds was 850 grams.  In order to give it better perspective, I will convert the 850 grams of test weight force to other more well known equivalents.  850 grams = 1.8739 pounds = 29.9829 ounces = 0.8500 kilograms = 8.3357 Newton’s.  That is enormous strength to weight ratio data and I was ecstatic over those results but I won’t end the testing with only one.  I will repeat the test for each component part at least five times and then average the results in.  WOW!  Is all that I could say.  I ran out of quarters and had to use 3/8” threaded rod couplings to add more weight.  After that it was nuts and bolts with washers or anything I had on hand in the garage to add weight.  Enjoy the pictures.

The very first picture down below here is the measured weight of the I-beam along with the weight used for the test and weighed together.  Even at this tremendous stress it held it for over twelve seconds.

Picture on the left is the complete setup configuration I used working as carefully and precise as I could do.  Picture on the right shows the deformation of the I beam when weight was added to the exact middle of the beam.  It was averaging about 7mm and finally went up to 9mm and finally failed at 850 grams of weight.  I could not believe it would hold up to that amount of stress weight.  I stretched a rubber band across the two C clamps in order to get something to measure from.

I ran out of quarters to use for weights and I was adding five at a time up until I ran out at 80 quarters.  Then I substituted the threaded rod couplings.  I do not think the I beam minded or knew the difference.  It was really working hard here to support this tremendous stress on something that itself only weighs 4 grams.  That is of course with some variables like inaccuracies in my methodology of testing.  Differences in I-beams requiring them to be averaged in, instead of taking one remarkable test sample.  The scale is new and pretty darn accurate.

I tried placing the loaded plastic jar in different places on the scale and it did vary one or two grams so I took the average each time.  I also zeroed the scale each time I added more weight.  Very crude I will admit and maybe prehistoric to some but it will give a general idea on what is physically happening here.

This was the weight that my first I beam failed at.   4 grams versus 850 grams which is kind of like the David and Goliath Biblical Account.  I have to make more of them so that is why I cannot show you an average here right now.  I also had to make these containers to hold the testing weight forces.  Anything metal I had I used for adding weights for my downward force.

 

In the picture down below are the two weight containers that I had to make prior to testing.  The small little white cup is for single strut testing which I will do tomorrow.  That little cup weighs in at 11 grams with the little hanging wires I had to add to the container.  The large plastic quart sized mayonnaise jar weighs in at 60 grams along with the suspension wire.   I did try a leftover piece that I had set aside for testing.  I can absolutely tell you that it cannot stand up to our parrot’s beak pressure.  It was like a butter knife in hot butter.  No contest.  This tells me that I must keep her away from it at all times.  She keeps staring at it though.

What will this “Barilla Fettuccini Bridge” down below finally test out at, I have no idea but I believe I will be in for a surprise giving the fact that the individual parts like that one I-beam far exceeded my expectations.  There might be some factors that have not revealed themselves as of yet but I will keep on testing.  Since there are no scientific material data sets for the physical characteristics of pasta, I have no choice but to create them myself by doing these very crude tests to at least get some ball park figures.  In order to get a finished weight on the bridge itself I was forced to stand the bridge up on one of its end on top of the scale.  A very risky procedure but with some luck I got it to stay steady after zeroing in the scale and got a reading of 562 grams.  I did this twice.  Double Jeopardy.

Here’s hoping that I gave you something different to look at for awhile and if you get a good laugh out of this that is okay.  I did too.  Yet it is more than just fun and games, it is a real learning experience.  Putting into practice good engineering methods with a very brittle and delicate material can still return some surprisingly good results.

