First you create the feature that you are going to pattern. You create a profile of an oblong on a reference plane. Use mirroring to take advantage of symmetry and to decrease the number of relations needed to fully define the sketch.
-
Click Front
on the
Heads-up
View toolbar.
-
Click Extruded Cut
on the
Features
tab.
SOLIDWORKS enters sketch mode because no active sketch
is selected.
For extrude and revolve features, if no
active sketch is selected when you select the tool, you are prompted to
select a plane, planar face, or edge on which to sketch the feature, or to
select an existing sketch to use for the feature.
-
Select Front Plane in the FeatureManager design tree to open a sketch on that plane.
-
Click Centerline
on the
Sketch
tab,
and sketch a vertical centerline through the origin.
-
Click Line
on the
Sketch
tab,
and sketch two horizontal lines of equal length, beginning at the centerline.
Watch for the on-curve pointer
that indicates when you are exactly on the
centerline. Also, click to turn off the display of relations in the graphics area if
the relations obscure the sketch geometry.