SolidWorks Portfolio — Brattynn Thompson

Exercise 1 — Foundations

Base Bracket: Extrude Boss & Through-All Cut

My first solid model in the course: sketch a profile on the Front plane, extrude it into a blind-depth solid, then sketch and cut a through-hole on a derived face. Simple geometry, but it's the exercise that establishes the core habit the rest of the course builds on — plan the sketch plane and the feature order before touching the mouse, rather than fixing it after the fact.

What this demonstrates: Fundamentals of feature-based solid modeling — sketch → boss extrude → cut extrude, and choosing "Blind" vs. "Through All" end conditions correctly for each feature's intent.

Base bracket boss extrude with through hole — Boss extrude + through-hole cut

Base bracket second view — Finished part, alternate view

Quiz 1 — Print Reading & GD&T

Mounting Flange: Modeled Cold From a Fully-Toleranced Print

A graded, timed modeling quiz: no step-by-step instructions, just a dimensioned print of a square mounting flange — a central bore, a 4-hole bolt pattern on a specified bolt-circle diameter, corner fillets, and a 45° chamfer callout — and I had to plan the entire feature tree myself and reproduce the part to the stated dimensions.

What this demonstrates: Independent print reading under time pressure — pulling bolt-circle and hole-pattern data, chamfer/fillet callouts, and datum-referenced dimensions directly off a drawing and translating them into an accurate feature tree with no hand-holding.

Quiz 1 mounting flange engineering print — Source print — Quiz 1

Finished mounting flange model next to the source print — Finished model

Lab 3 — Print Reading & GD&T

Drafted Housing: Section Views, Draft Angles & a Personal Rebrand

Another independent lab: build the part shown on the print, which calls out a 16° typical draft angle on the boss, a 35° included angle on the outer profile, and a section view (A-A) defining wall thickness that isn't visible from the isometric view alone. Once the model was done, I swapped the drawing's placeholder "ECC Corp" callout for "SUTPHEN" and rendered it in gold — a nod to the emergency vehicles I get to see daily at work.

What this demonstrates: Reading a section view to infer geometry that isn't directly shown, and applying draft-angle and fillet call-outs precisely enough to match the print's stated tolerances rather than eyeballing them.

Lab 3 engineering print with draft angle and section view — Source print — draft angle + section A-A

Base sketch, dimensioned from the print

Finished rendered part with Sutphen branding — Finished render — personalized

Lab 3b — Print Reading & GD&T

Flanged Bushing: Revolve From a Hatched Section View

This print gives only a front view, a section view (with hatching showing the cut material), and a hidden-line isometric — no single view shows the full profile. I had to combine the section's wall-thickness dimensions with the .500" corner radius and the 25° typical angle to build one accurate revolve profile, then revolve it 360° around the centerline.

What this demonstrates: Reconstructing a single revolve profile from information spread across multiple views — the exact skill of resolving a 2D drawing into the 3D geometry it actually describes.

Lab 3b section view print — Source print — section A-A

Finished revolved flanged bushing model — Finished revolve

Exercise 2 — Revolved Features

Custom Wheel: Revolve, Mirror & Circular Pattern

This was one of my larger projects. The base exercise teaches the revolve feature on a simple symmetric profile. I took it further into an original multi-spoke wheel design: a mirrored quarter-profile revolved into the rim, then a single curved spoke patterned around the hub with a circular pattern feature, finished with a two-tone chrome/red appearance to sell the render.

What this demonstrates: Choosing revolve over extrude when a profile is rotationally symmetric, and using mirror + circular pattern to avoid redundant sketching — editing one spoke updates all fifteen.

Initial shape modeling — Initial shape model

Revolved model — Model after revolve, adding fillet features

Spoke/Fins added to the model — Added spoke/fins to finish the lesson

Customizing the model beyond the lesson — Customizing the model beyond the base lesson by removing material strategically

Circular pattern feature building the spokes — Final customized model

Rendered custom multi-spoke wheel — Finished render

Exercise 7 — Projected Curves & Sweeping

Fastener: Helical Thread Sweep & Phillips Drive Slot

A round-head screw built with a helix-and-sweep thread rather than a cosmetic thread — the thread profile actually follows a helical path cut into the shaft — plus a Phillips-style cross-slot cut into the domed head using projected sketch geometry.

What this demonstrates: Sweep features driven by a helix path for realistic standard-hardware geometry — directly useful for modeling fasteners and other off-the-shelf hardware in an assembly BOM.

Screw base shaft and head before threading — Base shaft + head, pre-thread

Finished screw with Phillips head slot — Finished fastener

Exercise 8 — Lofting & 3D Sweeps

Handwheel: 3D-Sketch Spokes Swept Between Two Planes

A classic vintage-style handwheel: the rim and hub are revolved profiles, but each spoke is a true 3D sweep — a circular profile swept along a path sketched across two different reference planes so the spoke curves smoothly from the hub out to the rim instead of sitting flat in one plane. Finished in chrome and copper.

What this demonstrates: Planning a 3D sketch path across multiple planes before modeling the sweep — the geometry doesn't work if the path and profile planes aren't set up correctly ahead of time.

3D sweep profile + path across two planes

Rendered chrome and copper handwheel — Finished render

Exercise 4 — Original Design

Sutphen Ratchet Tool: A Personal Design Built From Course Fundamentals

The most self-directed piece in the set: a full hand-tool design combining a decorative yin-yang-profile head with two bores, a round shaft, and a rectangular grip — all blended into one continuous part with fillets at every cross-section transition, branded for Sutphen.

What this demonstrates: Taking the base modeling techniques from the earlier exercises and applying them to an original part with no print to follow — planning a feature tree that blends multiple unrelated cross-sections (round, square, custom profile) into one clean, manufacturable body.

Ratchet Head Design — Designing the head of the ratchet

Decorative head cut, custom sketch profile

Ratchet Handle Design — Designing the handle of the ratchet

Full ratchet tool part showing head, shaft, and grip — Completed tool — head, shaft, grip

Rendered Sutphen-branded ratchet tool — Finished render