SKETCHES IN SOLIDWORKSFIRST YOU SKETCH…THEN YOU FEATURE

SKETCHES HAVE TWO TYPES OF CONSTRAINTS• DIMENSIONS• GEOMETRIC

WE’RE TALKING ABOUT SKETCH RELATIONS…

DIMENSION CONSTRAINS• DEFINE SIZE• DEFINE LOCATION

GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINTS• Define the relationship of the element to other elements in

the sketch

SKETCHES CAN HAVE THREE STATES

• UNDERDEFINED• FULLY DEFINED• OVER DEFINED

UNDERDEFINED• NEEDS MORE INFORMATION TO CONTROL THE

GEOMETRY• THE COLOR BLUE – MEANS UNDERDEFINED

FULLY DEFINED• SOLIDWORKS HAS ALL THE INFORMATION IT NEEDS

FOR THE GEOMETRY• THE COLOR BLACK INDICATES FULLY DEFINED

FULLY DEFINED• ON THE RIGHT CLICK MENU, SELECT FULLY DEFINE

SKETCH• ON THE RIBBON, SELECT FULLY DEFINE SKETCH

FROM THE DISPLAY/DELETE RELATIONS DROP-DOWN

OVERDEFINED• SOLIDWORKS HAS TOO MUCH INFORMATION AND IS

CONFUSED• YELLOW INDICATES OVERDEFINED

OVERDEFINED• TO ELIMINATE THE OVERDEFINED ERROR – DELETE

EITHER A DIMENSIONAL CONSTRAINT OR A GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINT

• USE DISPLAY/DELETE RELATIONS TO FIND THE CONFLICTS

TO ADD A DIMENSIONCAL CONSTRAINT

• USE SMART DIMENSION

TO ADD A GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINT

• USE ADD RELATION

TO DELETE A DIMENSION OR GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINT• SELECT IT• PRESS THE DELETE KEY ON YOUR KEYBOARD• RIGHT CLICK AND SELECT DELETE

TIME TO SKETCH…TIPS FOR SKETCHING….

YOU CAN DRAG GEOMETRY TO THE LOCATION YOU WANT IT

START OUT BIGGER THAN YOU NEED

DON’T DELETE AND UNDO – FIX IT!

It’s all about the Relationships

SKETCH

THERE IS ONE EXTRA CONSTRAINT IN THIS SKETCH