the preview of the base feature is displayed in the drawing area in temporary

graphics.

The name of the selected contour is displayed in the selection box of the
Selected Contours rollout.

6. Right­click in the drawing area and choose the Mid Plane option from the
shortcut menu; the preview of the feature is modified.

7. Set 52 in the Depth spinner and choose the OK button from the Boss­
Extrude PropertyManager; the selected contour is extruded, as shown in
Figure 6­93.

8. Right­click in the drawing area and choose the Contour Select Tool option
from the shortcut menu; the select cursor is replaced by the contour selection
cursor.

9. Select an entity of the sketch using the contour selection cursor to invoke the
selection mode of the sketch.

10. Select the middle contour of the sketch using the left mouse button; the
selected region is highlighted, as shown in Figure 6­94.
 Figure 6­93 Base feature of the model

Figure 6­94 Middle contour selected using the Contour Select Tool

11. Invoke the Extruded Boss/Base tool. Right­click in the drawing area and
choose the Mid Plane option from the shortcut menu.

12. Set the value of the Depth spinner to 40 and choose the OK button from the
Boss­Extrude PropertyManager. The feature created by extruding the
 middle contour is shown in Figure 6­95.

13. Choose the Contour Select Tool option again and then select a sketched
entity. Next, select the contour on the right side. Press and hold the CTRL key
and then select the contour on the left side, see Figure 6­96.

Figure 6­95 Second feature created by extruding the middle contour

Figure 6­96 The right and the left contours selected

14. Invoke the Extruded Boss/Base tool. Right­click and choose the Mid Plane
option from the shortcut menu.

15. Set the value of the Depth spinner to 8 and choose the OK button from the
Boss­Extrude PropertyManager.

The model is completed, but the sketch is still displayed in the model.
Therefore, you need to hide the sketch.

16. Move the cursor to any of the sketched entities and when the entity is
highlighted, select it; a pop­up toolbar is displayed. Choose the Hide button
from the pop­up toolbar.

The isometric view of the final model after turning off the display of the
sketch is shown in Figure 6­97. The FeatureManager Design Tree
displaying various parts of the model is shown in Figure 6­98.

Figure 6­97 Final solid model

Figure 6­98 The FeatureManager Design Tree
Saving the Model
1. Choose the Save button from the Menu Bar and save the model with the name
c06_tut01 at the location given below:
\Documents\SOLIDWORKS\c06\

2. Choose File > Close from the SOLIDWORKS menus to close the document.

Tutorial 2
In this tutorial, you will create the model shown in Figure 6­99. You will use a
combination of the conventional modeling method and the contour selection
method to create this model. The dimensions of the model are given in Figure 6­
100. (Expected time: 30 min)

Figure 6­99 Solid model for Tutorial 2

 Figure 6­100 Dimensions for the solid model

The following steps are required to complete this tutorial:

a. Draw the sketch of the front view of the model, refer to Figure 6­101.
b. Extrude the selected contours, refer to Figures 6­102 through 6­104.
c. Add the recess feature to the model by drawing the sketch on the right planar
face, refer to Figures 6­105 and 6­106.
d. Create four holes using the cut feature on the top face of the base feature, refer
to Figures 6­107 and 6­108.
e. Save and close the document.

Drawing the Sketch for the Contour Selection Modeling 1. Start a new
SOLIDWORKS part document. Draw the sketch of the front view of
the model on the Front Plane using the sketching tools.

2. Apply the required relations and dimensions to fully define the sketch, see
Figure 6­101.
 You need to orient the view to isometric because it helps you in selecting the
contours.

3. Press the SPACEBAR key and change the current view to the isometric view.

4. Select a sketch entity, then right­click and choose the Contour Select Tool
option from the shortcut menu; the select cursor is replaced by the contour
selection cursor.

5. Now, by using the contour selection cursor, select the area enclosed by the
lower rectangle, as shown in Figure 6­102.

Figure 6­101 The fully defined sketch

 Figure 6­102 Lower rectangle selected as a contour

6. Choose the Extruded Boss/Base tool from the Features

CommandManager; the Boss­Extrude PropertyManager is displayed.

7. Set the value in the Depth spinner to 86 and then choose the OK button from
the Boss­Extrude PropertyManager. The base feature created after
extruding the selected contour is shown in Figure 6­103.

8. Use the Contour Select Tool and Extruded Boss/Base tools to create other
features and then hide the sketch. For the depth of the extruded features, refer
to Figure 6­100. The model created after extruding all contours and hiding the
sketch is shown in Figure 6­104.
 Figure 6­103 Base feature created after extruding the selected contour

Figure 6­104 Model created after extruding all contours

Creating the Recess on the Base of the Model After creating the
extruded features of the model, you need to create the recess provided
at the base of the model. The recess is created as a cut extrude feature.
This cut extrude feature is created by drawing a sketch on the right
planar face of the model.

1. Select the right planar face of the base feature as the sketching plane; the
selected face is highlighted and a pop­up toolbar is displayed.

2. Choose the Sketch option from the pop­up toolbar to invoke the sketching
environment.

Now, you need to orient the view such that the selected face is normal to your
eye view.

