If you are designing something in SOLIDWORKS that has moving components, electrical or heat sources, or any other type of hazard, it’s a pretty good idea to apply a warning label to your design to warn users of the dangers they may face (lest you find yourself in court).

Example product warning label

Obviously, you want to integrate these labels into your design in SOLIDWORKS so that they can be clearly seen. We will model up the label shown above. You’ll notice there is a lot of text on it. Therefore, I am going to use Sketched Text in order to create a sketch, then I will use a boss-extrude to create the label. However, when I click OK on the Boss-Extrude, my computer’s fan does a minute-long impression of a jet engine during which time it seems to freeze. When it is finally finished, I take a look at the rebuild time:

Large Rebuild time reported: 64.65 seconds. Yikes!

The total rebuild time is 64.65 seconds, with 86% (55.74 seconds) coming from just that one Extruded Text feature. This is due to the faces that are being unnecessarily created on the sides of each letter. One way I could potentially get around this would be to delete the Boss-Extrude and just use the Split Line command to split the faces. I’ve seen mixed results with this method. In this particular case, my rebuild time actually increased significantly to 408 seconds! This would also make it very tedious to change the colours whereas before I was able to change the colour of the various boss-extrudes, now I must click each letter.

However, one thing I managed to do was create a screenshot of what my completed label should look like. It might have even been possible without modeling it up in SOLIDWORKS, especially if it was a standard label out of a catalogue. Once I have it as an image file (a JPG, a BMP, or other image file type), I can delete all the extrude features and then insert the image as a decal using the following procedure:

How to Add SOLIDWORKS Decals

1. Go into the Appearances tab on the Task Pane (right side of SOLIDWORKS)
2. Click the Decals folder
3. Drag and drop any decal of your choice onto the model where you want it to appear.

Drag and Drop a Decal

4. If the image file used for the decal is not to your liking, you can change it by clicking the Browse button and just browse in a new image
5. You can optionally adjust the image mask if you wish to make parts of the decal transparent.
6. Pick Ok to apply the decal to your model

Change or Adjust Decal

Now to check the rebuild time:

Rebuild Time: 0.02 seconds

That’s much better. With this method, the resulting label is nearly identical to look at, but the rebuild time is almost instantaneous. You’re probably wondering what the catch is?

Limitations of using SOLIDWORKS Decals

The only limitations for using SOLIDWORKS Decals are that you can’t change the text as easily, so make sure it is right the first time. The other limitation is that the decal will not be displayed unless you are in either Shaded or Shaded With Edges display modes. This could pose an issue if you are creating a 2D drawing for printing and have the drawings views in HLR, HLV, or Wireframe display modes. Of course, in a case such as this, you could potentially show the sketches from the deleted boss-extrudes.

The post How to Increase System Performance using SOLIDWORKS Decals appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

Here at Javelin we see all kinds of “interesting” scenarios that people have created for themselves by way of not following the best practices for an installation of SOLIDWORKS.

One of the manifestations of a less-than-stellar installation is a slow SOLIDWORKS startup, especially if this is the first time SOLIDWORKS has been run since the computer had been restarted. With SOLIDWORKS 2015 we gained new insight to help identify where sluggish startup issues may lie — SOLIDWORKS has included a “Last Load Time” column on the right side of the Add-Ins dialog.

Typically add-in load times should read less than a second, if there is more than a second delay for an unknown reason – it’s time to dig a little deeper.

Causes for a slow SOLIDWORKS startup

The delays can be caused by unregistered Add-In DLL files, or any anti-malware that happens to be scanning the DLL file at the time.

The add-in dialog shown in the figure below reports that the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation 2016 Add-In is experiencing a delay of 19 seconds upon startup. As it turns out, this was the exact amount of time it took to activate this particular seat of Flow Simulation, so there was no need to panic.

In any case the “Last Load Time” column provides one more dashboard light on the road to a solid installation of SOLIDWORKS.

The “Last Load Time” column can help you identify which Add-Ins may be delaying the startup of SOLIDWORKS.

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We all have moments where we’re in a bit of a rush and accidentally end up with some unintended consequences. We see this particular issue quite a bit when it comes to drawings and the placement of Detail View Circles upon your primary or “Parent” view.

