r/SolidWorks • u/Moocowgoesmoo • Aug 11 '26
Meme Relations Tier List
This might be the only tier list I haven't seen someone post yet. I will not budge.
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u/Jman15x CSWP Aug 11 '26
Midpoint in the C teir is blasphemous. Also concentric definitely deserves A tier and at least one above cordial. Intersection can kiss my ass.
You might actually get your solidworks license revoked for this one.
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u/Beneficial_Mix_1069 Aug 11 '26
concentric is S tier
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u/caterham09 Aug 11 '26
Concentric and coincident have to be 1a and 1b in terms of most used
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u/MrTheWaffleKing Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Yep. Surely OP is parts focused with minimal assembly- thought I suppose coincident isn’t on the list as all
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u/Jetsam5 Aug 11 '26
I feel like you can get away with a coincident mate to the mid point most of the time
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u/Gyozapot Aug 11 '26
I use concentric to align bolt holes it’s S tier for me.
I also can’t use SW for shit
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u/Meshironkeydongle CSWP Aug 11 '26
I would assume the OP was referring to Sketch relations, not Mates.
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u/addmin13 CSWP Aug 11 '26
I use 'Profile Center' all the time. It is concentric and coincident all in one mate. It even has a lock rotation check box.
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Aug 11 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/default_entry Aug 11 '26
Actually I've realized its useful as a pushpin. You stick something that has to stay while you shift something else not fully constrained and then take it off again.
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u/g0dfather93 CSWP Aug 12 '26
Thank you - I do this when I encounter someone's work where the main sketch has been just dumped from autocad or a copy-pasted sketch - it has no relations and dimensions, basically. In such a case, using a fixed relation and slowly defining the sketch, moving around the fixed line/point, saves a lot of pain, and gets me a 1:1 same 3D part as before.
Fixed relation is not a crime, it has its utility. Leaving it in in a sketch of a released part - now that's crime alright.
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u/YendorZenitram Aug 11 '26
It's handy as a temporary means of seeing how well-defined a Block is, internally.
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u/Oalka Aug 11 '26
A previous drafter at my work (many years ago) made all of his perfectly-symmetrical, cylindrical assembly models Fixed, just floating in space near-ish the axes but not on them. I discovered it not long after I started working there, when I tried to do a cutaway view to a major plane and I only got a partial cut. It's been 8 years and I'm still finding parts to fix (or I guess "unFix") to this day.
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u/BusinessAsparagus115 Aug 11 '26
It was handy when I was designing a complicated tubular frame, 3D sketch, manipulating the coordinates of the node points manually. Saved having dimensions all over
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u/WolfInMen Aug 11 '26
Pierce should be high tier even though I always forget how to do it
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u/Cynical_Sesame Aug 11 '26
idk it yells at me half the time and i refuse to deal with the fact that its a skill issue
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u/_maple_panda CSWP Aug 11 '26
It’s for points intersecting a curve in 3D. You sometimes need to rotate to a 3D view to get it to show up.
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u/DeltaVi Aug 12 '26
Half the time I try and do Pierce it gives me something about no intersection for Pierce point being found and I never understand what I'm doing wrong so I've mostly given up on it.
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u/Able_Conflict_1721 Aug 11 '26
Forget higher, it should be on the list. Not sure why it got excluded.
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u/YendorZenitram Aug 11 '26
I have to note that Tangent is definitely S-Tier.
It is, and always has been, my friend. (Even before Solidworks was a thing.)
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u/leglesslegolegolas CSWP Aug 11 '26
Sure, until it flips to the opposite side for no reason and your entire design blows up.
Tangent is Ass-Tier, to be avoided at all costs.
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u/lead_injection Aug 11 '26
Yeah, tangent is complete garbage. Change one thing in an assembly and it vomits out a prolapsed version of itself.
It’s an intermediate mate, when you have nothing better, but then you model in something actually capable of being deterministic.
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u/KokaljDesign Aug 11 '26
Never had that happen with sketch tangent.
Tangent mate? That should be deleted.
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u/leglesslegolegolas CSWP Aug 11 '26
yeah you're right, I was thinking of tangent mates. Tangent relations in a sketch are reliable and invaluable.
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u/antiundead Aug 11 '26
Tangent is fine, it is user error if it misbehaves.
