Ever break a finger? I know I have several times in my youth and I always wondered how the splints were made. Take a look at this thumb splint and see how they are created in SOLIDWORKS! A fit spline was added over segments converted from the Side Layout sketch (SideLO) to reduce the curve into a single segment so the loft wouldn’t need connector adjustment or multiple guides in order to connect smoothly

This assembly consists of four parts. Three of the four parts are multi-body solids. There are two configurations, one with the tongue and one without. The jaw and tongue do pivot.Skull- The skull is the most complicated, detailed part of the assembly. The skull has several hybrid(solid and surface) modeling techniques. Some of features of this part include surface lofts and boundaries, delete faces, surfaces cuts, and 3D sweep with a 3D guide curve. There are also some examples of split lines to help place different colors of the eyes. A curve driven pattern is used to create the teeth.Jaw- The jaw was created with mostly solid body features but has a few lofts used to help add some detail to the part. Multiple Curve driven patterns are used to create the teeth and surrounding surfaces.Hat- The hat uses a boundary surface to make the brim geometry. Split lines are used as an alternate technique for doing some of surface trims. There is one example of ruled surface to help create the hat band.Tongue- The tongue is single feature, single body part. The solid body is made from a five section loft that shows how to thicken up a point at the end to produce the desired geometry. This technique will work very similarly between solids and surface models

This multi-body solid part uses solid and surfaces body features to create the geometry. This fun but challenging model has several different examples of surface features including surface boundaries, surface trim, offset surface, knit surface, filled surface, thicken and a ruled surface. Solid bodies features include swept cut, delete face, move face , and combine. Less commonly used features include thicken cut, replace face, projected curves, angled move face, 3D sketches with splines on surface and face fillets. Layout sketches help to plan out the geometry. Learn how to use symmetry and mirroring to speed up your design process. All features include comments. Download this file to learn more about making parts with almost no flat surfaces.

The surface is created with two sketches in direction 1, and one sketch in direction 2. The sketches in direction 1 are pierced to the sketch on the right plane that becomes direction 2. The outside sketch partial elipse will be used to trim the main surface, and the inner partial elipse will be used to trim the bottom of the scoop. The surface is split to allow a new sketch to be made C2(curvature continuous) via the equal curvature relation. Note that the short edges between the two blends are not used for the surface. Adding these to the feature creates undulations in the surface that are not acceptable. However, the edges will lay on each other due to the constraints already used. If there are any extremely small gaps, the Surface Knit will fix these.

This model of a blow molded storage case is created with Boss-Extrude and Fillet features to begin the exterior of the case. The pockets of the storage case are made with the Cut-Extrude feature utilized. The latch of the case is created with Shell and Draft. Get started by downloading the part below.

This Part is a multi-body solid which was created using mostly surface bodies with a few solid features added toward the end of the modeling process.There is a two section loft that uses a technique where a sketch point using the “Normal To Profile” option “fattens up” the Loft. Adjusting that value will significantly change what the geometry looks like from a point to bulbous shape.

The outside perimeter was created by using a rectangular profile. The “sweep profile” was partially created from two derived sketches, derived from Sketch1. This weldment is an object made up of several parts welded together. It is represented as a multibody solid, not as an assembly.

The first three structural members could have also been created as one group because they are disconnected but parallel to each other. This weldment is an object made up of several parts welded together. It is represented as a multibody solid, not as an assembly.

All weldments need a 2D or 3D sketch which “acts” like the path of sweep. The profile is selected from a list and does not need to be sketched every time. This weldment is an object made up of several parts welded together. It is represented as a multibody solid, not as an assembly.

The base block is created from a Boss Extrude. The side walls are drafted and the corners are rounded. The walls are shelled and the surface is cut in half to be mirrored. Split line divides the faces and forms the new intersection of the drafted rib. This rib is complex as is goes from a circular edge to a straight edge. The Mirror feature is used to form the rest of the part. Fillets are used for the corners.