Typically we won’t discover that the detail view circle is frozen in place until we go back and make a modification to a view.

Take the seasonal example drawing here for instance, Detail View “C” is not exactly where we wanted it to be placed, the original intent was to have the view placed over the “Carrot Nose” in the center of the head.

Wrong location of ‘Detail C’ View

Any attempts to select the SOLIDWORKS Detail View Circle’s center point, and drag it to the desired location are met by a distinct lack of any movement whatsoever?!

Original detail circle

It is discovered that when the original circle for Detail View “C” was placed, the user neglected to hold down the CTRL key, which would have disabled the automatic sketch relation that applied itself between the center of the detail circle and the outer edge of the scarf.

How  do we go about repairing the damage?

As it turns out it’s as simple as editing a SKETCH!

Right Click on the Detail View Circle and choose the “Edit Sketch” option from the menu

Edit Sketch from shortcut menu

This option will provide you direct access to the sketch that was used to place the SOLIDWORKS Detail View Circle in the first place.  Where you can then remove the Sketch Relations that are affecting your ability to re-position the circle.

Snowman Detail Circle Sketch

Once the edits are complete, at long last we have our re-positioned detail view!

Detail View Repositioned as desired

Learn more about Drawings

To learn more about working with drawings in SOLIDWORKS you should plan to attend one of our SOLIDWORKS Drawings training course in a classroom near you or live online.

The post My SOLIDWORKS Detail View Circle is stuck?! appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

DISCLAIMER: The procedures in the following article require access and edits to the windows registry. Any such edits are at your own risk and should only be attempted under the advisement and direction of your IT professional. If you are uncomfortable with executing the procedures below please seek assistance. It is advised to back up your registry and any valued data before making any changes to the system registry. Javelin Technologies assumes no responsibility for any consequences, unintended or otherwise resulting from changes made to the system or the system registry.

Depending on the SOLIDWORKS products that you have in your repertoire, it can become a bit of a chore to re-enter all of the 24-digit SOLIDWORKS serial numbers for each individual SOLIDWORKS product that you would like to install on your system.

Reentry of your SOLIDWORKS serial numbers for a new installation is but a double-click away…if you have taken the appropriate steps beforehand.

Capture and Restore your SOLIDWORKS Serial Numbers

To prepare for a re-installation of SOLIDWORKS and capture all of your serial numbers, try the following steps:

1. Open the windows registry editor by typing “REGEDIT” in the windows start menu.
2. Navigate to the following key: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks\Licenses\Serial Numbers“
3. Right-click on the “Serial Numbers” Key and choose “Export“
4. Name the exported registry entry with an appropriate name (example: “SWX SERIAL NUMBERS.reg”)
5. Save the Exported Serial Number data in a safe place, unaffected by any installations or removals taking place on the system.
6. When you are ready to perform an installation, simply “Open” or “Run” the registry (*.reg) file on the new or “Clean” system.

Export SOLIDWORKS Serial Numbers

The Result

When the SOLIDWORKS Installation manager runs, it will automatically populate with all of your captured SOLIDWORKS Serial Numbers — saving you the time and hassle of retyping the data!

The post Hate Retyping SOLIDWORKS Serial Numbers for a “clean” installation? Back them up! appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

On more than one occasion we have had customers contact our support team with what seems to be a benign symptom, the delete key not working with SOLIDWORKS? Sketch entities, Dimensions, or entire components, it does not seem to matter what we attempt to delete, the delete key will simply not work. Both parties chuckle a bit when this occurs, until the seriousness of the situation sets in, that the customer is looking at performing a registry reset to fix this seemingly insignificant issue.

After a few minutes we typically discover that right-clicking on a component, dimension or entity will permit us to use the delete option from the shortcut menu (unless that has been hidden too!).

The usual cause

In these cases the general culprit tends to be the Keyboard shortcut tab of the SOLIDWORKS customization dialog.

What we invariably discover is that the customer has recently entered the dialog and attempted to assign a keyboard shortcut to another command. While creating the new shortcut, they make an error for which they instinctively strike the DELETE key.

