How do I reference existing geometry?

[Hopinc]

Hi Guys,

I am learning SolidWorks 2010 on my own and I am really
struggling with the simplest of things - how to reference existing
geometry when skethching?

Coming from Inventor I am used to being
able to quickly project existing part geometry onto the sketching plane
that I am working on (in the case I have in mind I am working on a
central plane on a tapered model).

With the sketch I am trying to make I would have two alternatives within Inventor:

1) Pick sketch on the central plane, toggle section view (f7) and project the cut edges

2) Pick sketch on the plane and manually project only the edes I want to re-use.

How do I do this with Solidworks 2010?

Also, is it possible to re-use the sketch underlying an existing feature?

Inventor
has both sketch visibility, where an existing feature sketch can be
used for projection purpose and "sketch share" which allows the operator
to re-use part or all of that feature defining geometry.

Thank you in anticipation of your help.

Regards & best wishes.

Dave


Edited by: Hopinc

 

[michael3130]

Hi Dave,


Yes you can easily project sketches onto other planes or surfaces and yes you can use an existing feature sketch.


To project them onto another plane, select the parts of the sketch you want to project and use the convert entities tool. This will then copy / project the parts of the sketch onto the plane or surface. You can also use this for edges from previous features.


To use an existing feature sketch, in the feature tree, expand the feature so you can see the sketch used in that feature, set it to 'show' then select any edges and again use the convert entities tool.


If you can't find the convert entities tool, do a search for it in the help. SW help[ is pretty good....MCAD forum is better though.

 

[Hopinc]

Hi Michael,

I can't believe it! - Thank you so much for putting me straight. Having wasted nearly three days looking for this fuction I can now move forward.

I guess it's all down to terminology. I would NEVER have connected "Convert Entities" to projecting geometry. It's such an obtuse title.

To lead me down the path of enlightenment I recently purchased both the "SolidWorks 2010 Bible" and "SolidWorks 2010 - No Experience Necessary" but could I find this function - No!

All this time I have been looking in totally the wrong places.

Once again - thanks.

Regards and best wishes.

Dave

 

[michael3130]

I know, it's a stupid title....I remember back using SW 1999 I stumbled across it by accident.


Any more questions, please come back.