Page 123 - Mastering SolidWorks

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92 CHAPTER 3 Working With SketcheS and reference geometry

Using Sketch Blocks
Sketch blocks are collections of sketch entities that can be treated as a single entity and can be
reused within a single document or shared between documents. You can use sketch blocks in
parts, assemblies, and drawings. To create a sketch block, select a group of sketch entities and
click the Make Block button on the Blocks toolbar, or select Tools ➢ Blocks ➢ Make. Preselection is
not necessary; you also can select the entities after you invoke the command.
Blocks may be internal to a particular document, or they may be saved as an external file. The
externally saved block may be linked to each document where it is used so that if the block is
changed, it updates in the documents where it is used.
You can use blocks in conjunction with the Make Path function mentioned earlier in this
chapter to create functional layouts for mechanisms. You also can use blocks in an assembly to
build parts in context.
Refer to Chapter 16, “Working with Assembly Sketches and Layouts,” for a more in-depth
examination of the assemblies aspects of blocks in SolidWorks and to Chapter 26, “Using
Annotations and Symbols,” for the use of blocks in 2D drawings.
These tools are available on the Blocks toolbar:
Make Block: Creates a sketch block from selected sketch entities. You can position a manipu-
lator to denote the insertion point for the block. Blocks may attach at any entity endpoint, but
the insertion point follows the cursor.
Edit Block: Enables you to edit an existing block as if it were a regular sketch.
Insert Block: Enables you to select from a list of open blocks or browse to a location where
blocks are stored. You can edit the insertion point by using the Edit Block function.
Add/Remove: Enables you to add or remove sketch entities from the block without deleting
them from the sketch while editing a block.

Rebuild Block: Allows changes to a block to be reflected in any external relations without
exiting the block. For example, if you have a block in a sketch and a sketch line is coincident to
one of the endpoints in the block, you may edit the block such that the referenced endpoint
moves. As a result, the line in the sketch will not move until you exit the block or use the
Rebuild Block function.
Save Block/Save Sketch As Block: Saves a selected block to an external file (with the
*.sldblk extension) or saves the selected sketch as a block.
Explode Block: Removes all the sketch entities from a block and brings them into the cur-
rent sketch.
Belt/Chain: Enables you to make a belt or chain around a set of pulleys. Each pulley must
be a block. After activating the command (by right-clicking a sketch or block), you can select
each pulley and use the arrow on the pulley to switch the side of the pulley to which the
belt goes. You can also compensate for the thickness of the belt (this is important when both
sides of the belt are in contact with pulleys) and drive the pulley arrangement using the
length of the belt.