Page 296 - Mastering SolidWorks

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268 CHAPTER 8 Selecting Secondary FeatureS

These features include:
◆ Scale
◆ Dome

◆ Wrap
◆ Flex
◆ Deform
◆ Indent
Other types of less commonly used features fall into specialty categories such as sheet metal,
multibodies, surfacing, plastics, and mold design. This includes features such as Freeform,
Combine, Cavity, Scale, and several others. I placed the discussion about these features in
chapters devoted to those specialized topics. The features discussed in this chapter are more
general-use features.
Using Scale
The Scale feature, found at Insert ➢ Feature ➢ Scale, is mainly used for preparing models of
plastic parts to make mold cavity geometry; however, it can be used for any purpose on solid or
surface geometry. Scale does not act by scaling up dimensions for individual sketches and
features; rather, it scales the entire body at the point in the FeatureManager history at which it is
applied. The Scale PropertyManager is shown in Figure 8.9.

Figure 8.9
applying the
Scale feature

The Scale feature becomes available only when the part contains at least one solid or surface
body. You can scale multiple bodies at once and select from one of three options for the Scale
About setting or fixed reference: the part origin, the geometry centroid, or a custom coordinate
system. Of these, it is generally preferable to select the part origin because you most often want