{"id":17258,"date":"2017-06-22T11:00:22","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T15:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/?p=17258"},"modified":"2017-06-21T09:29:36","modified_gmt":"2017-06-21T13:29:36","slug":"design-re-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/2017\/06\/design-re-use.html","title":{"rendered":"Design Re-use"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>&#8220;I know that part\u2019s here somewhere\u2026 I think I saved it in the XXX project folder\u2026\u00a0 We designed a similar assembly last year\u2026&#8221;<\/em> Sound familiar? If you&#8217;ve ever spent time hunting for previous designs or recreated the same content multiple times, you\u2019re not alone. Fortunately, SOLIDWORKS includes powerful capabilities\u00a0that minimize this pain and help you get your job done fast.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a short video, maybe you can relate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\">\n<div class=\"entry-content-asset\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jzvV82xQAww?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>That was a ton of information, let\u2019s recap and expand:<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #005686;\"><strong>Design Library<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Includes out of the box standard mechanical design content (like o-ring grooves, keyways, sheet metal punches, etc.)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Windows folder structure \u2013 easy to organize and share with co-workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Easily add content you re-use (like drawing notes, feature sets, purchased parts and assemblies, company logos, welding symbols, start parts, and much more)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #005686;\"><strong>SOLIDWORKS Toolbox<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Included with SOLIDWORKS professional and premium (turn on the add-in)<\/li>\n<li>Thousands of standard hardware components (o-rings, nuts, bolts, washers, gears, retaining rings, bearings, pins, and much more)<\/li>\n<li>Fully configured with all standard sizes and lengths<\/li>\n<li>Autosize to your corresponding features<\/li>\n<li>Can add BOM details and custom components using the \u201cConfigure Toolbox\u201d wizard<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #005686;\"><strong>Integrated SOLIDWORKS Search<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Setup all locations you want to index<\/li>\n<li>Tools &gt; Options &gt; System Options &gt; File Locations &gt; Search Paths<\/li>\n<li>Set options like when to index and whether to show 3DCC results<\/li>\n<li>Tools &gt; Options &gt; System Options &gt; Search<\/li>\n<li>Use keyboard shortcut \u201cI\u201d to activate the search<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #005686;\"><strong>3D Content Central<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Free online resource<\/li>\n<li>Thousands of vendors with configurable and downloadable 3D files, and tons of user uploaded content too<\/li>\n<li>Preview 3D files right in browser<\/li>\n<li>Use integrated SOLIDWORKS search (if 3DCC set to show in results)<\/li>\n<li>Drop right into SOLIDWORKS<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #005686;\"><strong>Mate References<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Add to any part or assembly you will re-use and want to snap into position<\/li>\n<li>Use a circular edge between a cylindrical and planar face to get both concentric and coincident mates added.<\/li>\n<li>Add up to 3 references and name the mate reference to get it to find mating components automatically. Just use the same name for the mate reference in the mating part.\u00a0 Put into an assembly and they will snap together like magic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #005686;\"><strong>Smart Components<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Allow you to insert features, parts, or both. Think mounting holes and hardware for example.<\/li>\n<li>Features can include full tolerances that will carry over.<\/li>\n<li>Use a simple setup assembly when creating the smart component (I store them in my design library).<\/li>\n<li>Create: edit the part in the context of the setup assembly and use Tools &gt; Make Smart Component.<\/li>\n<li>Use: insert and position the part in your assembly. Click the smart component icon in the graphics or right click the part &gt; Insert Smart Features.\u00a0 Select what to include and any references needed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Give them a try today and fuel your blazing fast skills!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Want more tips? Check out this 3-part series on mating!\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/TtmT6JJ6XmQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Part 1<\/strong><\/a><\/span> covers getting parts inserted and mated quickly,<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/s2w5kXg5dmk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Part 2<\/strong><\/a><\/span> covers three of the most powerful everyday mates; Profile Center, Width, and Slot<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/D-Xv5IVdJbQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Part 3<\/strong> <\/a><\/span>covers automation for frequently used components.\u00a0 Mate References, Magnetic Mates, and Smart Components<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Check out Part 1 of the series below:<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\">\n<div class=\"entry-content-asset\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TtmT6JJ6XmQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>By: Mike Staples \u2022 Elite Application Engineer \u2022 TPM<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I know that part\u2019s here somewhere\u2026 I think I saved it in the XXX project folder\u2026\u00a0 We designed a similar assembly last year\u2026&#8221; Sound familiar? If you&#8217;ve ever spent time hunting for previous designs or recreated the same content multiple<\/p>\n... <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/2017\/06\/design-re-use.html\">Continued<\/a>","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":17313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,21,35],"tags":[737,844,1978,526,1679,889,316],"class_list":["post-17258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design","category-solidworks","category-tips-tricks","tag-3d-content-central","tag-design-library","tag-mate-references","tag-search","tag-smart-components","tag-solidworks","tag-toolbox"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/224"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17258"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17316,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17258\/revisions\/17316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}