Creating multiple fillets in a single feature is something I’m asked about often. Typically, the user has seen it in a different 3D CAD software other than SOLIDWORKS or would like to unclutter their feature tree. This is also a very useful skill to quickly simplify your parts for assembly performance or simulation by allowing you to only suppress one feature. In this Video Tech Tip, we’ll show you how to create multiple fillets in one feature.
To allow this operation we simply have to click Multi Radius Fillet from our fillet command. This does two things: the first is on each edge selection you have the option to input a different radius while the second adds flyout boxes to each edge, allowing for direct editing of the fillets in the graphical window.
Be aware there are some drawbacks to this. While it might seem like performance would be increased by having everything in one feature, my tests have shown that performance doesn’t change much, or it could even go in the opposite direction when working on enormously complex fillets. The other disadvantage is that many people name their features to quickly edit them. Having everything in one feature may be difficult if you need to change all the 3mm fillets to 3.5mm. You’ll have to multi-select from the selection window or manually click on each one.
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