There are certain shapes and surfaces that are difficult to mate in SolidWorks, without first adding a reference or two. For example, if you try mating a sphere to a non-planar surface, the only option that SolidWorks gives you is the lock mate. By creating an offset-surface and putting at a point at the center… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Quick Tips
Photoview 360: No Need to be Camera Shy
You probably do it all the time; I know I do. You set up the perfect view, for a render, in Photoview 360 and create a render, only to have to make a small change to the model for a new render. You then go back and spend a few minutes trying to recreate the… Read more »
A Compressible Spring
While it is difficult to simulate the actual compression of a spring in SolidWorks, you can create multiple configurations to represent the different compression states of a spring. This will allow you to quickly switch back and forth between different lengths of a spring, and with a design table, you can easily create as many… Read more »
Getting Twisted: Driving a Helix by a Path
The Helix/Spiral tool in SolidWorks is limited to creating straight helices and spirals, so to create a helix along a curved path, you have to get a little creative. The twist along path option, in swept features, allows you to forego the use of the Helix tool and use a combination of a swept surface… Read more »
Where are all the Weldment Profiles?
You’re new to Weldments in SolidWorks and excited to start using structural members, only to find that the default weldment profiles are limited to a sample of the ISO standard. Then you ask, where are all the weldment profiles? Presumably to save space, SolidWorks made all of the weldment standards downloadable from the design library… Read more »
SolidWorks Shortcuts:The Littler Green Check Mark
SolidWorks has quite a few shortcuts built in, a lot of which aren’t immediately apparent. In quite a few features, if you select an entity, you’ll see a mouse icon with an image for either the right or left click, something like a green check mark, arrow, or eye glasses indicating that if you right… Read more »