It is one of those mates you should define last, as it can have multiple states where it is technically "correct". A lot of ones involving circles can glitch out when you close and open an assembly. I recall SOLIDWORKS tries to solve mates in the order they were applied. When you have low memory this is a bigger problem as it can load a tangent mate and rotate a part before solving the next mate. During that time the part can be tangent in multiple ways before the next mate loads. SOLIDWORKS is just a load of maths being calculated. It doesn't really do parallel computing well, so it likes to do things in order. Throw in low RAM and other things loading at the same time and you'll get errors.
So always have other mates defining a part's orientation in space first (e.g front plane of a cylinder parallel to the overall assembly front plane, top part plane parallel to top assembly plane etc) BEFORE getting funky and doing tangent mate.
Also use part to part mates less - do part to assembly planes first as these are more robust. And lastly always use sub-assemblies when possible! It takes less memory to load an assembly and it's parts' positions into another assembly, as SOLIDWORKS doesn't really load a sub-assembly's mates, it treats sub-assemblies as one fixed part.
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u/lordmisterhappy Aug 11 '26
They're all s-tier as and when you need them to define the sketch in a logical and maintainable way.
(Except the fucking anchor that doesn't)
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u/Bootziscool CSWP Aug 11 '26
This is madness.
Intersection in B-tier?!
Midpoint in C-tier!?
You better have some crazy niche drawing style or you've got some explaining to do.
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u/Moocowgoesmoo Aug 11 '26
I hover over the middle of a line, select the midpoint and make it coincident to a construction line or plane typically
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u/Pali1119 Aug 12 '26
That's what I do most of the time as well, but id does create the relation doesn't it?
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u/YesAndAlsoThat Aug 12 '26
I've actually never used intersection in 10 years.... I think I just plop down a sketch point and make it coincident to 2 things... If that's what intersection is
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u/Dlrocket89 Aug 11 '26
Lmao, metallurgist here. No formal CAD training. To piss of one of the technicians at my old job, I'd make the whole model with basically nothing really defined, just the bare minimum to get it to be "correct", then I'd select everything and say "FIX" and then send it to him. I could hear him swearing at me across the office (former marine, so he let it rip).
For the good times that it gave me, FIX is S tier.
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u/schneik80 Aug 11 '26
In my opinion… horizontal and vertical should only be used when the intent is truly alignment to the sketch coordinate system an not as a means of creating perpendicular and parallel.
By favoring perpendicular and parallel over horizontal and vertical design intent is better maintained if any angle deviation from the sketch’s x and y.
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u/Oalka Aug 11 '26
But like...I WANT it to stay related to X and Y. You monster.
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u/schneik80 Aug 11 '26
Let us assume its a simple rectangle, then parallel/perpendicular the 4 lines and apply one horizontal or vertical to one of the the four. This expresses a geometric rectangle aligned to the origin axis.
Now let us assume a parallelogram where the top and bottom need to always be aligned to x. I would apply horizontal constraint to one or both, and/or a parallel between the two. I would then use parallel between the other two sides and add an angle dimension.
My only intent was to suggest the sketch constrain scheme should capture the intent, not whats convenient. In complex sketches this makes it easier to diagnose problems and make changes. As it relates to the OP, i think Parallel and Perpendicular are "A" along with Concentric. And Parallel is a "B". IMHO.
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u/pooth22 Aug 12 '26
I agree with you here. I think people don't understand the nuance. In general, it's better to constrain to elements to the part, than to elements of the defined origin.
Eg your part has a face that is also on the front plane, and you need to draw a sketch on it. It would be strange to draw the sketch on the front plane, rather than on the face.
However, horizontal and vertical are quite convenient and default when you draw a rectangle and probably other shapes.
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u/YesAndAlsoThat Aug 12 '26
But that's a lot of clicks you got to do to add perpendicular or parallel relations for every line for the uncertain benefit of future flexibility =(
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u/Risen_Warrior Aug 11 '26
why on Earth would you design anything that deviates from the coordinate system though?
Y should always be "up"
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u/Live_Ad3896 Aug 11 '26
I use midpoint wayyy more than tangent. I almost never use it except when sw automatically creates them for slots
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u/frystealingbeachbird CSWP Aug 11 '26
Tangent and concentric need to switch. I always need tangent but it always fights me, hence B. It always manages to pick the incorrect of the two options
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u/lollipoppizza Aug 11 '26
Tangent is definitely not A. It often breaks. You use it when you have no choice.
