Part I: SolidWorks Basics
- Click the Trim tool from the Sketch toolbar. Make sure that the Trim option is set to
Closest. Click the angled line of the triangle between the two lines sketched in Step 11.
This trims out that section and makes the sketch a single closed loop. A warning may
appear because you have a Midpoint relation to the line being trimmed; you no longer
want this relation, but you want the lines to intersect at their endpoints. Select Yes at the
prompt. - Click the Smart Dimension tool. Use it to create aligned dimensions on the short line
(.25 inches) and one of the long lines (.125 inches). You may now want to reorganize
some of the dimensions if the display is becoming crowded. - At this point, two of the lines should be blue, but it may not be clear why they are
not defined. Select one of the blue lines and drag it. Notice that what changes is the arc
nearest the Origin. This changes in a way that is not useful for this part. To lock this line
where it needs to be, select the blue line nearest the Origin and the centerpoint of the arc
nearest the Origin, and give them a Coincident relation in the PropertyManager. The
result is a fully defined sketch, as shown in Figure 3.43.
FIGURE 3.43
The resulting sketch after you perform Step 14- Save the part with the name Sketch Relations Tutorial.sldprt. Close the
part.
Tutorial: Using Blocks and Belts
Sometimes I am amazed at the things that can be done in SolidWorks, even with fairly simple
tools. This is one of those times. If you design machines, this tutorial will have some extra meaning
for you. If you do not design machines, Blocks and Belts are still valuable tools to have in your
toolbox ready to use in various situations. Follow these steps to learn about using Blocks and Belts.