SolidWorks ® 2007 Bible Matt Lombard 01_080139 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3:14 PM Page iii 01_080139 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3:14 PM Page ii SolidWorks ® 2007 Bible 01_080139 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3:14 PM Page i 01_080139 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3:14 PM Page ii SolidWorks ® 2007 Bible Matt Lombard 01_080139 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3:14 PM Page iii SolidWorks ® 2007 Bible Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: 978-0-470-08013-9 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2007924101 Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. SolidWorks is a registered trademark of SolidWorks Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. 01_080139 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3:14 PM Page iv About the Author Matt Lombard holds a mechanical engineering degree from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. Matt has worked as a design and manufacturing engineer in the medical and microelectronics industries. Currently, through his company Dezignstuff, he works mainly as a consumer product modeling consultant and technical writer. Before becoming an engineer, Matt went to music school for two years and performed with the Navy band for four years. He still plays in local community groups for fun. Having grown up in the Adirondack Mountains of northeastern New York, he now calls the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia home. 01_080139 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3:14 PM Page v Credits Acquisitions Editor Jenny Watson Project Editor Martin V. Minner Technical Editor Richard Doyle Copy Editor Marylouise Wiack Editorial Manager Robyn Siesky Business Manager Amy Knies Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Richard Swadley Vice President and Publisher Barry Pruett Project Coordinator Lynsey Osborn Graphics and Production Specialists Stacie Brooks Denny Hager Jennifer Mayberry Barbara Moore Heather Pope Quality Control Technicians Laura Albert Brian Walls Proofreading Aptara Indexing Aptara Cover Design Michael Trent Cover Illustration Joyce Haughey This work is dedicated to my grandparents, Earl “Boots” Woods and Mildred “Mid” Woods, who taught me that the value of hard work goes beyond the numbers on a paycheck. 01_080139 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3:14 PM Page vi Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvii Part I: SolidWorks Basics 1 Chapter 1: Getting Familiar with SolidWorks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Understanding Feature-Based Modeling 4 Understanding History-Based Modeling 6 Sketching with Parametrics 9 Understanding Design Intent 14 Editing Design Intent 15 View, Sketch Relations 15 Display/Delete Relations 15 Suppressed Sketch Relations 16 Working with Associativity 16 Summary 16 Chapter 2: Navigating the SolidWorks Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Identifying Elements of the SolidWorks Interface 20 Toolbars 21 Menus 46 Cursors 50 FeatureManager and PropertyManager windows 51 Task pane 53 Status bar 54 2D Command Line Emulator 55 Making the Interface Work for You 56 Customizing colors 56 Customization strategies 56 Working with multiple-document windows 61 Tutorial: Getting to Know the Interface 63 Tutorial goals 64 Copy the existing settings 64 Set all interface items to their default settings 65 Customizing the CommandManager 66 Customizing menus 68 vii 02_080139 ftoc.qxp 3/26/07 3:17 PM Page vii Change interface colors 69 Adding hotkeys 70 Combining macros with hotkeys 71 Summary 71 Chapter 3: Getting Started with SolidWorks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Tools for Beginners 73 SolidWorks license agreement 74 Welcome to SolidWorks 74 Quick Tips 75 Online documentation 77 Hardcopy documentation 78 Identifying SolidWorks Documents 79 Document types 79 Saving your setup 80 Templates 81 Opening Existing Documents 85 Opening a document 86 Understanding file references 87 Using Visualization Tools 89 Changing the view 89 Using color and optical properties 100 Tutorial: Creating a Part Template 102 Tutorial: Visualization Techniques 105 Summary 109 Chapter 4: Working with Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Opening a Sketch 112 Identifying Sketch Entities 113 The Sketch toolbar 113 The Dimensions/Relations toolbar 132 Inferencing in Sketch 135 Exploring Sketch Settings 137 Using Sketch Blocks 138 Tutorial: Learning to Use Sketch Relations 140 Tutorial: Using Blocks and Belts 143 Summary 145 Chapter 5: Creating Simple Parts, Assemblies, and Drawings . . . . . . . . 