Hitting the delete key while assigning a keyboard shortcut in the shortcut column of the dialog accidentally re-assigns the delete key to a new command, usually a command that is not available while performing regular tasks, thus goes completely unnoticed until the use attempts to use the delete key to actually delete something.

The fix

The repair of the issue is quite simple, find the “Delete” command within the listing of commands, and re-assign the DELETE key to the “Delete” command!

Edit Keyboard Shortcuts

The moral of the story is of course…be cautious when editing keyboard shortcuts, and you will avoid this unexpected surprise.

The post Delete key not working with SOLIDWORKS? Check your Keyboard Shortcuts appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

Once upon a time, all installations of SOLIDWORKS came with a Quick Reference Guide. This wonderfully useful guide was an excellent document to have printed on a few pages and posted in your cubicle for — you guessed it — quick reference!

Unfortunately the SOLIDWORKS Quick Reference Guide has not been included in any SOLIDWORKS releases since 2010.

Keyboard shortcuts list in the Customize dialog

That begs the question, what is a fellow who is looking for a list of keyboard shortcuts to do?

The response to that question depends on exactly what you are looking to hang on your cubicle wall. If it is a straight to the point reference chart of default keyboard shortcuts that you seek — it is easily available from the keyboard shortcut tab of the customize dialog box.

To the upper right hand corner under the “Keyboard” tab of the SOLIDWORKS Customize dialog there are buttons for “Print List” and “Copy List”.

• Copy List will provide you with a windows clipboard copy of the text from each column, that you can then format yourself.
• Print List will print out the listing of commands that you have filtered out to be displayed in the main panel of the dialog. The “Print List” button will allow you to choose a printer by which to print the document.

In this instance we had printed a copy out to PDF to share with you, click to download the SOLIDWORKS default keyboard shortcuts PDF for SOLIDWORKS 2016.

Download Shortcuts List

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SOLIDWORKS has had, and continues to have all kinds of functionality embedded in the most basic of windows commands – Take the “Copy” command for example.  In this example we will use simple Copy & Paste Functionality to make an exact copy of the sketch and maintain the relations applied to the original.

Copy and Paste Sketch Process

The Basic Workflow to copy the sketch is simple:

1. Select the source Sketch
2. Type CTRL+C as a shortcut for the “Copy” command
3. Select the Plane that will receive the sketch
4. Type CTRL+P as a shortcut fr the “Paste” command

Copy Sketch

As with most things, it turns out there is a little bit more to the story here to be a complete success. Upon pasting the sketch you may discover that the geometry appears Under-defined, which is the spot where most folks give up and turn back.

Copy Sketch Plane is different

The reason the copied sketch becomes under defined is due to the lack of relations that are controlling the location of the sketch with reference to the origin. The original sketch had a coincident relation that held the lower left corner of the sketch on the origin.

Under defined sketch

If you add some dimensions or relations to control the location of the sketch, or simply add a fixed relation – The sketch will then become fully defined and ready for reuse.

Fully defined sketch

The post Copy Sketch and Maintain the Sketch Relations appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

Every so often with SOLIDWORKS we run into some great functionality who’s limitations leave us feeling a little flat… (Pun Intended)

The use of Decals in our SOLIDWORKS models makes for a fantastic bit of functionality, however it requires a shaded viewing in order for the contents of the decal to show up on a drawing.

What do we do if we need the artwork contained on the decal in a SOLIDWORKS HLR Drawing View?

HLR and Shaded drawing view comparison

One of the many possible techniques would be to make use of a surface body, and split that body into portions using the Split or Wrap features so that the newly formed faces could have their colours changed to represent the desired decal.

Let’s begin the process by offsetting the cylindrical face of our tank, just enough to ensure we are not dealing with any surface-bleeding that can take place when two surfaces are superimposed onto one another. Roughly a distance of 0.05in (this entirely depends on your image quality settings for the part document).

Offset Surface Feature

Once the new surface is created, we will place and prepare the sketch that represents the decal artwork or text.  Several sub sketches will be needed in this case to copy one closed loop of geometry at a time, starting from the inside out. This will allow for each separate loop to be applied as a wrap feature to our original surface (start with the exclamation point in this example!).

