The Hidden Gem of the Extrude Command

SolidWorks Extrude has a great hidden gem to save you time when you create your models. Let's look at a typical example:

We need to extrude part of our model 2mm away from another face. In this case we don't have a sketch plane we can use. Rather than creating a plane, let's look at the hidden gem!

Here is another look at our dilemma.

Let's review our Extrude dialog box. If you look at the top you see that we have a pull-down menu for "From".

I also took a snap shot of it expanded.

You can use this "From" section in the Extrude dialog box to extrude from your Sketch plane (this is the default), a Surface, Face, or Plane, any Vertex in your part or a Offset. In my example we need to offset the Extrude 2mm so here it is in action.

 

I use the "From" option all the time to save me from have to creat extra reference planes in my parts.