SOLIDWORKS Modeling Practice 1

I have, many times, heard that people would like to practice either their SOLIDWORKS modeling skills after our Essentials class or before the class to get a running start.

Half of the trouble is finding proper practicing material, and that’s what I’ll be trying to give you. So! Without further ado, here is what we all know was coming: instructions on finding the SOLIDWORKS tutorials, checking your model accuracy, and material to practice modeling.

SOLIDWORKS Tutorials

Launch SOLIDWORKS and go to the SOLIDWORKS Resources tab in the task pane (house icon on the right).

At this point I’d advise two tutorials: Introduction to SOLIDWORKS and Lesson 1: Parts.

Model Evaluation

To evaluate our model, go to the Evaluate tab in the Command Manager then click on the Mass Properties tool. Another way to do this is to go to Tools in the toolbar and then select Mass Properties.

This tool, Mass Properties, gives us a lot of information about our model. In these cases we’ll be checking to make sure our Surface Areas match.

Practice Models

Try modeling these examples using only the Extruded Boss/Base and Extruded Cut features.

1)      45.05 square inches

2)      34812.97 square millimeters

3)      41.10 square inches

4)      33790.12 square millimeters

5)      32592.78 square millimeters

6)      51.30 square inches

7)      29365.31 square millimeters

8)      40.17 square inches

Have fun practicing, and exercising your SOLIDWORKS modeling!