Solidworks Draw on Reference Plane

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

Figure 1. The 'Flip Normal' (top) and the 'Normal to' (bottom) commands in the correct-click menu

The truth is, these commands are quite different. Y'all are familiar with the standard 'Normal to' command:

Figure 2. The 'Normal to' command

But this icon is the 'Flip Normal' command:

Figure 3. The 'Flip Normal' command

This command reverses the normal of the plane to the opposite side. In SOLIDWORKS, every reference plane has one side that is designated every bit the primary normal. All sketches on the master normal take a right and a left. Technically, every plane has two normals—one on each side, but merely every bit with a piece of paper, if we sketch something on 1 side and we view information technology from the opposite side, the shapes are reversed. To better understand how this works in SOLIDWORKS, consider this instance:

We accept a role with a simple dominate:

Effigy 4. Two simple extrudes

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

Allow's say nosotros did the following:

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

This is what nosotros should have:

Effigy v. Copied sketch on reference plane Plane1

To u.s.a., this 'R' looks correct. The arcs of the 'R' are on our right as we look at it from the front view. Find that the reference plane'due south name (Plane1) is at the top-left of the plane. This means that we are looking at the master normal or the "front" of the plane.

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

Figure 6. The normal flipped on Plane1

Notice that the arcs of the 'R' are now on our left equally we wait at information technology from the front. Another interesting notation: the name of the reference plane (Plane1) is now at the elevation-correct of the airplane. This means nosotros are now looking at the secondary normal or the "back" of the plane. If nosotros view this sketch from the back view we see this:

Effigy 7. View from the back

From the dorsum view, the 'R' looks correctly oriented. The arcs are on our right. The 'Flip Normal' control flipped Plane1 to the opposite side. Think of it as flipping over a slice of newspaper to the contrary side. All sketches created on the forepart of the paper will look backwards to u.s.a. when we flip the paper and look at the opposite side.

Hopefully, this cleared upward the mutual misunderstanding of the 'Flip Normal' command. If this dislocated you further, a simple trick should help:

1. Hold upwardly your left hand with your arrow finger and thumb in the shape of the letter '50' next to the monitor. This is your left, and it will always be your left, no affair how the part or assembly is rotated.
2. When you look at a reference aeroplane, if the name of the plane is in the top-left corner, yous are looking at the primary normal, meaning all sketches will exist oriented left-to-right according to your hand. If the name is in the acme-right corner, you are looking at the secondary normal, and if you lot paste a sketch, it will expect backward. You will need to flip the normal of the plane using the 'Flip Normal' command.

Remember, a plane is like a piece of newspaper. Happy modeling!

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

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