SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [13]
7. When you have all of the document-specific settings the way you want them, save the assembly file as a template. Choose File⇒Save As, and SolidWorks directs you to the folder where you have specified that your templates will go.
Figure 1.6 shows the Tools⇒Options⇒File Locations interface where you should set your templates' locations.
FIGURE 1.6
Establishing the location of your templates
Using assembly templates is easier than creating them. To choose from a number of assembly templates, you have to use the Advanced interface on the New Document dialog box. If you use the Novice interface, you can only choose the default templates.
If you want to use only a single assembly template, and set that one as the default, first save the template to a location as described previously, and then set the default assembly template at Tools⇒Options⇒Default Templates.
If you would like to devote an entire tab of the New Document dialog box to just assemblies, then in Windows Explorer, in the folder specified in your template locations, create a new folder named Assemblies or something relevant. This folder name will show up as a tab in the Advanced interface for the New Document dialog box.
Note
The Novice interface displays a button that says Advanced, and the Advanced interface displays a button that says Novice.
Figure 1.7 shows the Novice and Advanced interfaces.
FIGURE 1.7
Starting a new assembly from the Novice and Advanced interfaces of the New Document dialog box
Putting Parts into Assemblies
When you are building an assembly, several ways exist to put parts into assemblies:
• Choose Insert⇒Component
• Drag and drop from Windows Explorer
• Drag and drop from other SolidWorks windows
• Drag and drop from the Design Library window
• Ctrl+drag to add a second instance of a part that is already in an assembly
• Create an assembly from a part
• Create a part in-context
The first part that you put into an assembly is always fixed (meaning locked into position). When parts are fixed automatically, the origin of the part is always located at the origin of the assembly, but parts may be manually fixed at any location in the assembly.
After the first part, any additional parts you put into the assembly will either fall where you drop them if you drop them in the graphics window or be positioned at the assembly origin if you drop them into the FeatureManager.
One of the most valuable methods is to use SmartMates and Mate References. SmartMates enable you to Alt+drag a part by specific geometry on the part and drop it onto specific geometry on another part; a mate is then automatically created between the parts. SmartMates do take some practice, but they help you save a lot of time and frustration when putting an assembly together from parts. Mate References are similar, except that you have to set them up beforehand (and so they work best on library type parts), and they enable a part to snap into place when you drag it into an assembly.
Understanding External References
External references are one of the most time-consuming aspects of assemblies, and all assemblies and assembly replacement techniques have them. An external reference is any reference to a file outside of the current file. So in its simplest form, part files in an assembly create external references, because the assembly references the parts.
You can easily recognize external references of all kinds by the -> symbol following a feature in the FeatureManager. Figure 1.8 shows a portion of an assembly FeatureManager that contains the symbol. You can also find this symbol on externally referenced features within a part.
FIGURE 1.8
The external reference symbol on a sketch and a feature
Referencing external files