Decal substitute sketch

Once the “Sub-Sketches” have been created, use the wrap feature to “Scribe” the artwork of the decal onto the surface.

Wrap Feature PropertyManager

Once we have used the scribe option multiple times for all of the “Sub-Sketches” we created, we should have the desired result of a surface that has been split up into the appropriate geometry.

Once the smaller surfaces are created (Lettering) the appearance properties can be modified to make each portion the desired colour. The remaining “unused” surface is also deleted via the Delete / Keep  Bodies tool.

Wrap geometry applied

The final result is a set of surfaces that will show up in a SOLIDWORKS HLR Drawing View when the “Model Items” tool is used to “pull” them into the drawing view.

Decal displayed in HLR drawing view

The surfaces are more resource intensive on the system overall, however they are a far better option than attempting to create embossed or debossed text which generates many more edges of model geometry.

The post How to show a Decal in a SOLIDWORKS HLR Drawing View appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

Have you ever attempted to delete a point from a sketch and the SOLIDWORKS Sketch Point will not delete?! (Just like those relatives who come over for dinner and don’t know when to leave…in any case…I digress.)

In this case all of the points in the sketch are selected and the “DELETE” key is used. The user then receives the error message that the “Sketch endpoints and center points cannot be deleted unless the endpoint is a split point of a curve”

Sketch points cannot be deleted

Of course the first reaction to this (and second, and third), usually contain expletives  that may not be appropriate for the design office environment.

Upon closer inspection of the errant point, we discover that the point looks slightly different than a normal point, that would have been placed with the “Point” tool.

One of these points is not like the others

The mystery is solved once we attempt to edit the sketched text. The remaining point is the insertion point for the text as the curve reference in the Sketch Text PropertyManager is now missing as shown in the figure below:

Missing curve reference for sketch text

Generally this point will place itself at the origin of a sketch when a sketch line or curve is selected to locate the sketch text.  When the line was deleted and the Sketch Text dialog closed, the text will snap back to relate itself back to the insertion point.

Sketch text point

This point is there to stay along with your sketched text, if your text is defined by a line or a curve, the best thing to do is to relate the “extra” point to (and set it on-top of ) another endpoint of a line or a curve in your sketch to keep it out of harm’s way.

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Often times, in SOLIDWORKS, we will need to apply multiple mates of a similar type in an assembly. There is an option called SOLIDWORKS Multiple Mate Mode that can accomplish this. This process works with all kinds of mates, but it’s easily demonstrated here with the concentric mate. Please consider the following assembly:

I’d like to make everything concentric to the bolt

Looking at the assembly, there is one bolt, 3 washers, 3 lock washers and 3 nuts. Using traditional mate selection methods, you would require 18 selection clicks. What if I told you it could be done in 10? Let’s check it out. If I launch the mate command from the toolbars, I take notice of the button indicated:

Multiple Mate Mode

Using this button changes the interface on the side a bit. It allows me to select one as a common reference (in my example, the cylindrical face on the bolt) and then select as many other references as I like (a cylindrical face on each of the other components). Behold:

Applying a Multi Mate

This is likely enough for most people, but it you want to get really fancy, there’s a checkbox for “Create multi-mate folder” that you might notice in the above screenshot. Here is what that option does:

Multi-mate folder

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In the textile industry it has always been a tedious and manual process to get a proper material pattern out of a cutter that fits perfectly the first time, this is where ExactFlat shines.   Exactflat uses complex proprietary algorithms developed by Scientists and CAD industry veterans over the course of 7+ years. The development team has paired the essential algorithms with industry-standard design, production and business functions to enable all departments in a business to work from one common data model — from upstream design tasks through to downstream costing and assembly tasks — driving unprecedented business productivity.

ExactFlat’s mission is to help soft goods fabricators bring their products to market faster, with lower effort, lower cost, and simpler process. To support this mission, Tri-D develops and provides software with features that address the essential workflow tasks associated with taking 3D designs from the CAD environment through to the cutting and manufacturing environments.  We invest in and constant renew our skills in 3 areas to differentiate ourselves from the competition

What industries is ExactFlat used in?

Perfect for applications in the textile industry, including but not limited to:

• Furniture Design
• Marine and Boat Design
• Insulation Wrap
• Pool Liners and Covers
• Automotive
• And Many More

How does ExactFlat work?

