When it comes to resources, here at EXAIR we always try to stay on the forefront of availability, quantity, and quality. This why we have released yet another amazing resource to our site. The EXAIR Whitepapers section is the newest knowledge sharing section of our platform.
The Whitepapers section is going to house PDF files which contain in depth, subject matter expert explanations for topics common within industry. This library will also continue to expand over the years just as our blogs, videos, and even our product offering does. Currently, you can gain access to the library after registering for our site and select from a number of topics. My personal favorite is: Understanding Compressed Air Safety and Savings.
This file can easily be downloaded then shared throughout the facility to anyone that has a hand in utilizing compressed air, or implementing point of use applications. This will help to educate on the potential uses as well as safe and efficient methods to perform tasks at hand.
Best of all, the PDF’s are actually interactive and linked directly to our site which easily lets the reader transition to the location where the most information available for specific products is located. Then, should questions arise, you can easily select to chat with an Engineer or even select one of us to email from the contact us page.
If you would like to discuss any of the EXAIR Whitepapers, point of use applications, or any EXAIR product, please feel free to contact us, we’re always here to help.
Have you ever been in the middle of a new design and found yourself in need of accurate 3D models of your vendor’s part so you can sort out how to interface their design with yours? What is your first instinct? Do you ask the vendor if they have the models readily available? Or do you just draw up your own model?
With EXAIR products, there is no need to go it alone and have to produce your own model. We have 3D models of just about every product we manufacture. For those models we do not have available through our web site, a simple request through our Application Engineering department at techelp@exair.com is all that is needed to begin the process of getting what you need.
CAD Options on EXAIR.com
Our 3D models and CAD drawings are available in over sixty native formats for each product. Registered users can simply log in and go to the EXAIR CAD Library to navigate to the right model.
When I was in 6th grade, our art teacher, Mrs. C, taught us to draw fruit one day. I was academically gifted (I’d had straight A’s since 1st grade) but I was AWFUL at drawing. I was doing OK with my orange, apple, and even my banana. When it came time to draw a pear, I realized I had 35 cents in my pocket (that’s what milk for snack time cost) so I pulled out that quarter & dime, used them to trace a quarter-sized circle with a dime-size circle slightly intersecting it, erased the middle parts, and “free-handed” little arcs to complete the pear shape. Mrs. C told me I wasn’t allowed to do that and gave me my first bad grade – ever. Now, I LOVE going to art museums and taking in the wonders of those who are far more skilled than I with pen and brush, but I STILL have no aptitude or desire for drawing anything myself….with a pen or brush, that is.
My first job out of the Navy involved some very basic CAD use…mainly making simple changes or additions (and usually just title block text) of existing drawings. As I more familiar with CAD, I realized the method for drawing a pear shape in CAD was, in fact, my own personal grade school method: intersect two circles, trim, and fillet. So there, Mrs. C!
My next job took my CAD utilization a bit further…making assembly drawings of systems, using existing CAD files for the individual components that made up the system. The key word there was “existing” – the First Law of CAD is, “Don’t ever draw anything twice.” So, I’d get CAD files from the manufacturers, insert them into my template, put them where I wanted them to be in relation to the other pieces of my little puzzle, send the drawing(s) to the end user for piping and foundation prep, and as long as the folks in the shop followed my drawings (which is was hard not to), everything worked out great.
Now, this was way back in the 1990’s, so I got most of my CAD files via email, and, occasionally, on 3.5″ floppy disks or CD’s. EXAIR Corporation has offered drawing files for our products in our CAD Library for many years now. You can always find four fundamental file extensions:
PDF – these can be opened with Adobe Acrobat…they’re “just for looking at”. They don’t denote any particular scale, and won’t directly import to a CAD file. They’re useful for quick & easy answers about overall dimensions, bolt hole sizes, thread pitches, etc.
DWG – this is AutoCAD’s “native language.” These files will open seamlessly in AutoCAD, if that’s what you’re using, along with many other programs. But, if it doesn’t.
STP – we’re well in to the 21st Century, and many designers have moved on from the above mentioned 2D files to solid models. Most solid modeling programs are compatible with these files.
SAT – these are, to STP, what DXF is to DWG…a “more friendly” file for certain solid model programs.
With the launch of our new website, we now offer 64 native extensions so you (hopefully) do not have to modify, import, or convert any drawing that would take additional modification – just download the file you need right from our Resources, 3D Models and CAD drawings link. And dare I say, if you can’t find the extension you need, you are using some fairly obscure software – perhaps an SAT or STP file will suit you.
