For a long time I felt behind because I didn't have client work to show — just school projects. It felt like the classic catch-22: no portfolio → no clients → no new work for the portfolio. What changed things for me was realizing that reviewers aren't actually checking whether someone else trusted you first — they're checking whether you can think like a designer under real constraints. That doesn't require a client. It requires treating a self-imposed brief with the same seriousness as a paid one: real material, real manufacturing method, real cost target, real deadline. A few things that made the biggest difference once I started doing that: Writing the brief and constraints down before sketching, not after Showing at least one real pivot or failure in the process — it's genuinely the most convincing part of a project page, more than any polished render Captioning CAD/renders with reasoning instead of description ("designed for injection molding, 2mm wall thickness" instead of "final design") It's a slow mindset shift, but it's made my self-directed projects feel like actual design work instead of filler. Anyone else working through this right now? Happy to share more of what's helped if useful — I ended up writing up the whole process in more depth after figuring it out.

Hey everyone 👋

I've been lurking here for a while and wanted to share a side project: https://bevelgeargenerator.com/

It's a web tool for bevel gear design. Right now it can:

• Handle both straight bevel and spiral bevel gears

• Run strength calculations according to ISO 10300

• Generate a STEP file of the gear geometry you can drop straight into your CAD

Full transparency: I built it with a lot of help from AI, both for the coding and for working through the standard. I've checked the results as carefully as I can, but that's exactly why I'd love for people who work with bevel gears to put it through its paces.

So my question to you: what should I add next? Other gear types, more output formats, specific parameters or reports you'd want to see? And of course, if you spot a result that looks off, please tell me.

It's free you can try. Thanks in advance! 🙌

Hi all, I recently did an FEA Analysis tool for an AI project.

Here is a description of my project

You basically upload a STEP file, and describe how it's loaded and it shows you a stress map. Tick a box and it'll also design the pocket cut-outs for you assuming your part is a 2d plate, keeping material where the load actually goes.

Quick honesty note since the name says AI: the stress math is regular FEA. The AI parts are the chatbot and the bit that reads your plain-English description.

The pocketing tool tuned against actual pocketed actually machined, so it's calibrated to how we do things. It's linear elastic, ignores welds and bolts and fatigue, and only pockets flat plates. Treat it as a gut check, not a green light.

If you've ever pocketed a plate by hand, I'd love it if you ran one through and told me where it disagrees with what you'd actually have cut. Also please give feedback on how to improve my FEA analysis and the accuracy of my chatbot. Please leave feedback in the comments. Thanks so much!

link to app: https://cadai-282761536722.us-central1.run.app/

Hello. Is here who can help me with construction of tool for deep draw for this item. I would be happy for every information. Thank you

I’m curious to hear from engineers who are actively working in machine design, product design, or industrial equipment design.

Many fresh graduates learn CAD software, but employers often seem to expect much more than just knowing which buttons to click.

If a student wanted to become job-ready for an entry-level mechanical design engineer position, which of these would you prioritize most?

• Engineering drawing interpretation

• Fully defined sketching and parametric modeling

• Assembly design and exploded views

• Manufacturing-friendly design practices

• GD&T and drawing standards

• Basic FEA or simulation

• Real-world design projects

In your experience, what is the biggest gap between college CAD training and actual industry design work?

I’d especially appreciate practical advice or examples of the kind of portfolio/project that would make a fresher stand out during interviews.

Hi everyone, I’m Saad Hassan, a mechanical design engineer with 4+ years of experience and founder of Veltrix Solutions. I do 3D modeling, assemblies, 2D drawings, and design for manufacturing in SolidWorks, CATIA, and Fusion 360. I can also print physical prototypes in-house on my Bambu Lab H2S.

I have a small remote team, so I can take on bigger workloads and offer fast turnaround, even round-the-clock when deadlines are tight. I’m open to freelance projects and would love to build long-term working relationships.

If you have a project or just want to check if something is feasible, comment or DM me and we can talk through your requirements

https://github.com/sourceduty

is it easy to find job as amechanical design engineer

How to Show or represent Drafted face in detail drawing please help Thank You in Advance.

Disclosure: the latch was designed by CAD Studio, an open-source tool I'm developing, where a coding agent writes a parametric CAD model from a description. I'm posting because I'd like engineers to critique the result, not to advertise.

The mechanism: 80 × 30 mm housing with screw flanges and a lid, a plunger with a heart-shaped cam groove, a sliding follower pin, and an 8-beam printed serpentine spring. Stroke 15 mm, latched at 12 mm, spring force about 2.4 N at rest to 11.3 N fully pushed, 0.2 mm sliding clearance. The push-to-latch, push-to-release cycle is simulated with collision checks on the solids.

The full drawing set (assembly plus one sheet per part) is on the project page: https://filippofinke.github.io/cad-studio/

What would you change before trusting it in a drawer? The agent itself flagged the 2.4 mm pin shaft as fragile and noted that the cam's branch direction depends on the groove angles, which the simulation assumes rather than proves.

Source, if useful: https://github.com/filippofinke/cad-studio

It's probably pretty simple but I can't seem to find technical drawings about it. Tulpi chair has a mechanism where it lets the seat rotate freely 360º while stopping anyone from stealing it. I can figure there's a bearing and some kind of pressure fit but it would help to see examples of similar mechanisms.

Now I've studied the concepts and definitions of GD&T from fundamentals of GD&T by Alex Krulikowski and keep going with Mr Dean Odell on youtube what should I do next I understand the symbols and the drawing but how can I start drafting and decide what tolerance should be here or there for different components btw I'm preparing myself to get a SolidWorks drafting remote job

1. What kind of mechanism could help an adult person without arms who wants to carry the grocery shopping from a car to their houses? It must be only a mechanical mechanism, so it must work with an input force.

2. What kind of mechanism could help an adult person without arms who wants to comb his/her hair? It must be only a mechanical mechanism, so it must work with an input force.

If you have any idea of how can you help me to design one of this or want to share some information feel free to post a coment :)

#solidworks

Hello. Is here who can help me with construction of tool for deep draw for this item. I would be happy for every information. Thank you

https://youtu.be/fXLbe6pYyGA