Using power trimming

To show you how we can use the trimming tool in SOLIDWORKS, we will create the following sketch, which consists of a circle and a rectangle. We will use the MMGS measurement system for this exercise:

To create the given sketch, follow these steps:

1. Sketch and fully define the base shapes of a circle and a rectangle, as follows:

1. Select the Trim Entitles command from the command bar, as shown in the following screenshot:

1. After selecting this command, the PropertyManager for it will appear on the left of the interface. This will show different types of trimming tools. In this exercise, we will pick the first one, that is, Power trim, as shown in the following screenshot. Here is a brief description of the different trimming tools that are available:

• Power trim: This is the easiest method for trimming entities. Power trim is a multipurpose trimming tool that allows us to cut entities by going over them in the canvas. In this section of this book, we will only use the Power trim.
• Corner, Trim away inside, Trim away outside, Trim to closest: These are the different ways we can trim. We won't be referring to these tools in this section of this book.
• Keep trimmed entities as construction geometry: When checked, trimming will not remove entities from the canvas. Instead, they will be switched to construction lines.
• Ignore trimming of construction geometry: When checked, trimming will not function with construction lines. In this example, we didn't want to revoke the construction lines that define our rectangle, so we checked this option:

1. Go back to the canvas and start trimming. To trim unwanted parts, we can click, hold, and move the mouse, as illustrated by the red lines in the following diagram. As we cross each of these lines, we will notice that the line will disappear. By doing this, we will only remove the lines that are not desirable. If we trim the wrong line, we can simply undo this with Ctrl + Z. After doing this, we will end up with the final shape, which was shown at the beginning of this section:

This concludes this exercise on trimming entities using SOLIDWORKS. In this exercise, we have covered the following topics:

• How to set up the Trim Entities command
• How to use trimming to get our desired result

The trimming tool can be as an enhancement tool; we can always create a certain sketch out of it. However, the tool can greatly enhance our sketching abilities by allowing us to create certain sketches faster.