In conclusion, I would like to tell you about a new addition to a web site that you might already know about.  The site is called Novedge Pulse and what has happened here is that all of us Blog writers have been “rounded up” and corralled onto one web site that you can quickly find those article writers that you like.  Nice and easy to look over the stock of writers to find your favorites.  I hope it can help you cut down on time going to different web sites to find us. It is a well organized and it is easily navigated as a web site.  Kudos go to Mr. Franco Folini, for this great improvement.  Enjoy.  http://www.novedge.com/pulse.asp

Happy Birthday Mom

May 5^th is a Special Day, Happy Birthday Mom

By Richard Williams 5/5/08

       Many things happen over the course of a lifetime if you are blessed with a long life.  The things that do happen are both good and bad that make up the experiences in someone’s life.  My two older twin brothers and I have a wonderful mom.   She was truly inspirational to three boys and as most mothers are, she was the heart of the family.  She passed away quite a few years ago but none of us in this crazy family will ever forget her.  Dad also, could do most anything with tools and could work in all the different trades.  We were all union craftsman like he was and Mom also was a great builder of electronic assemblies.  Remember the LEM, or Landing Excursion Module that landed on our Moon?  Well our Mom was in a select group of talented electronic assemblers that created many of those Circuit Boards that went into that space craft.  Yes we are all proud of her.  She also did all of this while being a Mom to us and a Wife to dad.  So Happy Birthday Mom, we love ya. 

          I’ve been getting some interesting responses of late from my Fettuccini Bridge that I am still making and putting the finishing touches on.  I have gotten inquires from University Professors in Mechanical Engineering as interesting and from strangers with comments like, “you have to be  a nut case.”  I agree with that last statement too.  Pasta has one great characteristic when you build bridges with it.  If you don’t have a good design plan to begin with it lets you know immediately that “it ain’t gonna work.”  SolidWorks, once again comes to my rescue here because this material is so brittle and non-forgiving that you must have a good plan or you might just as well forget about doing this.  As for those that have been following my articles about this in recent time, I feel it is worth mentioning to you that those hot glue guns work especially good with Pasta.  However, I never thought of using it and had started doing it with Elmer’s Wood Glue.   It works great but requires it to be held in position while it gets dry or tacky enough to hold itself.  Oh well, live and learn.  I’m working on the bottom support columns at this time and this is a critical and very delicate sub-assembly, as a step.  It is necessary that this base is properly positioned, glued securely and designed sufficiently enough to support this monstrous bridge and the weight that will be imposed on it.  Down below here I am going to provide you with some really great links in bridge building as is being done in universities and high schools to inspire young people into engineering, designing and architectural careers.  It is also a lot of fun to do when you come up with an idea or shape that can support enormously unexpected stress weights.  I will point out to you that in most cases here on these links, these bridges don’t look like bridges but mine was built to functionally appear like one.  Conversely so, mine is functional but will probably not support the great weights that these other designs have done.  Once again they never had these classes when I went to school.  Here is that list.  My great friend Gabi, found them for me.  Thank you, Gabi.

http://civil.camosun.bc.ca/spaghetti_bridge/2008Pics/content/Skills_Canada_2008_SB_032_large.html
http://www.researchchannel.org/prog/displayevent.aspx?rID=4070
http://civil.camosun.bc.ca/spaghetti_bridge/Index.htm
http://www.researchchannel.org/prog/displayevent.aspx?rID=4070
http://www.physics.uwo.ca/science_olympics/events/grades_11_to_12/london_bridge.html

http://www.ppgec.ufrgs.br/segovia/espaguete/software.html

http://bridgecontest.usma.edu/manual.htm

         So where are the latest pictures you might be asking?  Here they are down below in more or less of a chronological order starting with the finished digital build inside of SolidWorks.  This is my plan to go by and I did make some modifications to this in the actual building of it.  We call that “as builts” in the construction industry and make those notations on the blueprints.

This is my large assembly area on the table and I used some wax paper from the kitchen to protect the table from drops of glue.  Different consistencies where tried out to glue various parts.  I beams needed a thin runny consistency to get all along the seams and a thick consistency for sticking together those larger parts without having to hold it in position for ten to fifteen minutes.