The workflow is very simple and effective , it follows the entire design cycle from the CAD model to the cutter as well as costing the materials used, optional auto nesting of patterns for the most efficient material usage and , due to ExactFlat’s advanced automation, fast and easy documentation and drawings.

ExactFlat Process

Watch the video below to see how easy and effective Exactflat is at quickly turning complex geometry into accurately cut and perfectly fitting patterns.

Learn more about ExactFlat

Visit our microsite to learn more about ExactFlat and the different applications for the software.

The post SOLIDWORKS and ExactFlat are the Perfect Fit for the Textile Industry appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

Here at Javelin we are witness to a wide variety of ways that customers manage their custom property data. Often, we also get to see  which of those values become the most important details to a project.

Some versatility that SOLIDWORKS offers us in regard to custom property metadata isn’t so obvious. Take the “Description” field within the “Save As” dialog for example.

SOLIDWORKS Save As dialog description field

You can link a Custom Property to the Save As dialog description field so that SOLIDWORKS will push this value into any of the custom properties available.

This can be accomplished by entering the settings dialog, under System Options > General > “Custom property used as component description“.

Custom Property used as component description setting

Once adjusted the value typed within the “Save “as” dialog will then be pushed to the chosen custom property in any new files.

Custom Property connected to the description field

The post Link the SOLIDWORKS Save As dialog description field to a Custom Property appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

If your are not able to see SOLIDWORKS thumbnail pictures in Windows Explorer or in the Preview Pane of the Open dialog, there are several reasons that could cause this problem to happen. Listed below are the common solutions.

Thumbnail Missing

Solution #1: SOLIDWORKS Thumbnail in General Options

The first thing to check is an option within SOLIDWORKS itself.  Tools > Options > System Options tab > General > ‘Show thumbnail graphics in Windows Explorer‘.  Ensure this option is enabled.  Also files must be subsequently opened and saved in SOLIDWORKS to generate the screenshot for the thumbnail.

SOLIDWORKS Options – Show Thumbnail Graphics

Solution #2: Windows Folder Options

The next thing to check is your Windows Folder Options.  There are two options required, one DESELECTED and the other SELECTED

1. Windows Control Panel > Folder Options
2. Select the ‘View‘ tab at the top of the window

Folder Options

3. DESELECT ‘Always show icons, never thumbnails‘

View – Folder Options

4. SELECT ‘Show preview handlers in preview pane‘ (scroll down to find it)

Preview Handlers

Solution #3: Windows Performance Options

SOLIDWORKS Thumbnail may also be disabled if you have customized your performance levels of Windows.

1. Windows Control Panel > Performance Information and Tools

NOTE: If the top radio buttons are set to “Adjust for best performance”, this will disable all previews and thumbnails

Performance Information and Tools

2. ‘Adjust visual effects‘ from the margin on the left of the window
3. ‘Visual Effects‘ tab at the top of the window

Adjust visual effects

4. SELECT ‘Show thumbnails instead of icons‘

Visual Effects

Solution #4: DLL Registration

During the installation of SOLIDWORKS, many .DLL files are installed and require registration to function properly.  If you had installed without full LOCAL Windows Administration permissions or if you had Antivirus or Windows User Account Controls enabled, this can prevent proper registration of the DLLs.  Manually registering the following DLLs can correct the issue.

• swdocumentmgr.dll (by default under C:\Program Files\Common Files\SOLIDWORKS Shared)
• sldthumbnailprovider.dll (by default under C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS)

To manually register these DLLs:

1. Log into Windows as a full LOCAL Administrator Account
2. Browse in Windows Explorer to find the above .DLL files
3. Run the Command Prompt as Administrator (Start > All Programs > Accessories > right-click ‘Command Prompt‘ and “Run as administrator“)
4. Enter the following text and press Enter after each (*note these are the default installation location folders)
   • regsvr32 “C:\Program Files\Common Files\SOLIDWORKS Shared\swdocumentmgr.dll”
   • regsvr32 “C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS\sldthumbnailprovider.dll”

The post Why are my SOLIDWORKS Thumbnails and Previews missing? appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

Not everything that is bigger, is necessarily better – however we can now open larger and more complex STL imports in SOLIDWORKS 2016 to put that theory to the test if we so desire.

