SOLIDWORKS Mates
Copy with Mates is a fantastic ability available in SOLIDWORKS that allows you to copy a component and paste them along with the mates that were used. Let’s imagine that we have to mate a spacer over a select amount of hole locations and a…
New in SOLIDWORKS 2020, you can create mates that use reference geometry as their reference in the Large Design Review mode. By creating your mates in the Large Design Review mode, you can save time and resources without having to open the assembly in the…
SOLIDWORKS 2020 has many big enhancements that improve performance, stability and usability. Sometimes it’s the small things that matter most. The littlest things that improve our CAD life. As an instructor who teaches SOLIDWORKS I really try to promote a two hand design theory. What…
Assembling components in SOLIDWORKS? There are multiple ways to mate components together. Some methods are faster, while other methods are slower but more intelligent (such as the Mate manager). SOLIDWORKS SmartMates are one of the faster methods, where you can avoid the repetitive mouse travel…
Working with downloaded or imported models can create a situation where multiple pairs of holes cannot be mated concentric although there is no problem fitting manufactured components. SOLIDWORKS 2018 misaligned concentric mates option can account for this small difference in hole distances. When the option…
People who know me know I like symmetry. I like symmetry in architecture, in design, and especially in SOLIDWORKS. As far back as I’ve been using SOLIDWORKS (since 2001), I’ve kept my designs symmetrical whenever possible. As such, I liked to use the Front, Top,…
Driving vs Driven: Choose which mate dimension is in the driver’s seat with SOLIDWORKS 2017
A Friday Afternoon in Peril: It is the end of the day, a Friday no less – and you have already put in three hours or so on your concept assembly design. In bringing this concept together you have been tossing parts into the assembly file…
Have you ever needed to add a mate to that one particular face which is hidden behind other components? You’ve probably rotated around, zoomed in, used Select Other, perhaps hid some components (try hovering over a component and hit Tab!), or maybe used the useful…
SOLIDWORKS 2016 Mate Controller makes Animation easy [VIDEO]
Creating animations in SOLIDWORKS 2016 is now much easier with the new Mate Controller. The controller lets you manipulate specific mates that control degrees of freedom for a design. You can save and recall saved positions and mate values, and create animations based on the saved positions. On…