SOLIDWORKS Lip and Groove Tool Tutorial

May 21, 2021
EngineeringClicks

Here we have a concise yet comprehensive SOLIDWORKS Lip and Grove tool tutorial. Lip and Groove features are very common on plastic items like enclosures or cases where two or more parts have to fit together snugly. These simple features are an easy way to ensure that parts are correctly aligned without adding much complexity to the design or manufacture stages. Like many features in Solidworks Lips and Grooves can be manually modelled but there is also a specialist tool that speeds up adding these details.

SOLIDWORKS lip and grove: An example of lip and groove features on a plastic PCB enclosure, and the corresponding feature on the lid. — An example of lip and groove features on a plastic PCB enclosure, and the corresponding feature on the lid.

Using the Lip and Groove Tool

As the name suggests – the Lip and Groove Feature can be used to add a Lip or a correspondng Groove. Either feature can be added independently and the process is very similar for both. First, select the tool from Insert>Fastening Feature>Lip/Groove.

The user then needs to select a body on which to add the feature, and they can choose to add either a Groove, or a Lip. A direction also be set for the Lip/Groove but often this isn’t needed because the exact edge is selected at the next stage.

SOLIDWORKS: Select a body for a Groove or Lip, as required — Select a body for a Groove or Lip, as required

Once the body has been selected the user then chooses a face to cut the groove into, or to add the lip onto, and also selects an edge to align the feature. The tangent propagation option can also be used to make the lip or groove automatically follow multiple edges.

SOLIDWORKS lip and groove: With a body selected, the position of the lip/groove can then be set by selecting the face and edge — With a body selected, the position of the lip/groove can then be set by selecting the face and edge

Once these selections are made, all that remains is for the user to set the exact size of the lip or groove with reference to the visual guide.

SOLIDWORKS: Finally, set the size of the lip/groove using the visual guide — Finally, set the size of the lip/groove using the visual guide

Lip and Groove Top Tips

The Lip and Groove Feature is the simplest way to add lips and corresponding grooves to your parts. Follow these steps to use it:

Select the tool from Insert>Fastening Feature>Lip/Groove
Choose a body for the feature, and select either a lip or groove
Select the face and edge for feature. Use tangent propagation, if needed, to easily select multiple connected edges
Set the exact size of the lip/groove by following the visual guide

Happy modelling and rendering!