Copying & Mirroring Multiple Components

A trick I use is to create an assembly of a bolt, washers and nut, and then use copies of them in my main assemblies where ever required. I don't have to worry about quatities on the BOM since our hardware is pulled from bins (supplier comes every other day to fill the bins) so I create these hardware assemblies and then save them as IGES models after joining then to create a single part. It saves time and reduces the model size.

I know it's not the answer that you were looking for.

If you have ToolBox add-in, the Smart Fastener feature is really nice. "Happy the Hare at morning for she is ignorant to the Hunter's waking thoughts."

Depending on your application, you may be able to create a pattern or patterns, once you've mated one set of hardware (see your help file for more details if you're unfamiliar with this - it's very useful).

Here's what I often do for multiple instances of say a screw with a nut and a washer, where I have lots of instances & can't use patterns:

1. Insert one set of hardware, fully mated.
2. Create a subassembly of the involved parts. You can do this by right-clicking on one of the involved parts in the tree and choosing "From New Sub-assembly Here", giving it a name, such as "10-32 hardware", then simply dragging the other parts (from the tree) into the new subassembly (also in the tree).
3. Insert as many instances of the subassembly as you need. One quick way to do this is to drag (with the ctrl button pressed) them from the tree to the near where they will be on the assembly, and then use smart mates & drag them into position.
4. Once you have all your sets of hardware inserted, you may wish to then dissolve these new subassemblies. One reason for doing this would be if you rely on the tree for bom information, and need everything to be at one level. Mates may be relocated by solidworks as necessary to properly interact with the new assembly structure, but this is basically transparent to you.

You might want to create a library of often-used hardware subassemblies.

Charley Leonard