From the course: SOLIDWORKS: Tips & Tricks

Using and dimensioning arcs and curves - SOLIDWORKS Tutorial

From the course: SOLIDWORKS: Tips & Tricks

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Using and dimensioning arcs and curves

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- [Instructor] For this week's tip, I'm gonna show you a couple of techniques for using and dimensioning arcs and curves. The first thing I want to point out if you go up to the Smart Dimension tool, click on that. If I want to add a dimension between these two circles here, I'm gonna click on the first one, click on the second one, and it automatically chooses the center point for that dimension. Click once and you can place the dimension, let's say two inches, we're good to go. But if you didn't want a center to center dimension, maybe you it the outside to the outside or the inside to the inside, or the outside of one to the inside of the other. There's a whole bunch of options we have when we're dimensioning these type of objects. So I'm gonna go ahead and delete this dimension here. Now I'm gonna hold down the Shift key on my keyboard as I choose the dimension, so click on Smart Dimension, hold down Shift, and I'm gonna choose the outside edge, so anywhere from this side over, choose that side of the edge. And do the same thing over here on this outside edge. So notice if I'm holding down Shift, it gives me the ability to choose the outside of each surface. If I come over here, I can choose the inside of that surface, or outside, either way, so click there and then place the dimension. So that's outside to outside. If I want to do the same thing again, I'm gonna delete that out, click on Smart Dimension, this time I'm gonna hold down Shift, choose the first circle, but I'm choosing the inside surface, and the inside surface here so I can place some dimension between the two parts. Say 5 inches, that doesn't work. How about 0.5 inches? And now they're happy. Okay, so obviously this is a fairly simple trick, but if you didn't know about this, it's gonna really save you a whole bunch of time, especially when you're working with circles or arcs, and it really just gives you a few more options on the way to dimension them. The next thing I want to show you is a spline. So if I choose a dimension tool, over here on the spline I'm gonna go ahead and choose this line here. I'm gonna try to come out here and click and add a dimension, but it's just gonna say "Hey, unfortunately we can't dimension "to this weird curve here," so what can we do? My first option here is just go up and create a center line. Create a center line and just move it out here a little bit, make sure it's a vertical line, and then let's go ahead and add a relationship, so click on this line here, hold down Ctrl, and choose that spline, and let's go ahead and say tangent. So now we've got a line that's tangent to the arc. Now I can add a dimension from here out here to that line, which will control the shape. Let's type in 2 inches, and now we're controlling the size of that spline with this tangent line right here. I can do the same thing down below. Another line here, make sure it's vertical, add a tangency, hold down Ctrl, select both of those, make tangent, and now I have the ability to add that dimension here to there. Let's call it 1.6. Okay, so a couple quick ways to use some construction geometry to use the Shift key to pick a few different options, but really those are the two best ways to dimension using arcs and splines. Thanks for watching.

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