How to Add Flat Pattern Views to SolidWorks Assembly Drawings
Every SolidWorks tutorial on flat pattern views shows the same thing: open a sheet metal part, drag the flat pattern from the View Palette into a drawing. That works perfectly when you have one part and one drawing. It doesn’t help when you have an assembly with twelve sheet metal components and you need all the flat patterns in a single drawing document. The assembly case has two complications that the single-part case doesn’t. First, the View Palette shows assembly-level views, not individual part views — so the flat pattern doesn’t appear there. Second, when you insert from the assembly, SolidWorks shows views relative to the assembly coordinate system, not the part’s sheet metal orientation. Knowing which insert path to use for each scenario saves the frustration of inserting views that display the wrong orientation or can’t locate the flat pattern at all. ...