OBJECTIVES

At the end of these activities (activity 3.0-3.18), the student is able to:

• Draw 3D objects • Use all the Features tools to create

objects

Features tools are used to create 3D models. A drawing usually starts

with a 2D sketch and Features tools are applied to create a 3D
model. For example, the Extruded Boss/Base features tool can be
applied to a rectangle to create a rectangular prism or box. Figure 3-1
shows the Features tool panel.

Features panel
Figure 3-1

3-2 Extruded Boss/Base

The Extruded Boss/Base tool is used to add thickness or height to an
existing 2D sketch. In this section we will first sketch a 2D rectangle, then
extrude it into a box-like shape. All dimensions are in millimeters.

123
 To Use the Extruded Boss/Base Tool
1 Click the New tool, create a new Part document, click the Top Plane
option, and click the Sketch tab.
2 Use the Options tool (top of the screen), click the Document
Properties tab, and set the Overall drafting standard to ANSI. Define
the drawing units for MMGS (millimeter, gram, second).
The drawing units are referenced at the bottom of the drawing screen.
In this example Custom units are in place. See Figure 3-2.

Figure 3-2

Origin

Change units here

3 Click the arrowhead next to the Custom heading and select the MMGS
option.
4 Use the Corner Rectangle tool to sketch a 60 3 100 rectangle in the
top plane with one corner located on the origin. Use the Smart
Dimension tool to size the rectangle.
See Figure 3-3.
Figure 3-3
60×100 Rectangle

1. Click Features tab

3. Click check mark

2. Define extrusion
thickness

A 20×60×100
Rectangular prism (box)
 5 Click the Features tab, and click the Extruded Boss/Base tool.
The drawing will change orientation from a 2D top view to a Trimetric
3D drawing. The Boss-Extrude PropertyManager will appear.
6 Define the extrusion height, the extrusion distance, as 20.00mm. Click
the screen and a real-time preview will appear.
7 Click the green OK check mark at the top of the Boss-Extrude
PropertyManager. Click the drawing screen.
The finished drawing shows a 20 3 60 3 100 box.

TIP
The extrusion depth may be defined by entering a value or by using the arrows at the
right of the Depth box. The extrusion depth may also be changed by clicking and drag-
ging the directional arrow in the center of the box. See Figure 3-4.

Figure 3-4

The extrusion thickness may also

be defined by clicking and dragging
the directional arrow.

Directional arrow

The preceding example has perpendicular sides. The Extrude tool may
also be used to create tapered sides. Tapered sides are called draft sides.

To Create Inward Draft Sides

1 Sketch a 60 3 100 rectangle as described in the previous section.
2 Click the Features tab and click the Extruded Boss/Base tool.
 3 Click the Draft On/Off tool.
4 Enter the draft angle value.
In this example a 15° value was entered. See Figure 3-5.
5 Click the green OK check mark at the top of the Boss-Extrude
PropertyManager to complete the object.
The shape now has a 15° inward draft.

Figure 3-5

3. Click the check mark

Preview

2. Enter a draft angle

1. Click the Draft On/Off tool

An inward
draft

To Create an Outward Draft

1 Repeat the same procedure, but this time, check the Draft outward
box.
See Figure 3-6.
Figure 3-6

Click here, check mark

should show

An outward draft

3-3 Sample Problem

This section shows how to draw a solid 3D model of an L-bracket using the
Extruded Boss/Base tool.
1 Draw a 60 3 100 rectangle and extrude it to a depth of 20mm as
explained in Section 3-2.
See Figure 3-7.

A 20×60×100 Box 1. Right-click the top surface

Click the Sketch tool

Figure 3-7
Figure 3-7
(Continued )

Sketch a rectangle

2. Define the
extrusion distance

1. Dimension the
rectangle

L-Bracket

2 Locate the cursor on the top surface of the box and right-click the
mouse. Select the Sketch tool.
The 2D sketch tools will be displayed across the top of the screen.
3 Use the Corner Rectangle tool to draw a rectangle on the top surface
of the box. Use the upper left corner of the box as one corner point of
the rectangle and drag the cursor to the right edge of the top surface to
locate the second corner point for the rectangle.
 SolidWorks will grab the upper left corner of the rectangle when the
cursor is located near it. An orange fill circle will appear indicating that the
corner has been selected. SolidWorks will also grab the edge line when the
cursor is located near it. The edge line will appear as an orange broken line
indicating that it has been selected.

NOTE
The corner points and edge lines will change color when they are activated. The part is
currently under defined.

4 Select the Smart Dimension tool and dimension the width of the rect-
angle as 20.0.
5 Click the Features tab, and select the Extruded Boss/Base tool.
6 Select the 20 3 100 rectangle to extrude to a depth of 40.00mm.
7 Click the green OK check mark in the Boss-Extrude PropertyManager.
SolidWorks offers many different ways to create the same shape. Fig-
ure 3-8 shows the same L-bracket shown in Figure 3-7 created using the
right plane and extruded in the negative X direction.

Figure 3-8

L-Bracket created
from the Front plane

L-Bracket