- [Narrator] When trying to create
more advanced geometry in SolidWorks,
sometimes you want to do things like create custom threads,
or custom cuts like you see here in this example.
I was able to do this using the helix and spiral feature.
This gives us the ability to create a custom helix
that we can then use to create things like custom sweeps
or, inversely, a swept boss.
Let's go ahead and make another helix real quick.
So I'm going to open up a new part, and this is very easy,
I'm going to go to insert, curve, and then select Helix/Spiral.
I'm going to select the top plane,
because you're going to create a sketch now.
Now, these are all based off a circle,
so you don't make a partial arc,
you're going to make a full circle.
I'm going to start at the origin, drag it out,
and give it a dimension.
And then hit OK and accept the sketch.
Now if I rotate this, you'll notice
that I automatically am creating a helix.
It's already got one in there,
based on some previous settings.
So I'm going to turn this around a little bit,
and we can see the start and the end point there.
Now if we go over to the Property Manager,
you can see that we can define this several ways.
So we can go by pitch and revolution,
height and revolution, height and pitch,
or we can create a spiral that goes inward, or outward.
You can control two of these using the pitch,
which you can adjust here.
You can have a variable pitch as well,
and you can create a chart for that if you'd like.
And you can also taper the helix,
so if you want to taper it outward for example,
you can do that by turning this up,
or you can taper it inward.
So this gives you a lot of options,
and a lot of control to make this helix.
This is especially important if you're trying
to actually model in things like
threads that are of variable pitch, or very complex nature,
and you need to see where interferences are going to happen
inside of your geometry, putting thread cuts,
tapped thread holes, which you don't see
with the cosmetic threads using
the Hole Wizard, for example.
So, when I've got the desired Helix/Spiral that I want,
I just go ahead and click OK, and it's created.
And that's how we make a Helix/Spiral.