 

Here is a side view to get a little more perspective of this project.  This bidge will measure when finished, 32 inches long by 6 inches wide by 16.25 inches high.  As long as it is not anchored securely to the wooden platform it is at risk of toppling over and doing a self destruct.  So everything must be pre-measured and carefully checked to insure a good fit with a good gluing to mate all the parts securely.  I hope.

Yes, everyone of those boards was cut and glued down to the I beams which run across the width of the bridge underneath.  Talking to yourself does help when doing this.  I’ve been told that you are in deep trouble when you start answering yourself and so far I haven’t done that.  Or have I. I cannot remember but yesterday I did ask a question……

This of course is looking at it from the side and at this point I can pick it up at the opposite ends and it shows no particular stress, warping, creaking or signs of weakening.  Tomorrow I might actually do this for real instead of in my dreams or in the virtual digital model in SolidWorks.

Just another view down the side of this bridge.  It is very hard to notice here but if you look very closely at the bottom here you will see one set of I beams running down the whole length of the bridge in a co-linear fashion.   Then other I beams running perpendicular to those evenly spaced out from the middle one at 5 inch intervals (except at the very ends they are closer for the column supports) for a total underneath supporting the roadway surface of 8 cross I beams.

   

I had to buy two one pound boxes of Fettuccini Pasta to build this bridge but it truly does not take all that much to build it.  I had to discard or set aside all of those that were bent or corkscrewed that I could not get them to lay flat.  Two small plastic containers of Elmer’s Wood Glue, some tooth picks for depositing the glue where you need it and some paper towels, wet ones.  An understanding wife and your mental health insurance all paid up and last but not least, keeping my umbrella Cockatoo Lexie away from this toy she has her eyes on.  The poodle Nallie doesn’t care and my son just laughs at me or is it my bridge, he won’t tell me but I suspect he doesn’t tell anyone at work when he is at the hospital…..    This last picture is what I am working on now as the bridge supporting columns.  This has to be done just right or else….

I guess it is important to say that I have never done anything like this before but I have built some really cute things that took plenty of time.  I hope I have given you some ideas to consider here and really and truly it is not really as bad to work with as I have made it out to be.  Here’s hoping that someone, somewhere, at sometime, in some way, will benefit from this project even if it is to just get a good laugh.  I have.  Happy Modeling

Nice things to have on hand.

Nice things to have on hand

                                                                                       By Richard Williams

                                                                                                          4/18/08

       Never have I been endowed with things that I see others able to do, like math in their heads or quickly on a piece of paper close to their keyboards.  Some people have an amazing recall of things I might have forgotten about or never knew to begin with.  That is okay however.  I am not competing with anyone out there.  Retirement allows me some leeway in doing all the things that I never had time to do when I was working, like writing.  (I know my old English teacher from High School is laughing at me now about that one.)  I never fooled around during my educational years, I couldn’t afford that luxury because nothing came easy to me and I had to work at it.  Therefore, this week’s article will be to share with you some of the great “help” things that I have found.  Since I was not able to nail it down in my lifetime I have to rely on these “cheating devices.”  No, they really are very handy tools to use while doing those great jobs you guys and gals do every day in your working careers.  I’m going to list the URL’s down below and make a small comment so you have some idea what is there.  Many sites require a simple free sign up.

Steel Utilities could have some things that you can use here, depending upon what you are doing these days.  Take a look, you might find something you can use.

http://steelutilitiesonline.com/forum/index.php

Wow!  This is a powerhouse of information.  Click on the top headings after signing on and gather some data on various things in the Civil Engineering realm.  I believe Structural and Mechanical engineers will like this too.  Heck even I like it.

http://www.webcivil.com/

Got a math problem that needs solving?  Well you might have a calculator handy but if you don’t then head over here to this site.  There has to be a solver or calculator somewhere here to get the answer.

