Page 249 - Mastering SolidWorks

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identiFying when to use which tool 221

Using End Conditions
End conditions control how the extrude starts and stops. In most situations, the extrude starts
from a sketch plane and goes a specified distance, but there are other options.

Start conditions
◆ From sketch plane
◆ From offset distance/vertex

◆ From selected plane
◆ From 3D sketch
◆ From selected face
End conditions
◆ Distance (blind)

◆ Through all (up to the furthest face)
◆ Up to a selected vertex
◆ Up to a selected surface
◆ Offset from surface (either near or far offset, and either offset or translated)
◆ Up to a selected body
◆ Midplane (divides distance in half about start plane)

Direction
◆ In addition to the start and end conditions, you can control the direction of the extrude.
◆ If you want to push a profile along a curve, you can use either a revolve or a sweep, as
appropriate, which are both covered later in this chapter.

Understanding Instant 3D
Instant 3D is the tool that enables you to use the mouse to pull arrows or handles on the screen
to change various dimension parameters for features such as Extrude, Revolve, Fillet, and even
Move Face. Not every dimension parameter is editable in this way. In some cases, Instant 3D
offers you convenient ways to edit geometry without needing to figure out which feature is
responsible for which faces. With Instant 3D, you simply pull on handles on the screen to move
and resize sketches and features including fillets.
To me, Instant 3D is a gimmick that tries to imitate direct-edit software without the actual
benefits of direct-edit software. If you want direct-edit software, you will need to get different
software. The usefulness of Instant3D is probably limited to concept modeling, or quick looks-
like models. I just want to make sure that no one confuses Instant3D with actual direct editing,
as the SolidWorks marketing seems to try to do.