SolidWorks Sketching Tips & Tricks - Part 1

  SolidWorks Sketching Tips and Tricks

  1.  Selecting the Correct Plane

If you are not sure on what plane to start your sketch, then always remember the cube shown below. This is the Isometric view as per Third Angle Projection method which is what you try to create in SolidWorks. Imagine your part inside this cube and then select the plane. From this Isometric view when you create a drawing (Orthographic views) the Front of the cube becomes the Front view, Right becomes Right view and the Top becomes the Top view in your drawing.

   2.    Line tricks

When you want to sketch couple of lines like let’s say the three lines as shown below, it’s annoying to select the line command and then once done with the first line, press the Esc key and then again go to line command to do the second line.

There are other ways of doing this in a faster and efficient way.

  A.Once done with the first line, press the Enter key twice on your keyboard to terminate the command and then again press the Enter key to execute the last command.

  B. Instead of click release to place the first point and the again click release to place the second point try to drag the line. Click and then don’t release your mouse button till you are done with that line then again the same for the second Line.      

   

  C.As shown below once done with the line double click fast and you will still be in the line command but the new line will not start from the end point of previous line.

  3.    Sketch Relations

When you are sketching an entity, you get automatic relations and if that relation is shown in a yellow box that means it’s going to be there with the line. As shown in the image below the vertical relation in the yellow box means the line is vertical and the relation is going to be there. The horizontal relation you see next to the vertical is not inside a yellow box since it’s a reference relation. It’s giving you an indication that if you click here the end point of line is horizontal with the other lines.

  4.    Mirror

When you want to Mirror multiple entities and if there is only one centerline then instead of selecting the mirror command and then selecting the entities do the opposite. As shown below make a box selection and select the entities you want to mirror. 

Once the entities you want to mirror are selected, directly select the Mirror Entities command and you will see that it does the mirror automatically as shown below.