Solidworks bounding box

📦 **SolidWorks – Bounding Box Command Tutorial

🎯 **Purpose of the Bounding Box

The **Bounding Box** is used to automatically generate a **virtual box** that represents the smallest rectangular box that can fully enclose a part or body. It's useful for:

* 📐 Estimating raw material size
* 📦 Packaging design
* 📊 BOM automation (length, width, height)
* 🧾 CNC programming / nesting

🔧 Where to Find the Bounding Box Command

🔹 **SolidWorks Version**: Available in SolidWorks 2018 and later
🔹 **Applicable To**:

* Weldment parts (structural members)
* Sheet metal parts
* Bodies (in multibody parts)

📍 **Location:**

* **Insert ➜ Reference Geometry ➜ Bounding Box**
* Or, Right-click the **Cut List Item** or **Solid Body Folder** in FeatureManager Tree ➜ *Create Bounding Box*

🧰 **How to Use the Bounding Box Command

✅ Steps:

1. 🖱️ Right-click the **Cut List Item** or the **Solid Body Folder** (e.g., under a weldment or sheet metal part).
2. ➕ Click **Create Bounding Box**.
3. 📏 SolidWorks calculates and displays the smallest 3D box around the selected body.
4. 🧾 The box dimensions appear in the **Cut List Properties** automatically as:

* `Bounding Box Length`
* `Bounding Box Width`
* `Bounding Box Thickness` (or Height)

📝 *Tip:* You can show these values in a drawing BOM using cut list properties.

📌 **Bounding Box Options

| Option | Description |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 🔲 **Best Fit** | Default. Creates the smallest possible box, optimized to the shape. |
| ↕️ **Custom Plane** | You can define a specific orientation or plane for the box. |
| ✏️ **Manual Adjustment** | Not possible – the box is always auto-calculated by geometry. |

📐 **Using Bounding Box in Drawings

1. Create a **drawing** from the part.
2. Insert a **Cut List Table** (for weldments or sheet metal).
3. Add columns for:

* `Bounding Box Length`
* `Bounding Box Width`
* `Bounding Box Thickness`
4. 🧾 These will auto-populate from the bounding box data.

🧪 **Example