SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Chapter 3: Working with Sketches

FIGURE 3.20

Drawing a parabola

Apex

Focus

Click+drag

Sketch Text creates editable text in sketches using TrueType fonts installed in your Fonts folder.

Some fonts produce sketches that are unusable for solid features, due to violating sketch rules with

overlapping or zero thickness. You need to be careful which fonts you select, but I have had suc-

cess with a wide variety of fonts I have found on the Internet. Sketch Text may be dissolved into

lines and arcs so that you can edit them manually. Dissolve is available on the RMB menu. Figure

3.21 points out the key elements of the Sketch Text interface.

Note

Note that the Link To Property icon enables you to link sketch text to a custom property, or a configuration spe-

cific custom property. Using configurations and properties to drive sketch text can be a valuable function. n

Intersection Curve, in 2D sketches, creates sketch entities where the sketch plane intersects

selected faces. In 3D sketches, the Intersection Curve sketch tool creates sketch entities where any

types of selected faces intersect. This can be an extremely useful tool in many situations.

Face Curves applies the underlying U-V isoparameter mesh to a selected face. It is most commonly
used as an evaluation tool for complex surfaces, but you can also use it to create curves to rebuild
faces. Accepting the results by clicking OK creates a separate 3D sketch for each spline. Figure
3.22 shows the original surface and the results of using face curves on a complex lofted surface.