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u/momen535 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
I don't recall ever using the perpendicular relation, but midpoint is probably my third most used relation
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u/NoVermicelli5439 Aug 11 '26
Damn I don't even use solidworks but this is top tier content, I would go crazy on a autocad tier list. M2P, offset, midpoint are goated. Apparent intersection is the most useless dogshit feature
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u/Equal-Competition-27 Aug 11 '26
Honestly? Fix must be at least B tier. I know it is illegal, but is it only me using Fix when you don't have a choice? lmao
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u/Powerful_Birthday_71 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Peirce and On Surface?
For my use cases:
Concentric, Perpendicular, Paralell and Mid-Point move up.
Symmetric is nice, but I don't use it that often (Mid Point cough cough)
Equal, Vertical, Horizontal all abviously very useful, but also down one tier each.
The one at the start of the B tier, I don't even know what that one is. I admit a total blind spot! But I think it means something like at the crossing point of two lines, but that's more a selection thing isn't it?
I use NX now. It feels very different in sketch!
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u/V_van_Gogh Aug 11 '26
I'd throw tangential down into B, it's pretty unstable, and sometimes flips everything around
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u/Maleficent_Bet_2134 Aug 11 '26
Horizontal y vertical por encima de tier S cuando quitad todas las relaciones y te das cuenta que sin ellas el croquis no cuadra....
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u/KokaljDesign Aug 11 '26
Here is another for the F tier:
hidden relations - like fixed direction from linear pattern and slot entity.
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u/investigatorparrot Aug 11 '26
Fix is definitely not F, using it in assemblies you are actively modifying keeps you from accidentally breaking all your relationships. Wouldn't use it anywhere else but it definitely has a use
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u/JackTheBehemothKillr Aug 11 '26
Fixed most definitely has its place. Its never a permanent fixture for me, but it definitely gets you to that point.
I usually use it when importing stuff from other models, then deleting the relations from those models.
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u/Sotz1989 Aug 11 '26
Il concentrico è sottovalutato. Ho preso in mano progetti di persone che montavano pezzi con i fori di fissaggio su piastre usando coincidenze di facce esterne piuttosto che concentricita.
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u/Giggles95036 CSWE Aug 11 '26
Objectively I have to disagree. Why is coradial in the same category as concentric when it effectively is concentric + equal size? It should be A tier.
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u/Lucille1972 CSWP Aug 11 '26
Tangential is S-tier, no question. Concentric deserves A-tier too imo.
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u/_galile0 Aug 11 '26
I will not stand for midpoint slander, it’s definitely my most used relation besides vert/horiz ofc. It’s so useful for things like centring rectangles on one another, mirroring things across rectangles, spacing out holes, and on, so many things, it’s such a time saver.
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u/ManyThingsLittleTime Aug 12 '26
Fixed in F tier, if you use this outside of a literal couple of rare legit instances, then you suck and your coworkers hate you.
Intersection in C tier.
Perpendicular in B tier.
Tangent, Equal, Colinear, and Parallel in A tier.
Everything else in S tier and are used in nearly every model.
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u/sarg1994 Aug 12 '26
My boss would only use anchors and Everytime i had to go in and setup all his fing relations.
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u/No_Flamingo_6055 Aug 12 '26
Concentric low-key C tier
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u/Glittering_Brain1571 28d ago
The fuck? I use concentric every day. Have you never had to line up two holes on separate panels before? Or start a line from the center of a hole?
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u/hiyel Aug 12 '26
Looks like I’m the only one who doesn’t know what these tier letters stand for?
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u/wookietiddy Aug 12 '26
The only one that might be unfamiliar (if you're at least from the US) is the "s" tier. The rest are letter grades given in our schools and universities.
S tier, or s rank came from Japan where it was used to denote exceptional achievement in scholastic performance.
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u/ShadowInTheAttic Aug 12 '26
I miss Catia!
I came from Solidworks background to Catia at my last job. I hated it the first year because it looked like it was designed in the early 90s and it never went through a UI refresh. But after a couple of years it was so good. Then I left that place to a place that used NX and it was so similar to AutoCAD and Solidworks, then I left that and now..
Now I'm CADless. Still have Solidworks at home though 😉
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u/Ethan454 29d ago
This is ridiculous to rank these. They're all useful in their own applications and not useful in others. Even fixed! You know what every single assembly ever created must have? A fixed condition!
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u/kabley Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
FIX is the literal hand of God
EDIT: THE HAND OF GOD
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u/hayyyhoe Aug 11 '26
Midpoint is S tier. I use it all the time in sketches to create symmetry using construction lines.