One of the biggest benefits of taking certified, instructor-led SOLIDWORKS training is the knowledge shared by our team to help avoid common pitfalls or committing a SOLIDWORKS rookie mistake. Leveraging the SOLIDWORKS Calculator is one of those time-saving tools often forgotten about by SOLIDWORKS users.
While trying to learn on your own has the potential to go smoothly, it often leads to gaps in fundamental knowledge that could make you a more efficient SOLIDWORKS user. Formal training is jam-packed with useful SOLIDWORKS Tips and Tricks to help you quickly go from SOLIDWORKS novice to pro in no time.
A common SOLIDWORKS rookie mistake is not using the built-in SOLIDWORKS Calculator and relying on an external one when placing dimensions. SOLIDWORKS users will often find themselves doing simple calculations like taking 70% of a value or doing something complex to work out a very long equation or unit conversions.
What we typically find is the immediate jump to your phone or computer’s calculator to do the math and introduce a big factor of error when copying the value back into SOLIDWORKS. Fortunately, we have the SOLIDWORKS Calculator that can solve equations faster than Diophantes and will have you working in a more efficient, streamlined manner in no time.
How to use the SOLIDWORKS Calculator
Using the SOLIDWORKS Calculator is one of the easiest, most intuitive tools in the SOLIDWORKS portfolio. Anytime you input a dimension for entities such as sketches, fillets, or chamfers you can simply type the equation directly into the dimension box and let SOLIDWORKS take care of the rest. For example, if you wanted to make a dimension 1/7th of your overall height of 60, all you need to do is type 60/7 and it will be automatically converted to 8.571 when accepting the value. These equations will work for multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, and even exponents!
SOLIDWORKS Calculator equation input for a dimension
What else can the SOLIDWORKS Calculator do?
To take this a step further, the SOLIDWORKS Calculator will even do on-demand unit conversions to bring values into the active unit system. A common thing we see is clients who are working in millimeters but have certain measurements to input in inches. Typically, they would once again go back to an external calculator, multiply their inches by 2.54, and then type that value into SOLIDWORKS. However, all you would need to do is append the in unit at the end of your value and the SOLIDWORKS Calculator automatically converts the value into the unit set in your SOLIDWORKS Document Properties.
By using the SOLIDWORKS Calculator you can ensure that your measurement values are going to be accurate when doing simple or complex calculations. Gone are the days of fat-finger mistakes when transferring measurements over from an external calculator!
To see the rest of our SOLIDWORKS Rookie Mistakes, read our blog articles here.
