When you click on a non planar face using the reference geometry>plane option, you can create a tangent plane. This tangent plane will be placed arbitrarily until a second reference is selected. By using a sketch point, these planes can be easily positioned in the desired orientation. In the case above, you can see that… Read more »
Perhaps you want a larger version of your part, or that imported model you brought in has the wrong units. Whatever the reason, the scale feature, in SolidWorks, is a quick and easy way to resize a part. SolidWorks didn’t want to make it too easy though, so it hid the tool in the insert… Read more »
If you’ve worked with Weldments, in SolidWorks, before, you’ve probably utilized the weldment cut list in a drawing to keep track of structural members. If you haven’t, the Weldment cut list functions as a Bill of Materials for parts that utilize structural members. Because the weldment cut list applies to multi-bodied parts, you can use… Read more »
From time to time, you’ll likely come across an image of something you want to create a 3D model of. With SolidWorks, you can use the sketch picture tool to import an image to build from. This Kebo bottle opener by Rush Product Design Studio makes for a great example, and we’ll use it in this… Read more »
Reusing sketch geometry can save you quite a bit of time in SolidWorks. Rather than creating multiple parallel sketches to produce different features, you can create a single sketch which can then be used for multiple features. This can be achieved using the contour select tool or the select contour box, in the property manager,… Read more »
The settings and toolbars that you customize in SolidWorks are stored in the Windows registry key. SolidWorks being what it is, from time to time your registry settings will become corrupted, and the program will crash inexplicably. This means you’ll have to reset your registry, losing all of your settings in the process. It is… Read more »