http://www.1728.com/index.htm

This one has been around for quite some time now and it will be there for quite some time into the future.  Lots of good things to look at and I know you will understand it better than me because I do not have the engineering background.

http://www.efunda.com/home.cfm

Man, this is like finding a gold mine out in the desert by me.  Some really nice things here to look at and I bet you cannot just look at only one topic.

http://euler9.tripod.com/

I wish I had this site when I was going through my apprenticeship in the electrical trades.  But for those of you that can use this in your business or particular project on pipes, go take a look.

http://techcalcs.com/calculators/pipeprop.php

Another treasure trove of data utilizing those Excel spread sheets that still confuse me.  There are some very nice math solutions for people using Excel in their work.

http://www.excelcalcs.com/repository/Download/C%29-Maths/

This site is from across the “Pond” but it is like a finishing school of technical advice, data and solutions.  It is worth a look that might just have something that interests you.

http://www.morevision.co.uk/

       I sure hope those sites up above were useful to some of you.  It is always hard to tell who could use what because it is not very often that you get feedback on things you do write about.  A good engineer friend of mine on the east coast in New England sent me most of those and I added a couple more that I liked as well.  Thank you my friend.

     Now as long as I have your attention let me introduce you to some really nice tool sets that you can keep right on your Windows Desktop for quick easy access when needed.  I depend upon these tools all the time.  The world economy is growing daily and outsourcing is becoming a fact of life whether we agree with it or not.   Therefore, there might be times when you will be collaborating with other people from those countries and I’m pretty sure you are all going to have to agree on what standards you are going to use right away.  Pretty basic supposition there by me but I have some really great tools for you to make that job easier and SAFER.  (A little sideline here.)  Once one of our robotic missions to MARS crashed into the surface at about 25K mph, demolishing the chance to put another elaborate scientific package there, along with I think it was 300 million dollars of instrumentation.  Oh well, guess what?  A simple conversion from Kilograms to Pounds got mixed up or went unconverted to the other standard and the NASA scientists fed the wrong data into the formula and BANG, another crater on Mars.  Mistakes happen but thank God no humans were on board.  Of course we still do not know about what might have been injured there with that crash, if there is anything there.

       Down below here is one of the very best of any conversion calculators that I have ever found on the world wide web and that is a very big place indeed.  Pictured down below here is their Professional version and it is not expensive.  There is a free one and there are other tools at this site as well that are similar to this one but I love this full featured Professional one the best.  (http://www.esbcalc.com/)

   

   

Did you know that there are over 200 known standards around the world?  I did not know

that either, by the way.  That site that would have those conversions is no longer active so I cannot offer you the URL but down below is another pretty good conversion utility and that site is still up and running.  http://www.katmarsoftware.com/?referrer=Uconeer24A  It is not as full featured as the one up above but it does offer results in scientific notation or engineering

notation units.

              Once upon a time when I originally wrote about these sites for (http://www.MCADCafe.com/) about three years ago, there were at least four more that I could have directed you to.  After chasing them down again, more than half of them have stopped offering these downloadable conversion programs and calculators that you can load onto your hard drive with a short cut icon to grab it when you need it.  Remember when your work computer is connected to the internet you have to make sure your anti-virus protections are TOP NOTCH and that your intellectual property rights are not compromised, so that is why I liked the downloadable ones so I could stay off of the internet as much as possible.

           This next one is the last one I can offer you a URL to.  Most of these are free to download but there are Professional versions of the same thing that will cost you a few bucks but they are much more comprehensive.  Honestly, if I were in business for myself or even if I were working in a large company I would still want these loaded on my computer.  Here is another great tool and it is so handy to have if you are interested in the headings that have these “fly outs” listed here that can be easily accessed when you need them. (http://www.pwr-tools.com/index.html)

   

                    Well, once again I say, I sincerely hope that someone, somewhere, at sometime, for whatever reason will benefit from this article I have submitted to you.  Sincerely,