Western Saw Plays the Angles and Wins with SolidWorks and CAMWorks Combination
It’s tricky and dangerous to cut window and door holes out of concrete walls, especially at a building’s corner. Western Saw used SolidWorks 3D CAD software, SolidWorks Simulation software, and CAMWorks computer-aided manufacturing software to quickly develop a track-mounted corner saw attachment. This breakthrough product is more affordable, lightweight, safe, and effcient than the traditional products for corner cutting. Because of the effciency of its software and a new ability to machine its own prototypes, Western Saw cut a year and a half off the traditional development cycle. It also struck a positive impression with customers at an important industry conference.
THE CLIENT
Company: Western Saw Inc
Headquarters: Camino Del Sol, Oxnard, CA USA
Industry: Custom laser cutting for the Automotive and Aerospace Industries
THE OBJECTIVE
The track-mounted chainsaw attachment addresses a unique challenge the
layperson rarely considers. When a concrete-walled industrial building requires
an opening for a garage bay, loading dock, window, or other portals, a powerful
track-mounted circular saw is generally in order. It’s called a wall saw. But when
two perpendicular cuts intersect at a corner or when that opening is at a corner,
things get complicated fast. You can’t make the cut with the wall saw; the arc of
the saw blade would go “past the mark” or into an opposing wall, creating stress
cracks that undermine the weight-bearing structure of the building.
THE SOLUTION
Western Saw credits the combination of SolidWorks and CAMWorks for
expediting the development of the product and enabling an elegant design.
As Baratta designed the device in SolidWorks, he used SolidWorks Simulation
Professional software to perform full finite element analysis, including stress,
deformation, thermal, natural frequency, static, fatigue, and basic Fluid flow. Since
SolidWorks Simulation is completely integrated with SolidWorks design software,
all simulations are performed directly from the SolidWorks interface.
“With SolidWorks and CAMWorks, we went from concept to design to iterations to working prototype in six short months with just a single engineer on the project,” “We cut a year and a half off the typical development cycle. When you design the baseline SolidWorks 3D model properly, simulation and iteration are fast.”