SolidWorks® 2010 Bible

Chapter 3. Working with Sketches

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Beginning a sketch

• Distinguishing sketch entities

• Creating relationships in sketches

• Examining sketch settings

• Using sketch blocks in parts, assemblies, and drawings

• Using reference geometry

• Learning to use sketch relations tutorial

• Using blocks and belts tutorial

• Referencing geometry tutorial

So far, in this book, you have looked mainly at concepts, settings, and setup, which is necessary but mundane business. In this chapter, you begin to learn how to control parametric relationships in sketches. Then in later chapters, you begin to build models, simple at first, but gaining in complexity and always demonstrating new techniques and features that build your modeling vocabulary. Beyond this, you will move into putting the parts together into assemblies. Finally, you use the parts and assemblies to create drawings.

This chapter deals mainly with sketches in parts. However, you will be able to apply many of the topics I cover here to assemblies. Some related topics, such as layout sketches, have functionality that is exclusive to assemblies and are covered in the assemblies' chapter.

Cross-Reference

I discuss 3D sketches in detail in Chapter 31.

When you open a sketch, several tools become available, specifically all the sketch entities and tools. Conversely, you cannot do several things until you open a sketch. For example, you cannot apply a Fillet feature while a sketch is open. Open sketches and selection filters are two very common sources of ...