How to Develop a SolidWorks Model From a Physical Sample?

Measure it. Use geometry.

Hand held 3D laser scanner is the fastest, most accurate, most expensive.

Use a CMM to establish the actual dimensions of the part.

Here, we call that putting the cart before the horse.

Do you know what a CMM is?

Yes I know CMM. Thanks for the suggestions and I will try and will let you know if any difficulties arise..

To expand on TerraMan's answer, 3D laser scanning is becoming a lot more inexpensive to use. I had the entire outside body surface of my 1973 Porsche 914 scanned because I have an aftermarket body kit on it that is no longer commericially available. The company here in Canada charged me $1000 and several .stl files were generated and their software placed and lined up these files accordingly. Be aware that these .stl files do need cleanup based on what your application is and you can either have the scanning company do it (extra cost) or do it yourself if you have the correct CAD software. SolidWorks now has the functionality to bring .stl files directly into SolidWorks, translate them into surfaces and work on them.

There are many engineering companies that provide this service now, go out and get some quotes.

UFG

I tend to agree. It's still more expensive than renting a Faro arm but you also can't compare the two results. The 3D scanner will generate a point cloud with thousands of points and it will define edges with a high level of accuracy. It will also precisely generate the surface contours. The Faro arm relies on the operators skill and it's tedious work to generate a usable set of points. Not to mention you have to recreate all the surfaces and edges after you import the points into Solidworks.

Nothing beats the scanner for accuracy and efficiency!

We've used Creaform's Handy Scan and worked great. There's many different brands available on the market today so it should be relatively easy to get.