STL Import Example

SOLIDWORKS has increased the upper threshold for the number of facets that can be successfully imported.
You can now import STL files with up to 500,000 facets!

This is approximately 24 MB for binary STL files & 138 MB for ASCII format STL files.

This is upwards of 25x Larger than what was previously permitted .STL files being imported as SOLID BODIES & 5x larger than what was previously allowed for imports of .STL files as SURFACE BODIES.

This May Take A while

The import performance has increased significantly, translating into an improvement of approximately 3x the speed of import.
For surface and solid .STL file imports, you are warned that conversion may take a long time and you are given an opportunity to cancel the import – This dialog takes a few moments to pop us and Auto-Cancels very quickly, so don’t take your eyes off the monitor for too long at the start of the import.

The post STL Imports in SOLIDWORKS 2016 means that Bigger is Better! appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

There have been cases where users received a message saying “SOLIDWORKS licenses will expire in XX days” on a SolidNetWork License (SNL) client machine when they start up SOLIDWORKS.

SOLIDWORKS licenses will expire message

What is the problem?

SOLIDWORKS allows you to use the software without activating it only for 30 days. This message indicating that you have not activated your license on your machine. In some cases the activation process is not successful and therefore you receive that message each time you start SOLIDWORKS.

Why it is happening?

One of the reasons the “SOLIDWORKS licenses will expire in XX days” message appears is because an evaluation or previous standalone license was installed on the computer.

How to fix it?

You can fix this issue using the steps below:

1. Open Windows Explorer and browse to C:\ProgramData\SolidWorks. Delete the “sw_d” files under C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet.You will need to reactivate after this and then retest.

Note: ProgramData is a hidden system folder. In Windows Explorer, press Alt+T and go to Folder options. On the View tab, Make sure that Show hidden files, folders, and drives is selected.

2. If step 1 does not resolve your issue, the activation based license may be in a hung state. You can can manually delete the license from a user’s machine.

The post SOLIDWORKS licenses will expire in XX days, what does this message mean? appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

Many times in SOLIDWORKS, it makes sense to create features at the assembly level. Sometimes this can be due to a Top-Down approach to assembly modeling, sometimes you’ve taken a bottom-up approach and you want to make an exception for a single feature. Let’s say you want to add a clearance hole through multiple components and you want the hole to line up. Rather than creating the same feature in all the components by opening up each one and adding the feature, it is faster and easier to add an Assembly Feature.

With an Assembly Feature, you can create the feature at the assembly-level. Here are some of the features you can create:

• Extruded cut
• Revolved cut
• Holes (Hole Series, Hole Wizard, and Simple Hole)
• Swept cut
• Fillets
• Chamfers

With these features, you also the option to display the feature at the assembly-level only (such would be the case if I was to drill a hole after assembly) or if I want to “Propagate feature to parts,” as the option is called:

Propagate Feature to Parts

With the option turned on, the feature will appear at the part level as well. It will not be able to be edited from the part, though, but I can right-click the feature and choose Edit in Context, which will open the assembly that I created the feature in. Alternatively, I can suppress the feature at the part level for a variety of purposes.

You might notice that I left Weld Bead and Belt/Chain features off the list of assembly features. This is due to the fact that they do not have the option to propagate the feature to the part-level, largely due to the fact that they cannot be propagated to the part level due to the nature of the features (Belt/Chain causes related motion between components and Weld Bead would connect multiple parts together after they were assembled).

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See what I did there? I used Character Map to get a backwards R, then used symmetric letters to make the word MIRROR appear to be mirrored! What a complex process for such a simple trick. Thankfully, in SOLIDWORKS, the process can be delightfully simple. I have two methods for doing this in a sketch: Mirror or Dynamic Mirror. You can access both of these tools from the Tools > Sketch Tools menu:

Mirror Tools

Please keep in mind that Dynamic Mirror is not shown on the Sketch tab of the CommandManager by default. I highly suggest that you make use of the Command Search to drag and drop the command onto the Command Manager, though.

