SolidWorks Tutorial 1b: Design of an Electronic Box, Continued

Introduction

This tutorial is the second in a series teaching basic SolidWorks sketching and modeling tools.

In the previous tutorial, we designed a simple hollow box. In this tutorial we will add the features that will give it its function: A sample electronics enclosure that could be made on a 3D printer.

In this page we will explore more aspects of sketching, especially those that add features to the surfaces of an simpler model.

The pace of this tutorial will be somewhat faster than the previous one because knowledge of tools already presented will be assumed.

Adding Mounting Lugs

In this section we will cover adding new features to an existing part, and we will introduce the method for adding parametric constraints to the sketched features.

The box from Tutorial 1a has several planar faces on it. Any of these faces can be used for making a new sketch.

Rotate the image to reveal the bottom of the box. (Click down on the MIDDLE mouse wheel and drag. If this is unfamiliar, please review the SolidWorks user interface introduction. )

Click the LEFT mouse button on the bottom face to select it. It should highlight in blue.

With this face highlighted, open the "Sketch" tab and click on the "Sketch" button in the upper-left corner of the window. This will open a new sketch.