3. Choose View Orientation > Normal To from the View (Heads­Up) toolbar
to orient the selected plane normal to the view.
4. Draw the sketch for the recess using the sketching tools and apply the required
relations and dimensions to it. The fully defined sketch for the cut feature is
shown in Figure 6­105.

5. Choose the Extruded Cut tool from the Features CommandManager to

invoke the Cut­Extrude PropertyManager. The preview of the cut feature is
displayed in the drawing area in temporary graphics.

6. Right­click in the drawing area and choose the Through All option from the
shortcut menu.

7. Choose OK from the Cut­Extrude PropertyManager to complete the

feature creation. The isometric view of the model after creating the cut feature
is shown in Figure 6­106.

Figure 6­105 Sketch for the cut feature

Figure 6­106 Cut feature added to the model
Creating Holes
Next, you need to create holes at the base of the model. These holes will be
created as the extruded cut features. You need to draw the sketch of the hole
feature on the top planar face of the base feature of the model. To draw the
sketch of holes, you first need to draw a circle and then create the pattern of
remaining circles.

1. Select the top planar face of the base feature; a pop­up toolbar is displayed.
Select the Sketch tool from the pop­up toolbar.

2. Orient the current view normal to the viewing direction. Draw a circle of 10
mm diameter and pattern it using the Linear Sketch Pattern tool. You may
need to apply horizontal relations between the center points of the top circles
to fully define the sketch. The fully defined sketch is shown in Figure 6­107.

3. Change the current view to the isometric view and then choose the Extruded
Cut button from the Features CommandManager to invoke the Cut­
Extrude PropertyManager.

Figure 6­107 Holes sketched for the cut feature

4. Right­click in the drawing area and choose the Through All option from the
shortcut menu. Choose the OK button from the Cut­Extrude
PropertyManager. The isometric view of the final model after hiding the
sketch is shown in Figure 6­108. The FeatureManager Design Tree
displaying various features of the model is shown in Figure 6­109.
Figure 6­108 Final solid model
Figure 6­109 The FeatureManager Design Tree
Saving the Model
1. Choose the Save button from the Menu Bar and save the model with the name
c06_tut02 at the location given below.

\Documents\SOLIDWORKS\c06\

2. Choose File > Close from the SOLIDWORKS menus to close the file.

Tutorial 3
In this tutorial, you will create a model whose dimensions are shown in Figure 6­
110. The solid model is shown in Figure 6­111. (Expected time: 30 min)
The following steps are required to complete this tutorial:
a. Create the base feature by extruding the sketch drawn on the Front Plane, refer
to Figures 6­112 and 6­113.
b. Extrude the sketch created on the Top Plane to create a cut feature, refer to
Figures 6­115 and 6­116.
c. Create a plane at an offset distance of 150 mm from the Top Plane.
d. Draw a sketch on the newly created plane and extrude it to the selected
surface, refer to Figures 6­117 and 6­118.
e. Create a counterbore hole using the cut revolve option, refer to Figures 6­119
and 6­120.
f. Create holes using the cut feature, refer to Figures 6­121 and 6­122.
g. Save and close the document.
Figure 6­110 Dimensions of the model
Figure 6­111 Solid model for Tutorial 3
Creating the Base Feature
It is evident from the model that its base comprises of a complex geometry.
Therefore, you first need to create the base feature of the model and then apply
the cut feature to it to get the desired shape. You need to create the base
feature on the Front Plane which is the sketching plane. After drawing the
sketch, you need to extrude it using the mid plane option to complete the
feature creation.

1. Start a new SOLIDWORKS part document and invoke the Extruded

Boss/Base tool; you are prompted to select a plane.

2. Select the Front Plane and then draw the sketch of the base feature. Apply the
required relations and dimensions to the sketch, as shown in Figure 6­112.

3. Exit the sketching environment; the Boss­Extrude PropertyManager and the

preview of the base feature are displayed. Right­click in the drawing area and
choose the Mid Plane option from the shortcut menu displayed.

4. Set the value of the Depth spinner to 150 in the Boss­Extrude

PropertyManager and then choose the OK button from it. The isometric
view of the base feature of the model is shown in Figure 6­113.

Figure 6­112 Sketch of the base feature

Figure 6­113 Base feature of the solid model
Creating the Cut Feature
Now, you need to create a cut feature to get the required shape of the base
feature. The sketch for this cut feature is created using a reference plane
defined tangent to the curved face of the previous feature.

1. Choose the Plane tool from the Reference Geometry flyout in the
Features CommandManager to display the Plane PropertyManager.

2. Select the upper curved face of the existing feature as the first reference; the
Tangent button is chosen automatically in the First Reference rollout. Now,
move the cursor close to the midpoint of the curved edge of the upper curved
face as the second reference; the midpoint is highlighted, see Figure 6­114.
Select this point; the preview of the plane tangent to the curved face and
passing through the midpoint of the curved edge is displayed. Choose OK to
create the reference plane.

3. Draw the sketch for the cut feature using the standard sketching tools and then
apply the required relations and dimensions to the sketch, as shown in Figure
6­115.

Figure 6­114 Selecting the midpoint to define the tangent plane