147 Asking the Right Questions 147 Is the part symmetrical? 148 What are the primary or functional features? 148 In what ways is the part likely to change? 148 What is the manufacturing method? 149 Will there be secondary operations? 149 Will there be other versions? 150 viii Contents 02_080139 ftoc.qxp 3/26/07 3:17 PM Page viii [...]... Implementing SolidWorks 909 Appendix B: Tools, Options 9 31 Appendix C: Finding Help 10 07 Appendix D: What’s on the CD-ROM 10 15 Index 10 17 xxi 02_08 013 9 ftoc.qxp 3/26/07 3 :17 PM Page xxii 03_08 013 9 fpref.qxp 3/26/07 3 :18 PM Page xxiii W elcome to the SolidWorks 2007 Bible This... 04_08 013 9 flast.qxp 3/26/07 3 :19 PM Page xxviii 05_08 013 9 pt 01. qxp 3/26/07 3:20 PM Page 1 SolidWorks Basics IN THIS PART Chapter 1 Getting Familiar with SolidWorks Chapter 2 Navigating the SolidWorks Interface Chapter 3 Getting Started with SolidWorks Chapter 4 Working with Sketches Chapter 5 Creating Simple Parts, Assemblies, and Drawings 05_08 013 9 pt 01. qxp 3/26/07 3:20 PM Page 2 06_08 013 9 ch 01. qxp... 610 Custom properties in templates 611 Saving a template 612 Creating Blocks 613 Summary 613 Chapter 21: Working with Drawing Views 615 Creating Common View Types 616 Using the View palette 616 Named 617 Projected view 620 Standard 3 view 6 21 Detail view 6 21. ..02_08 013 9 ftoc.qxp 3/26/07 3 :17 PM Page ix Contents Creating a Simple Part 15 0 Where to start? 15 0 Symmetry 15 1 Make it solid 15 2 Making the groove 15 8 Tutorial: Creating a Simple Assembly 16 9 Tutorial: Making a Simple Drawing 17 4 Summary 18 0 Part II: Building Intelligence into Your Parts 18 1 Chapter... 19 0 Using Sketch Pictures 19 1 Three views 19 2 Perspective 19 2 Sharp edges 19 3 Using Sketch Text 19 3 Using Colors and Line Styles with Sketches 19 5 Color Display mode 19 5 Line color 19 5 Edit color 19 5 Line thickness and line style 19 5 Tutorial: Editing and Copying 19 6... 18 3 Editing Sketch Relations 18 3 Display/Delete relations 18 4 SketchXpert 18 6 Copying and Moving Sketch Entities 18 7 Move entities 18 7 Rotate entities 18 7 Copy entities 18 8 Scale entities 18 8 Modify sketch 18 8 Copy and paste 19 0 Simple drag 19 0 Derived... dependencies 409 Tutorial: Managing the FeatureManager 411 Summary 411 xii 02_08 013 9 ftoc.qxp 3/26/07 3 :17 PM Page xiii Contents Chapter 13 : Getting More from Mates 413 Applying Mates 414 Mating through the Mate PropertyManager 414 SmartMates 417 Mating with macros 420 Mating for Motion 420... tricks 310 Using Link Values 311 Using Global Variables 313 Using Expressions 313 Tutorial: Using Equations 314 Summary 315 Chapter 10 : Working with Part Configurations 317 Controlling Items with Configurations 318 Finding configurations 318 Activating configurations 320 Creating... imported 2D data 714 Layers on the sheet format 715 Dimensions and notes on layers 716 Components on layers 716 Controlling Line Format 717 Using the Line Format settings 718 End Cap Style 718 Line Thickness settings 718 Line Style setting 719 Color Display mode 719 Hiding and Showing Edges... Functionality 811 Chapter 29: Using the Base Flange Method for Sheet Metal Parts 813 Understanding the Big Picture 814 Using the Base Flange Features 815 Base Flange /Tab feature 815 Sheet Metal feature 816 Flat Pattern feature 822 Edge Flange feature 824 Miter Flange feature 829 Hem feature 8 31 Jog feature . SolidWorks ® 2007 Bible Matt Lombard 01_ 08 013 9 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3 :14 PM Page iii 01_ 08 013 9 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3 :14 PM Page ii SolidWorks ® 2007 Bible 01_ 08 013 9 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3 :14 PM. i 01_ 08 013 9 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3 :14 PM Page ii SolidWorks ® 2007 Bible Matt Lombard 01_ 08 013 9 ffirs.qxp 3/26/07 3 :14 PM Page iii SolidWorks ® 2007 Bible Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 10 475. Template 10 2 Tutorial: Visualization Techniques 10 5 Summary 10 9 Chapter 4: Working with Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1 Opening a Sketch 11 2 Identifying Sketch Entities 11 3 The