Start sketching in SOLIDWORKS by selecting an edge

This is one of those interesting sketching in SOLIDWORKS tricks that can be very useful and you may not be aware of.

In a SOLIDWORKS Part simply select any Edge of any Solid Body and click Insert > Sketch.

Select an Edge and Sketch

A sketch plane is created automatically, normal to the edge selected, with the origin coincident to the end point nearest to where the edge was selected, as shown in the figure below:

Sketch Plane Applied

This operation supports any edge type from linear and prismatic to completely organic and lofted. You could also use Insert > Reference Geometry to add a plane perpendicular to a curve, but this takes care of all those steps AND starts a new Sketch.