Sketching and Basic Part Modeling
Sketching fundamentals
Every part on the CSWA begins with a sketch, so the exam rewards habits that produce clean, predictable geometry. Know the sketch entity tools (line, circle, arc, rectangle, slot, polygon), the relation set (coincident, horizontal, vertical, tangent, equal, symmetric, midpoint, pierce, fix), and the three sketch states: under-defined (blue), fully defined (black), and over-defined or conflicting (warning colors). Relations and dimensions are interchangeable tools - a horizontal relation can replace a horizontal dimension, and either one removes the same degree of freedom.
Basic features
Core features are extruded boss/base, extruded cut, revolved boss/base, fillet, chamfer, and the Hole Wizard. Understand end conditions: Blind, Through All, Up To Next, Up To Vertex or Surface, and Mid Plane, plus direction reversal and the both-directions option. Contour selection lets a single sketch drive several separate features.
Traps
Questions often hinge on small details. An open profile will not extrude to a solid unless Thin Feature is enabled. A sketch containing several closed loops extrudes all of them unless you select specific contours. An end condition pointing away from existing material produces a zero-thickness or failed feature. Picking a sketch plane that is not normal to the intended pull direction, or forgetting that a fillet needs a convex edge, are common time-wasters.
Rule of thumb
Center symmetric parts on the origin. Sketch a rectangle around the origin, add a centerline through it, apply a symmetric relation between opposite sides, then add one width and one height dimension. Extrude with Mid Plane so the part is symmetric about the front plane. Holes, fillets, and mirror planes then line up automatically.