In design engineering, the design cam across various designs is complex and needs the same geometry but at different locations. In order to design that geometry, the designer has to design the sketch individually. This consumes a lot of time in recreating the same design, sketch, or geometry but at different locations.

So, in order to reduce the requirement to make those multiple designs, Solidworks has an open option that does this task. The option available is the Derived sketch option. This option lets the designer make a copy of the profile he is planning to design. This profile/sketch is derived from the previously create sketches. This sketch is recreated on the plane or face of the parallel and coincident with the location where needed.

The sketch created can be relocated and proper constraints can be applied to make the sketch fix. The main advantage of this feature is that the sketch is automatically updated. When any change or modification is been made in the parent sketch that is applied in all the sketches.

Deriving Sketch in SolidWorks

There are two main things we have to remember while deriving the sketches. Select sketch and face before selecting the derive sketch option.

Select the sketch from the design tree and select the face on which you want to derive the sketch. Go to Insert and click on Derived Sketch.

You see one sketch make parallel to the selected face. Now you can drag it and place it where needed. Make the constraints so that the sketch doesn’t move. Then you can apply the feature command required like, Extrude, Cut-Extrude, etc.

You cannot make changes in the derive sketches. As they are the exact replica or copy of the parent sketch. In order to make changes in this sketch, you have to make them in the parent sketch.

However, If you want to derive the sketch and make small modifications to it then you can another option. The other option is to copy and paste the sketch. In this method, the sketch is not linked to the parent sketches and you can make the modifications in this.

Copy sketch

To copy the sketch you have to select the sketch from the design tree then hold and press Ctrl+C to copy. You can also copy by going to Edit and selecting the copy from there. After coping the sketch the sketch is copied to the clipboard. Now select the plane or face right click and select sketch to get into sketch mode and then paste the sketch. You can paste the sketch in two ways by holding and clicking Ctrl+V or going to Edit and then clicking on the paste.

This way you make use of the derived sketch feature and apply the command on various faces or planes. You can modify it if you want to rotate or change the constraints.

This feature is very useful if you have a large design that requires the same profile or geometry in a different location. It defiantly saves time if you want to make modifications. Any change in parent sketches will be updated in child sketches as well.