SolidWorks® 2007 Bible

Chapter 5. Creating Simple Parts, Assemblies, and Drawings

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Asking the right questions

• Tutorial: Creating a simple part

• Tutorial: Creating a simple assembly

• Tutorial: Making a simple drawing

When you begin to build a model in SolidWorks, there are a few things to consider before you start. If you spend some time considering what you are doing first, then it will benefit you later in the process. Good modeling practice is based on robust design intent, which just means that you build a part that can adapt easily to changes. This section begins with questions that you need to ask.

Asking the Right Questions

Asking the right questions is the first step to getting the right answers. By asking questions about the part now, you can create a model that will be easier to edit, easier to properly place into an assembly, easier to detail in drawings, and easier for other SolidWorks users to understand when someone else has to work on your models. The questions focus on the physical manufactured part. Sometimes you will be able to find answers for the questions, and other times not. Whether you are doing the modeling for someone else, or doing the design and modeling yourself may make a difference in how you approach the modeling task.

The purpose of these questions is to help you establish design intent. The term design intent is difficult to define, but it is basically a statement of how the part functions and how the model reacts to modeling changes.

It may help to try to put the ...