Mirror

Let’s talk about the first one. The Mirror command is intended to be used on sketch entities that have already been created. If one of your sketch entities is a centre line, then lucky you: you can just window-select the whole bundle and run the Mirror command and SOLIDWORKS will take care of the rest! If you have more than one centre line, or don’t have any (because you are intending to mirror about a solid line), then you need to do a bit more work. Run the command first, then window-select the entities that you wish to mirror. Then select the pane for “Mirror about” and choose which entitiy you wish to mirror about. Don’t worry about duplication. If I was mirroring a square about one of the edges, then I could select all 4 lines to mirror, then as soon as I choose one of the lines to mirror about, it is automatically removed from the list of entities to mirror.

Dynamic Mirror

The second approach, Dynamic Mirror, is intended to be used while you are sketching. Start by sketching a centre line (or regular line if you prefer). Then, select the line and run the Dynamic Mirror command. You’ll barely notice that it is running aside from a double-tickmark at either end of your selected line, and the fact that the Dynamic Mirror command appears to be a pressed button. However, try sketching something. What you’ll find is that as you create sketched entities, they are automatically mirrored onto the other side. Amazing.

Dynamic Mirror Sketch

Here are three things to keep in mind as you are sketching:

• If you draw a line that is perpendicular to the mirror line and ends coincident to the mirror line, the mirrored version will be merged. You will end up with a single line that had a sketched point in the middle.
• If you draw a line that is perpendicular to the mirror line and it ends at the “mirrored” start point (such that the mirrored entity would completely overlap the original), SOLIDWORKS will tell you the it is “unable to create the symmetric element,” which protects you from accidentally creating overlapping lines.
• If you draw a line that is perpendicular to the mirror line and it ends anywhere else but the aforementioned points, you will get partially overlapping lines. Try to avoid this as it can cause issues with certain features if left unchecked.

Learn more about Sketching

To gain more sketching skills like dynamic mirror we suggest taking our SOLIDWORKS Essentials course either in-class or online. Learn more about the course.

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In SOLIDWORKS, it has always been very easy to show the dimensions for a feature: just double-click on the feature and presto: all the dimensions for that feature are shown. This makes it fantastically easy to edit dimensions without having to edit the sketch or modify the feature in the feature tree. Of course, this functionality is by no means new to SOLIDWORKS, nor should it come as a surprise to most users.

However, sometimes, it is nice to show all the dimensions for all the features in a part. This is not as commonly known as you might think.

Why show feature dimensions?

There are situations where it is useful to be able to show all the feature dimensions, for example:

• If I wanted to configure multiple dimensions using the Configure Dimension command.
• Or if I wanted to reference dimensions in multiple features for Equations.
• Or for creating Custom Properties, it is really useful to be able to click on the dimensions on screen.

Show the dimensions

Luckily, there is a way to show all the dimensions:

Show Feature Dimensions

Just right-click on the Annotations folder in the Feature Tree and select “Show Feature Dimensions”

Feature dimensions displayed

Now, I have a quick and easy overview of all the dimensions that make up all the features of the part. Occasionally, some dimensions may not be visible due to the viewing angle or they may be buried in part geometry, but I can still double-click on the feature to show all the dimensions (even the buried ones) and I can then reposition the hard-to-reach dimensions for easier use.

The post SOLIDWORKS Quick Trick: Show Feature Dimensions for the entire part appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

The Style Spline command has had some excellent enhancements in the SOLIDWORKS 2016 release. We have a new PropertyManager which allows you to choose which type of spline to create.

You can now create B-Splines of 3rd,  5th, or 7th degrees with the Style Spline tool. You can adjust the smoothness of the curve by manipulating the degree of the curve:

• Select Tools > Sketch Entities > Style Spline

Style Options in SOLIDWORKS 2016

In the Insert PropertyManager, select from four spline type options. The minimum points required to create each of these options are:

• A 3rd degree B-Spline requires 4 points
• A 5th degree B-Spline requires 6 points
• A 7th degree B-Spline requires 8 points

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I recently had the honour of attending SOLIDWORKS WORLD (2016) in Dallas, Texas. I’d like to share with you three memories involving a modeling challenge that I had when I was there.

