Width mate helps you center an object in between a groove.

You can find the width mate command in the advanced mate section from the mate property manager

Once you select it; Two selection boxes appear: In the first, define the two selections of the groove width(Tab Reference), and in the second, select the width of the object(Width Reference).

Notice that the faces can be unparalleled so you can select them as width or tab references.

You can also use none parallel faces that have a draft for width mate which is the best method to center an object in between a groove.

In addition to faces; You can select an axis or a cylindrical face to define the tab selection as shown the below:

Tips:

Tip 1 -Sometimes; a face or more is invisible so you can’t select directly. In this case; there is a tip you can use while applying the width mate without the need to reapply the command after hiding faces that cover the selections you need.

Let’s say we have these 2 objects that I need to apply my width mate on, which I cover with a cube(that I made transparent so that you can see what’s underneath it).

Note: we can’t use transparent objects for mate selections.

Now, I will make my cube rigid again and try to make my width selection on the blue triangle and the red base.

First, I will select the width mate from the mate property manager:

And since I can’t see my objects I will right-click on one of the faces and choose ” Select other” :

Now you can hover over your mouse and select the face you wish to hide:

Once you make one selection the face will appear back and you’ll need to repeat the process again until you are finished.

In this case, I could have just hidden the cube and then apply my width mate sections. But, this method is more helpful in cases of complex assemblies, where you might have a lot of invisible faces and you don’t want to use the hide option.

 

Tip 2-Instead of selecting the mate command from the mate property manager; you can use the keyboard instead. That is; Hold (Ctrl+selection) you need to make them in width. This is an easy way. Yet, It’s only useful when you can directly make your selections. In case one or more faces were hidden behind or under another face or unreachable. In this case, you need to apply width mate from the mate property manager.