How to Draw From One Plane to Another in Solidworks

If you have utilized SOLIDWORKS Reference Geometry (planes, axes, coordinate systems, etc.), you may have once thought to yourself, why exercise I have 2 'Normal to' icons when I right click my reference plane in the Feature Tree? (see Figure 1)

Figure 1. The 'Flip Normal' (acme) and the 'Normal to' (bottom) commands in the right-click carte du jour

The truth is, these commands are quite dissimilar. You are familiar with the standard 'Normal to' command:

Figure 2. The 'Normal to' command

But this icon is the 'Flip Normal' control:

Figure three. The 'Flip Normal' command

This control reverses the normal of the plane to the contrary side. In SOLIDWORKS, every reference plane has ane side that is designated equally the main normal. All sketches on the primary normal have a correct and a left. Technically, every aeroplane has two normals—1 on each side, but merely as with a piece of paper, if we sketch something on one side and nosotros view it from the contrary side, the shapes are reversed. To better empathize how this works in SOLIDWORKS, consider this example:

We have a role with a simple boss:

Effigy iv. Two unproblematic extrudes

(FYI this 'R' was created with lines and arcs. Sketched text cannot be copied.)

Let'due south say we did the post-obit:

1. Add a reference plane (Plane1) start from the front face up of Boss-Extrude1 square extrude.
2. Edit the captivated sketch of Boss-Extrude2, drag-select all entities in the sketch, and hit Ctrl+C (or Edit, Copy).
3. Select the reference plane Plane1, commencement a new sketch, and so striking Ctrl+V (or Edit, Paste).
4. Exit the sketch.

This is what we should have:

Figure 5. Copied sketch on reference plane Plane1

To united states, this 'R' looks correct. The arcs of the 'R' are on our correct equally we look at information technology from the front view. Notice that the reference aeroplane'due south proper noun (Plane1) is at the top-left of the plane. This means that nosotros are looking at the primary normal or the "front" of the plane.

At present I will invoke the 'Flip Normal' command past right-clicking the reference plane Plane1 and selecting the 'Flip Normal' icon. If we remain on the front view, this is now what we will encounter:

Figure half dozen. The normal flipped on Plane1

Notice that the arcs of the 'R' are now on our left as we await at it from the forepart. Another interesting note: the name of the reference plane (Plane1) is now at the top-right of the plane. This means nosotros are now looking at the secondary normal or the "back" of the plane. If we view this sketch from the back view we see this:

Figure 7. View from the dorsum

From the back view, the 'R' looks correctly oriented. The arcs are on our right. The 'Flip Normal' command flipped Plane1 to the opposite side. Call up of it as flipping over a piece of newspaper to the opposite side. All sketches created on the front of the newspaper will wait backwards to u.s. when we flip the paper and look at the reverse side.

Hopefully, this cleared upwards the common misunderstanding of the 'Flip Normal' control. If this confused you lot further, a simple trick should help:

1. Concur up your left mitt with your pointer finger and thumb in the shape of the alphabetic character 'L' side by side to the monitor. This is your left, and it will ever be your left, no matter how the part or associates is rotated.
2. When you lot look at a reference aeroplane, if the proper name of the plane is in the top-left corner, yous are looking at the primary normal, meaning all sketches will be oriented left-to-right according to your mitt. If the name is in the pinnacle-right corner, y'all are looking at the secondary normal, and if you paste a sketch, it volition await astern. Y'all will need to flip the normal of the plane using the 'Flip Normal' command.

Remember, a plane is like a slice of paper. Happy modeling!

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Source: https://www.goengineer.com/blog/flip-plane-normal-solidworks

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