SOLIDWORKS Designed Bra

The first one I’d like to share is during one of the general sessions. One (or should I say two) of the presenters were Laura and Sophia of Trusst Lingerie. They had used SOLIDWORKS to design a bra for plus-size women that does not have an underwire. Now, in the context of providing training and technical support for SOLIDWORKS, I’ve seen a lot of unique uses for SOLIDWORKS and a lot of complex shapes, but nothing as complex as these women had managed to create. The challenge of building a 3D solid model of a plus-sized woman’s torso in SOLIDWORKS upon which to design a bra would take days – even weeks. I spent the next few hours trying to think about how to model, not just a woman’s torso, but any organic shape in SOLIDWORKS. The only time I’ve ever tried to model up an organic shape in SOLIDWORKS was a chicken wing for a related blog article.

Organic Shapes with SOLIDWORKS Industrial Designer

The second memory I’d like to share was seeing the enhancements in SOLIDWORKS Industrial Designer. The presenter was effortlessly able to manipulate the shape of a solid model to give it a very organic shape. The aforementioned design challenge that would have taken days or weeks in SOLIDWORKS would surely take mere hours with SOLIDWORKS Industrial Designer. I devoted the rest of my time at SOLIDWORKS WORLD to attending every session about Industrial Designer and learning as much as I could about it! I just couldn’t wait to get back to Oakville and get it installed on my computer and start playing with this incredible program.

My Beer Glove

The third memory I’d like to share was toward the end of the event. There was a cocktail hour before the Value Added Reseller awards dinner. Now, it was unusually colder than I had expected Dallas to be. It was cold enough to need proper coats. Now, since I keep my gloves in my coat pockets and I noticed everyone else carrying their beer with napkins, I used a glove. Don’t believe me? Behold:

Keeping my hand warm holding a beer

Of course, people made their comments about how strange I was, but I came prepared whereas everyone else was caught gloveless. It also started many a conversation, which turned into an idea for a beer glove: a glove you wear on your hand (obviously) that keeps your hand warm and your beer cold. It would be open at the back as to attract less attention that I was. It could even have a beer logo on the palm for easy ordering. Of course, in order to do this, I needed to model up a hand first.

My Beer Glove SOLIDWORKS Modeling Challenge

So when I got back to Oakville, and played with SOLIDWORKS Industrial Designer, it was time to put it to the test. I figured for comparison, I’d spend about 90 minutes in each of SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS Industrial Designer modeling up a hand. I started in familiar territory: SOLIDWORKS.

I began by creating a sketch in a new part and placed my hand on the monitor, then proceeded to trace my hand.

Just straight lines, nothing fancy. I’ll connect the dots with splines in a different sketch.

Since creating curves, arcs, and splines meant clicking beneath my hand, I figured I’d start with a reference sketch, then connect the dots in a second sketch using splines to give it a more organic shape.

Boss extrude with draft, then add some fillets.

The result was exceptionally flat and although it may look like a nice, organic shape in the screenshot above, a side view does not look organic by any stretch of the imagination. Still, after messing about with the spline to get it just right, I’d used about half of my allotted 90 minutes. Now I have to bend the fingers such that I can show the hand holding a bottle. It’s not sheet metal, so I can’t just use a Sketched Bend. It occurred to me to use the Flex command. I’ll admit, I don’t often use the Flex command.

Rebuild time: 19.5 seconds

In fairness, the fillets played a large part of why the rebuild time was so high. However, everything I tried from this point on didn’t lead to a better result. Naturally, it occurred to me AFTER the 90 minutes that I could have split this into multibodies and easily manipulated the positions of the fingers to get them to where I wanted them to be. However, I knew that the result would not look very organic unless I was prepared to use more than 90 minutes on it.

It also occurred to me after the fact that I could have gone to 3D Content Central and searched for a 3D model of a hand. In fact, there are a few good ones, although none are in the exact position I want, I could potentially manipulate them using the multibody technique I mentioned.

Tune in next time for part 2 of my SOLIDWORKS Modeling Challenge to see how I do in SOLIDWORKS Industrial Designer.

The post Beer Glove Modeling Challenge Part 1: using SOLIDWORKS appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.