Post SOLIDWORKS Designs Here

[cwilliamrose]

I admit to having tried making one large part and then separating it into smaller pieces. I didn't like it well enough to make it my normal method. One thing is that editing the sub-part becomes an issue because everything has to be changed at the base part level. That can lead to unintended changes to the sub-parts. I much prefer to use individual parts mated together in a real-world fashion. And I don't like taking geometry from one part to drive another part's geometry either for the same reason stated above. I will sometimes start out with features that came from a mating part but I will break those associations once the design is close to being finished because the InPlace mates required to maintain your converted sketch entities is not a real-world situation. So yes, if I change one part I may need to manually change some of the mating parts too but that's where using mates works in your favor -- the mates will protest if you miss a change to one of the mated parts, kind of like real parts do when they don't fit together.

I think many SWx users would call me crazy or a dinosaur but to me working in 3D has the most value when it simulates real parts and assemblies. Since I often have to build what I design I figure it's best to make my mistakes in SWx and get it right when it's time to make chips. I'm not saying the other methods are wrong, they just don't work for me.

BTW, the race car shown in a previous post was done in one piece and then cut into sections. That is one of the few times that method paid off for me.