Part I: SolidWorks Basics
Cross-Reference
Chapter 10 discusses configurations and feature suppression in depth. n
l (^) Insert Part. This SolidWorks technique enables you to use one SolidWorks part as the
starting point for a second part. For example, the as-cast part has all the features to make
the part, but it is inserted as the first feature in the as-machined part, which adds the cuts
required by the machining process.
Will there be other versions?
Sometimes size-based versions of parts have to be created or versions based on additional features.
If these are simple, they can also be handled with configurations, but you need to plan this flexibil-
ity in advance.
Creating a Simple Part
You need to practice some of the skills you will learn on simple parts. Chapter 2 introduced the
tools and features you will use, and this chapter teaches you how to string the simple features
together intelligently. In this section, I’ll show you how to build the simple part shown in Figure
4.1. While the shape is simple, the techniques used and discussed here are applicable to a wide
variety of real-world parts. The discussion on how to model the part contains information on some
of the topics you need to understand in order to do the work.
FIGURE 4.1
A simple machined part