Orientation Problem in 'Make Assembly from Part"

I am trying to make an assembly from two parts that were sketched in such a way that the orientations they were created in are not compatible, so I need to reorient one part during assembly, but can't seem to make it happen. Is this something that can be done, or does one of the parts have to be re-sketched? Both parts are in the best orientation for stand-alone use, so I really don't want to redraw either one.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Jim

Use assembly constraints.

In the real world when you pick up two parts they can be oriented in any way and then you orient them as needed to assemble.

SolidWorks replicates the real world. Use assembly constraints.

Attach your assembly here if you can't figure it out.

Thanks,

Can you just tell me where to go to set the constraints? I can't seem to find anything but vague information in Solidworks. I am very new to this software, so I'm a bit lost, even in the help system.

I can't send the assembly because it is an invention.

Thank you.

Select the first "thing" you wish to constrain (say a point or a surface), shift+select the second thing on the second part. Right-click and choose MATE.

Attach your assembly here if you can't figure it out.

I'm not explaining myself properly...

I'm not trying to mate anything...yet. I'm trying to get both parts on the screen, but with one of the parts needing to be rotated to a different orientation. If I mate them, they'll both rotate, when I only want one of the to be rotated before mating them.

Let me know if that's still not clear.

Thanks,

Jim

Try the move component command. It should be located in the assembly tab.

I'm not trying to mate anything...

Attach your assembly here.

If the parts are fixed or mated, you won't be able to do anything. Look at each part in the design tree. If there is a (f) in front of it, that means it is fixed and you will need to right click on the part name in the tree and select "float" before you can do anything. If there is a (-) in front of it, that means that the part is not mated (either fully or partially), and you can click on it to see if you can move it (left click) or rotate it (right click) (you may have to click on a face and not a vertex to get it to move or rotate). If there is nothing in front of the name, that means it is fully mated, and if you want to move or rotate anything you'll need to suppress or delete the mates that are constraining it.

Thanks SuperCAD, I'll try those options.

JD Mather: I can't attach the assembly. As I said to you before, it's an invention.

JD Mather: I can't attach the assembly. As I said to you before, it's an invention.

It should be beyond trivially easy to create a dummy assembly that exhibits the same behavior without giving away any intellectual property.

There are a lot of files already created for you in the Tutorials - you simple need to set up the problem like your actual problem so that others can see where you are getting stuck.

...but I'll tell you what, JD Mather, if you attach one of your inventions, assuming you have any, I'll trade you for mine.

Your help, by the way, and I'm sure a lot of folks would agree with me, is less than help. You need to actually "think" about how to help someone, rather than doing it for them...OK?

JD Mather:

"beyond trivially easy"

That is supposed to make someone feel good about themselves, right? I'm just trying to align myself with your "flavor" of help. As I see it, you think most people in the world should be at your level in order for you to expend any energy to formulate any substantive answer, correct?

Just wondering, JD Mather.

I'll tell you what, SuperCad knows how to treat people.

I have never used SolidWorks before a week or two ago, but have been designing mechanical and electronic devices since I was seven years old. I have no degree, but am highly paid - six figures - and owe my own success to others that have taken the time to answer my questions as if they were the "askers".

SuperCAD is a good teacher, JD...well, JD could be.

I'm not trying to mate anything...yet.

Just a small observation: in the MATE dialg there is an obtion: use for positioning only. Using that you will get the parts in the right position, but no mate will be created. So a possible workflow: fix the first part and check is the second one is "Float", use the Mate with that positioning option checked and finaly make the first part Float again.