Sketching a part in Assembly in SolidWorks is a fundamental skill that every designer and engineer should possess. It allows you to create intricate and detailed parts that seamlessly fit together in your assembly. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of sketching a part in Assembly using SolidWorks, step by step.
Step 1: Open Assembly Mode
Before we begin sketching our part, we need to open SolidWorks in Assembly Mode. To do this, click on the “File” menu at the top left corner of the screen, select “New,” and then choose “Assembly.” This will open a new window with an empty assembly.
Step 2: Insert a New Part
In order to sketch a part within an assembly, we first need to insert a new part into our assembly. To do this, click on the “Insert” menu at the top of the screen, select “Component,” and then choose “New Part.” A blank part will now appear within your assembly.
Step 3: Activate Sketch Mode
With our new part inserted into the assembly, we can now activate Sketch Mode to begin sketching our part. To do this, right-click on the blank part in your feature tree (located on the left side of the screen) and select “Edit Part.” This will activate Sketch Mode.
Step 4: Select a Plane
In order to start sketching our part, we need to select a plane to sketch on. The plane selection depends on where you want your part to be located within the assembly.
To select a plane, simply click on one of the available planes in your graphics area. For example, if you want your part to be located on the front plane, click on the front plane in your feature tree.
Step 5: Start Sketching
Now that we have our plane selected, we can start sketching our part. There are various tools and features available in SolidWorks for sketching, such as lines, arcs, circles, and rectangles. To use these tools, simply click on the corresponding icon in the Sketch toolbar (located at the top of the screen) and then click in the graphics area to place your sketch entities.
Note: Make sure to use appropriate sketching techniques to create accurate and symmetrical sketches. You can use constraints and dimensions to control the size and position of your sketch entities.
Step 6: Add Relations
In order to ensure that our part behaves as intended within the assembly, we need to add relations between different sketch entities. Relations define how different entities are connected or positioned relative to each other.
To add relations, select the desired entities by clicking on them while holding down the Ctrl key, right-click on one of the selected entities, and then choose “Add Relation.” From here, you can select various relation types such as coincident, parallel, perpendicular, etc., depending on your design requirements.
Step 7: Exit Sketch Mode
Once you have finished sketching your part and adding all necessary relations, it is time to exit Sketch Mode. To do this, simply click on the “Exit Sketch” button in the Sketch toolbar or right-click anywhere in the graphics area and select “Exit Sketch.” This will take you back to Assembly Mode with your sketched part visible in your assembly.
Step 8: Save Your Assembly
After successfully sketching your part within the assembly, it is important to save your work. To save your assembly, click on the “File” menu at the top left corner of the screen and select “Save As.”
Choose a location on your computer to save the file, give it a name, and click “Save. “
Tip: It is good practice to save your work frequently to avoid losing any progress in case of unexpected computer crashes or power outages.
Conclusion
In conclusion, sketching a part in Assembly using SolidWorks is a straightforward process that involves opening Assembly Mode, inserting a new part, activating Sketch Mode, selecting a plane, sketching your part using various tools and features, adding relations between entities, exiting Sketch Mode, and saving your assembly. By following these steps and utilizing SolidWorks’ powerful sketching capabilities, you can create complex parts that seamlessly fit together within your assembly.
Now you are ready to unleash your creativity and design amazing parts in SolidWorks Assembly!