Everybody knows how to use the Fillet tool to create radii on parts, at least I hope they do. 99.9% of the fillets you will create in your daily usage of SolidWorks only require you to click an edge and enter a value. I will not be showing you how to do this kind of fillet, instead I will show you some fillet options you might not have heard of before. Using Fillet options like Multiple Radius Fillets, Rounded Corners, and Setbacks can really help in achieving the results your parts require. In coming weeks, I will cover even more tricks for fillets that can really make your parts stand out.

Multiple Radius Fillets

Instead of creating several fillet features in your FeatureManager, you can create multiple fillets of various radii with one feature in the FeatureManager. Imagine that you have created the part below and you want to apply some fillets of differing radii.

Start by accessing the Fillet command using any method you normally use. Here I pressed the ‘S‘ to being up the Shortcut toolbar.

In the Items To Fillet section of the Fillet PropertyManager, click the Multiple radius fillet option.

Click on edge then on the value callout to adjust the radius value.

Do this for for all required edges on your part. Each edge can have a different radius value set, without requiring multiple Fillet features in your FeatureManager.

Rounded Corners

When you create two fillets that meet on a part, they will make a sharp edge on the part. This is the effect that will be created during the milling operation when the tool makes two separate passes. Most of the time this is easier for the machinist and it is the preferred method, in my experience. However, there may be times when a rounded edge where the two fillets meet is desirable.

If a rounded corner is needed where the two fillets meet, then select Round Corners in the Fillet Options section of the Fillet PropertyManager.

Notice now the the edge where the fillets meet is rounded but the edge of the part is left sharp. You would not be able to achieve this effect with a secondary fillet on the fillet edge.

Creating Setbacks

A Setback Fillet creates a corner where three edges blend together at a defined distance from the corner vertex. This will give you a overall more appealing corner, especially when you are creating consumer products where looks are everything. When you select three edges that converge on a point, the corner below is created by default, but luckily you can create a cleaner look.

In the Fillet FeatureManager when using Constant Radius or Variable Radius fillets, click the arrow to expand the Setback Parameters section.

In the Setback Parameters, select the Setback Verticies box.

Then click the point where the three filleted edges meet.

At this point you can individually set the Setback Distance for each selected edge. I normally click the Set Unassigned button to set a preliminary distance for all the edges just to get a quick look at the results prior to making any future changes.

The Setback Distance as defined in the Setback Parameters is now assigned to all the selected edges.

Click the green arrow in the Fillet PropertyManager to see the resulting corner.

Each edge can have a different Setback Dimension that designates the start point of the corner blend for each edge. In the view below, each edge has a different Setback Dimensions that is entered into the appropriate box that is connected to an edge with a leader. NOTE: Clicking on the image below will enlarge the view to allow you to see the values entered into each box.

The resulting corner gives you an effect that would normally require some fancy surfacing techniques.

Just a Word of Warning…

When I first learned these fillet options, I went crazy with my designs. I was able to create some amazing looks that really gave some machinists headaches. Make sure you think about what you create before you send it to the shop. Sometimes what might look good on the screen could result in a huge machining cost. That would probably get you in trouble with the bean counters. I have learned my lesson and I normally stray away from these techniques when I am designing for machining but I can allow my imagination to go wild (within reason) when creating injection molded parts. If you are sure talk to the machinist, a lot of machinist I know are more then happy to give you Design For Manufacturing advice.

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