It’s not uncommon for parts to have many holes of different sizes and positions. Getting all of the dimensions and callouts onto a drawing can quickly turn into a cluttered mess of confusing numbers and symbols. This is where Hole Tables come in handy. Inserting a Hole Table in SOLIDWORKS will organize all this information automatically, in a clean table-based format that is easy to read and understand.
Learn how to restore SOLIDWORKS thumbnails in Windows so that your thumbnails show the parts or assemblies themselves instead of that pesky icon.
This article goes over the steps to turn off the Include Detail Mode Date When Saving option in the Windows registry. This registry setting determines if older drawings open with the Save Model Data on in Document Properties in SOLIDWORKS 2022 and newer.
When a sketch in SOLIDWORKS is fully defined, it means that all the necessary dimensions and relations are in place. Fully defined sketch entities can't be modified when editing or creating other sketch entities. This makes the model more predictable and gives each sketch entity a controlled size and location. One quick way to do this is to use the Fully Define Sketch tool.
Sheet Metal is a feature in SOLIDWORKS that allows users to create bend and flat patterns simultaneously. When paired with the option to save files as .dxf for easy laser cutting, SOLIDWORKS becomes the preferred choice for industry leaders. SOLIDWORKS also allows users to create templates. These are starting points for your files, saving you even more time. One of the advantages of using templates is that they allow you to preselect various settings, such as units and color selections, so you don't have to change them each time you start a new file. Sheet Metal has its own set of settings. One of which is the gauge table.
The SOLIDWORKS "Split" command (Insert > Features > Split) is a great tool for breaking a solid body into multiple sections and/or deleting sections of a solid body or bodies. This blog will review this tool and help you better understand the resulting bodies.
The SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Lofted-Bend command is an efficient way to create odd-shaped sheet metal parts. A Sheet Metal Lofted-Bend is similar to the SOLIDWORKS Loft and Boundary features, in that they require two or more profiles. The main difference is that the Sheet Metal Lofted-Bend doesn’t require a guide curve, and the contours need to be open.
Creating custom coordinate systems in SOLIDWORKS is a fundamental skill used for precise positioning, orientation, downstream analyses, and many others. Typically, defining a coordinate system is straightforward: select a vertex for the origin, then choose model edges or reference geometry to establish the x, y, and z axes in the desired orientation:
To display her pottery at an upcoming exhibition, Matt's wife asked him to design and build custom oval tables that would be easy to assemble and transport between shows. Since he's have designed tables before, he had some ideas, so he opened SOLIDWORKS and got to work.