SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [51]
Dynamic Mirror can be used when you pre-select a centerline and Dynamic Mirror is turned on. Any new sketch entity that you draw is automatically mirrored to the other side of the centerline. The ends of the mirror line have hatch marks on them to remind you that you have mirroring turned on.
Linear Pattern creates a one- or two-directional pattern of sketch entities. You can define spacing and angles. Figure 3.23 shows the interface and the results of this function.
FIGURE 3.22
Using face curves on a complex surface
FIGURE 3.23
The Linear Pattern interface
Circular Sketch Pattern creates a circular pattern of sketch entities.
Best Practice
You should use sketch patterns as little as possible. For many of the same reasons that fillet features are preferred over sketch fillets, pattern features are preferred over sketch patterns. Sketch patterns are not as editable or as flexible as feature patterns. They solve slowly, especially when you pattern many entities. Best practice is to avoid sketch patterns unless there is no alternative.
Make Path is intended to help create machine-design motion in sketches, in particular, cam type motion. Although it is helpful, you do not need to make a block of the cam first. You can then right-click the block and select Make Path. A tangent relation to a path enables a follower to roll around the entire perimeter.
Modify Sketch is one of my favorite sketch tools, but it has been falling out of favor in more recent versions of SolidWorks because of the improvements to tools such as Move Sketch. It is also one of few remaining dialog box interfaces in the software. The Modify Sketch tool is flexible and powerful, and enables you to move, rotate, and scale the sketch, as well as mirror about a horizontal or vertical axis or about both axes simultaneously. Figure 3.24 shows the interface, which consists of a dialog box, a special Origin-like symbol, and a context-sensitive cursor.
FIGURE 3.24
The Modify Sketch interface
Both the left and right mouse buttons have special functions, which change when the cursor is moved over the three knots on the special Modify Sketch Origin. The RMB enables you to mirror or rotate the sketch, and the left mouse button (LMB) enables you to move the Origin or move the sketch.
This function has some limitations when you use it with sketches that have external relations. Certain functions may be disabled or a warning message may appear, saying that you need to remove external relations to get a particular function to work correctly.
No Solve Move enables the moving of sketch entities without solving any relations in the sketch. If you select this option and you move an entity with relations that would otherwise not allow it to move (such as a collinear relation), you are prompted with a choice to delete the existing relation and continue or copy the entity without the relation. As mentioned earlier, be careful with the icon for this function because it looks almost identical to the Construction Geometry icon, especially as printed here in gray scale.
Sketch Picture is a picture that is placed in the sketch, lies on the sketch plane, and is listed in the FeatureManager indented under the sketch. The Sketch Picture may be suppressed independently from the rest of the sketch, and when the sketch is hidden the picture is not visible. You can easily move, resize, and rotate Sketch Pictures, as well as apply a transparent background color to them. Sketch Pictures are usually used for tracing over or as a planar decal without the need for PhotoWorks. Figure 3.25 shows the controls for manipulating the Sketch Picture feature.
FIGURE 3.25
The Sketch Picture interface
Equation Driven Curve is a sketch spline driven by either an explicit or parametric equation, as shown in Figure 3.26. An explicit equation is in the form y = f(x), while a parametric equation uses multiple equations driven by a common parameter value of the form, such as
x = cos(t)
y = sin(t)
0>t>pi
where t is a number in radians.
The result is a proportional