SolidWorks® 2007 Bible

Chapter 17. Using Hole Wizard and Toolbox

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Using the Hole Wizard

• Understanding Toolbox

• Tutorial: Gaining experience with the Hole Wizard and Toolbox

The Hole Wizard and Toolbox are two applications that go together because of the information they share; they both work from a single database of matching hole and screw sizes. One of the most useful examples of combining these two applications is the ability to automatically place holes through multiple parts and put appropriately sized screws and hardware into the holes, all in one step. The hole knows which fastener or stack of fasteners needs to go together.

Using the Hole Wizard

This tool is called a wizard because it guides you through the process step by step. The process of creating a Hole Wizard hole can be summarized as follows:

• Pre-select the face to put the holes on, although this is not required. This turns out to be an important issue that is related to the type of placement sketch, and I revisit this subject later.

• Select the type of hole, for example, counterbored, countersunk, drilled hole, tapped hole, pipe tap, or legacy.

• Set the standard to be used, such as ANSI inch, ANSI metric, or ISO.

• Select the type of screw. For example, a counterbored hole can accommodate a socket head cap screw or a hex head screw, among others.

• Select the size of the screw.

• Select the fit of the screw into the hole, such as normal, loose, ...