I want you to think of the tools that you use most frequently in SOLIDWORKS, especially the ones that you have to search out or are hidden deep in the pull down menus. Why don’t you have keyboard shortcuts for these? I had to ask myself the same question after one too many times of… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Productivity Tools
SOLIDWORKS Two Minute Tips: Creating a Sketch Angle Dimension Without a Reference
I really do believe that small things add up. In our day to day use of SolidWorks, there are little nuances, in our work, that make us a bit less efficient. I know I probably sound like a broken record, as I spend so much time talking about the small things that make SolidWorks that… Read more »
My Two Favorite Tools in SOLIDWORKS
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of work with some plastic parts. The parts that I’ve been creating use the Master Model approach. Now this has both upsides and downsides. The technique allows for avoiding the some of the pitfalls of assembly design, such as a complex reference structure. Because everything lives in one part,… Read more »
Properly Terminating a Drill Bit Groove in SolidWorks
It’s relatively simple to create a helical swept cut in SolidWorks. Create the helix, the profile, and then the swept cut. If the swept cut doesn’t pass the entire length of the body, though, you’ll get a flat end that doesn’t really represent the geometry you’d find in a drill bit, screw, or bolt. You… Read more »
Scaling a Sketch in SolidWorks
Scaling a part in SolidWorks is pretty straight forward, using the scale feature. I even wrote a post about it here Scale a Part in SolidWorks. But what if you want to scale a sketch? That’s where the scale entities command comes in. It allows you to select out any number of sketch entities and… Read more »
The Bigger the Better: Scale a Part in SolidWorks
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 »