First, move the sketch easily
This tip is the most subtle but easiest tool to use when you are unhappy with the position of your sketch relative to the origin or for other reasons. It is still not easy to move sketches in the sketch editing environment, especially when the sketch we define is copied and pasted from DraftSight or other 2D software.
Most users run into problems, feeling like they should be able to select all sketch entities in the sketch window, then grab a point and drag the entire sketch (to a new location). Although this idea may seem logical, in reality it is not. You can also try using the Move Entity command, but it still won’t snap to the desired final position.
The method described below is quite effective and simple to implement, you just need to know the order of the clicks.
1. Frame the sketch entities you want to move.
2. Hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard, select a point in the sketch, and drag the selected entity.
The trick here is to Ctrl+drag the selection and Windows copies. The main thing is to pay attention to the small sign (+) under the cursor. If you release the left mouse button at this time, the system will copy the sketch.
On the contrary, during the “Copy Sketch” operation, if you release the Ctrl key while holding down your mouse, the small (+) sign will disappear and the whole operation will become a move command. When the point you selected is in the correct location or snaps to the origin, release your cursor.
In short, there are thousands of functions among millions of codes in SolidWorks. These are very useful but deeply hidden common functions. I hope you’ll discover features you didn’t know about that can help you improve the quality of your designs and, more importantly, save you time and energy in your design work.
Second, copy the surface
Copying surfaces from one section to another is a very useful tool when you want to establish relationships between sections in the middle below, especially when you get an irregularly shaped input file with thousands of surfaces. Surface, you just need to extract part of the surface. .
As usual, you may need to use the virtual surface or surface creation portion of the application. Just thicken its surface as a new feature. What you may be wondering: This looks great, but there’s no “Copy Surface” command? Your idea is absolutely correct!
Many users try to use the Stitch Surfaces command, but it is not the best choice. Unless the faces you select are adjacent to each other and form a single surface that can be sewn. However, there is a simple trick that can solve this problem: the Offset Surface command. Select a face or face, adjacent or disjoint, then select the offset surface.
When the Feature Management Tree is displayed in the “Offset Surface” state, when you set the Offset Distance to zero, the Feature Management Tree dialog box automatically displays “Copy Surface”. You can use this functionality within an assembly, but it is limited to modifying part states. You can also select faces and copy surfaces from other parts. This will create an interconnected surface. This tool has been used in dozens of real cases.
Third, control the direction of explosion
Like several other functions in SolidWorks software, triad direction control can be controlled via the ALT key and triad drag and drop.
Simply issue the explode command or edit an existing explode view and start a new explode step. The triad always follows the orientation of the part or assembly triad. To move and resize the triad, simply hold ALT, use the blue sphere to select and drag the triad to move it in the X, Y, and Z axes as needed, then drag it to another geometry. This feature allows you to quickly select linear edges, hidden planes, hole features, or cylindrical shaft features. This allows for a new orientation and positioning of the triad.
This tip is valid any time you work with a SolidWorks triad. Such as moving or copying entities, moving and triad, etc.
Fourth, select the closed outline
You must have used the Convert Feature References feature frequently, but are wondering why only the outermost edges are converted when you select a plane to convert a feature? You must be tired of manually selecting each edge of the interior outline, right? In just two clicks, your problem can be easily solved! When you create a new sketch, simply select the same plane that you normally convert the solid to and hold CTRL to add a selection element, which is an edge of the interior contour! This is the closed profile selection which we will discuss next. In doing so, edges that reference the interior contour of the selected (default) plane outer ring will be converted.
Normally select the plane and convert the feature reference to get the outer ring (default)
After selecting the plane and an inner edge with CTRL, convert the feature reference to get the inner loop
Select closed silhouette edges:
This trick also works with the closed interior edge selection if you want a fillet or chamfer added to the closed interior edges of the silhouette but not applied to the exterior edge loops. This has the added benefit that if you make any changes that affect the incision sketch shown above, your fillets or chamfers will not go wrong when adding or removing edges from the cut outline.
If you select all internal edges (creating a fillet or chamfer), or if you change the number of internal edges, you will get an incorrect fillet or chamfer. This will require correcting this error by modifying the applied features to account for missing or added edges.
Fifth, select an edge to create a sketch
This special feature allows you to simply perform a few operations to create SolidWorks features in as few steps as possible.
Simply select any edge of any entity and click “Insert” – “Sketch”, and the base plane of the sketch will be automatically created. Once a normal edge is selected, the end point of the created sketch plane will automatically be placed at the end point closest to the selected edge.
This operation supports almost all edge types, from edges and prismatic edges to edge lines generated after smoothing. You can also use the Insert Reference Geometry function to add a plane perpendicular to the curve. This will skip all the normal steps required and start a new sketch directly.
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