What are extruded boss and extruded cut? 

Extruded boss and extruded cut are two of the most basic features we'll use when modeling with SOLIDWORKS. Let's explain them in more detail:

• Extruded boss: This is direct extension of a sketch that pushes it into the third dimension, resulting in adding materials.
• Extruded cut: This is direct extension of a sketch that pushes it into the third dimension, resulting in removing/subtracting materials.

From these definitions, you can see that extruded boss and extruded cut are quite similar, but they have opposite effects. Extruded boss adds materials, while extruded cut removes material. The following image illustrates the effect of the extruded boss. Note that we were able to go from a 2D sketch to adding materials to form a cube:

The following image illustrates the effect of extruded cut. Note that we were able to use a sketch to remove materials:

Let's learn how to apply the extruded boss feature.