SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Chapter 8: Patterning and Mirroring

body is not being patterned or mirrored. Figure 8.23 shows the Options panels for both the Linear

Pattern (on the left) and the Mirror (on the right) features. Here you can see that the pattern

function has no provision whatsoever for merging bodies. The Mirror appears to have the

functionality, but it applies only to bodies that are used or created by the Mirror feature.

In future versions of SolidWorks, we hope these features will be outfitted with more complete

merge and feature scope functionality, such as Extrude features.

FIGURE 8.23

Options panels from the Linear Pattern and Mirror PropertyManagers

Best Practice
Mirroring bodies is the fastest and simplest method when a part has complete symmetry. However, this may
not be an option if the part is not completely symmetrical. In addition, the decision to mirror must often be
made when you are creating the first feature. If the first feature is modeled as a sketch that is built symmetrically
around the Origin, then you may need to cut the part in half to mirror it. This is an adequate modeling
technique, although it is not as clean as it could be. n

Mirroring features

Features can be mirrored across planes or flat faces used as the plane of symmetry. If you are

mirroring many features, then it is best to mirror them all with a single mirror feature rather than

to make several mirror features. You may have to do this by moving the mirror feature down the

tree as you add new features. Depending on your part and what you are trying to accomplish, it

may be better to mirror bodies than features, but you should not go too far out of your way or

model in a contrived manner to make this happen.

Mirroring entire parts

Often when modeling, you are required to have a left- and a right-handed part. For this, you need

to use a method other than body or feature mirroring. The Mirror Part command creates a brand

new part by mirroring an existing part. The new part does not inherit all the features of the original,

and so any changes must be created in the original part. If you want different versions of the two

parts, you need to use Configurations, which have not been covered yet in this book.

Cross-Reference
Configurations are covered in detail in Chapter 10. n