SolidWorks Patterns

Here’s a video I made a while back that shows the results of making several kinds of patterns. I can make some sample files available if there is any interest.

Of these, the most interesting are the Vary Sketch options, which are a way for a sketch with parametric relations to be patterned along with the intelligence of the sketches. You can get some pretty cool patterns with this kind of feature.

Also, the Fill Pattern can be very handy at filling an area with a feature.

The Curve Driven pattern is very useful, as well as the sketch driven and table driven patterns.

The Variable Pattern is very powerful, but it’s not quite ready for the big time yet. I can’t get it to go around 360 deg without the planes flipping. It can do some incredible things, but until we figure out how to keep planes from flipping, its use will be limited.