Oh no, you not gonna do it are you? please, no, no. YES. Slowly step away from the rotor. Bolt Circles my friends. Large, circular, equally-spaced bolt circles to turn your manufacturing nemesis into someone that buys you cakes on holidays. Manufacturers have a special place in their heart for “B.C.” , and as engineers we want to appreciate the power of creating them easily.

Now, in SolidWorks, you have a few options, but if you’re a square plate with no circular edge to be seen, using the plain old Circular Pattern feature just won’t cut it, but there’s a tool that will.

Have a look at the image below. That’s a heckuvalotta holes huh. It’s easy to create that equally-spaced circle of holes using a circular pattern because you have that circular edge for it to follow. Now let’s look at how to do it when you don’t have a circular edge.

Bolt Circles with Circular Pattern are easy, but what do you do when you don't have a circular edge to select?
Bolt Circles with Circular Pattern are easy, but what do you do when you don't have a circular edge to select?

What to use when you don’t have a Circular Edge
The fastest way to get a bolt circle without using a circular pattern is to use a Curve-Driven Pattern. But there’s also a quick way to create the curve you want to use.

Step 1Create a reference
Using the Hole Wizard (Insert, Features, Hole, Wizard…), select your Hole Size and using the Position Tab in the Property Manager

Step 2Create a Curve Driven Pattern
Create a Curve Driven Pattern (Insert, Pattern/Mirror, Curve Driven Pattern…) and select the feature to pattern (the hole) and the reference circle. Note: You’ll have to right-click on the Hole Feature sketch and select Show to be able to select it.

So there ya go. A beautiful Bolt Circle to make any classy machinist have a happy day on the Drill Press.
Image via Flickr – Beige Alert

Author

Josh is founder and editor at SolidSmack.com, founder at Aimsift Inc., and co-founder of EvD Media. He is involved in engineering, design, visualization, the technology making it happen, and the content developed around it. He is a SolidWorks Certified Professional and excels at falling awkwardly.