SolidWorks 2010 Bible

CHAPTER

Dimensioning and

Tolerancing

IN THIS CHAPTER

Working with dimensions on

drawings

Exploring the Dimension

PropertyManager interface

Adding and activating

tolerances

Applying items to dimensions

Working with dimensions and

tolerances tutorial

D

imensioning and tolerancing is an art form as much as a science.
People become very passionate when discussing the right way to
perform these tasks. In truth, the techniques are not so black and
white, but are highly dependent on the industry, the means of manufacture,
and the purpose of the drawing. Drawings might be used for quotes, manu-
facturing, inspection, assembly, testing, and so on; and the drawings, as well
as the dimensioning and tolerancing used, for each purpose need to be
somewhat different.

While it is important to follow standards and use drawing conventions prop-
erly, this is not an argument that I want to reignite here. In this chapter,
I will focus on how the available tools work. You will need to decide for
yourself how to apply them in each situation.

Putting Dimensions on Drawings

The debate on how to get the dimensions from the model to the drawing is
much like the “tastes great/less filling” debate. Each side of the issue has valid
points, and the question is not likely to be resolved any time soon.

At the center of this debate is whether you should place the dimensions that
you use to create the model directly on the drawing, or whether you should
use reference dimensions created on the drawing. In the following sections,
I examine each method for its benefits and drawbacks.