A Little Help With, I Think An Intersecting Curve Please (Inventor)

Hi Guys, I'm new here, so please forgive me if something like this has been posted before, or if my post is a bit unclear.

 

Ok, I think this is a fairly straightforward request, but I'm struggling to get my head around how to do it.

 

The drawing below shows a mould that I drew for a client, but the client now wants to make the two ends of the mould have a radius to them (as indicated by the red lines on my drawing).

 

 

 

 

Im struggling how to do this successfully, as simply cutting away at it creates horrible hard edges where the intersecting curve is. It seems really simple to do, but I just cant work out how to get two curves to work together. Ive tried sweeping, and revolving to no joy, but I maybe going at it from a wrong angle.

 

I would really appreciate someone with more experience and a fresh pair of eyes to have a look at this, as I am completely stuck.

 

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Oh, also, while I'm here, and asking for help , if I wanted to make this model into a hollow mould/shell (so that objects could be cast from the inside of it, so in-essence I will have to make this whole object hollow), what would be the best way to go about doing that? As I am a bit unsure of how I would create the little oval indentations on the top. [Hope that makes sence].

 

 

I would really apreciate any help or guidance on this as my client is chomping at my feet for a quick turn around (as all clients do).

Thankyou for reading, and I thakyou in advance for any help. :wink:

 

J

How about using a variable fillet?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_______

 

Oh, also, while I'm here, and asking for help , if I wanted to make this model into a hollow mould/shell (so that objects could be cast from the inside of it, so in-essence I will have to make this whole object hollow), what would be the best way to go about doing that? As I am a bit unsure of how I would create the little oval indentations on the top. [Hope that makes sence].

 

 

 

 

J

 

 

Erm try shelling it, that will therefore make the product hollow and you can select the wall thickness.... and variable fillet seems like a good solution or you could loft two profiles along a rail?

 

like this :

 

 

 

Hope this helps??

 

Thanks Rob

Hey Guys, thankyou both for your speedy replies, hugely appreciated.

 

How about using a variable fillet?

@ Pablo - Yeah I have actually given variable filleting a go with this model, but with very limited success thus far, it did'nt seem to give me the final shape that I required. But I will have another go using it, seen as you and Rob both have recomended it again.

 

 

Erm try shelling it, that will therefore make the product hollow and you can select the wall thickness.... and variable fillet seems like a good solution or you could loft two profiles along a rail?

@Rob - Wow, I think that loft attempt you did may do the trick, if I increase the outer end radius' in your example to a semi circle it may do it. Hmm although saying that, I will have the same problem when I come to join that part with the rest of the squared body, due to the angles and curves, bummer.

Ooo shelling, never used the shell tool before (like a lot of the tools and function on Inventor:oops:), but I will try and give that a go, thanks chap. So can that be used on a solid? So once I've drawn it all up as a part, I just select the shell tool and go from there? I will have an explore with that.

 

Thanks again for the feedback guys, I shall carry plodding on to see what I can do.

 

Much apreciated.

J

The way I would approach this is with surfaces. Trimming your current model to get a nice blend is going to take a good bit of work. If you try to blend that large radius at the bottom up to the small radius you have now on the edge you will get some undercut problems and not be able to mold the chocolate.

 

Ive attached an iges file and two screen shots for you. The first screen shot is a draft analysis of a blend (using your side profile as an extrusion) blending from the base up to your top edge. The second screen shot is moving that edge farther back to allow ample room to blend.

 

Is this about what you are looking for?

chocmold2.zip

I should have mentioned, the way I approach this is the make zero offset surfaces and use split lines and boundary surfaces to fill the area back in. If you have a zero offset surface and you split the face you want to keep it will let you control the shape. This will let you split an area using an offset curve around the end oval to retain a good shape. If there is any way you can upload an iges file of just the end i can show you what i mean.

Matt that looks bang on chap! Awesome work, and hugely appreciated, even though I'm not entirely sure I follow your intructions I've been using Inventor for several years now, but the knowledge of more complex methods/processes and tools within Inventor, I'm embarrassed to admit, are severely lacking.

 

I did notice though on the file you sent over, the 'filler' part (the triangle part in the middle of the curve) it protrudes ever so slightly above the top surface of the bar, will this be the case with this building method, as it's a joint blending into a straight? Or was it simple the case of you quickly banging an exmple to show me.

 

It wouldn't let me attach the .iges and .pt zip file for some reason on the forum, so I have uploaded it to my own hosting, sorry about that, I hope thats ok.

www.joshuakeenes.co.uk/ChocMould.zip (ah I see, the forum doesnt like outside links).

 

I can't thankyou enough Matt, for looking at this and helping me with your guidance, your time is hugely appreciated.

 

J

@Rob - Wow, I think that loft attempt you did may do the trick, if I increase the outer end radius' in your example to a semi circle it may do it. Hmm although saying that, I will have the same problem when I come to join that part with the rest of the squared body, due to the angles and curves, bummer.

 

Much apreciated.

J

 

you can just use the profile of your bar n loft to that? feel free to upload your part and i'll have a play.

 

Shifts method is good too but as you seem very unfamiliar with inventor surfaces are not the best thing to just jump into in my opinion!

 

depends what sort of shape you are after...

...ah I see, the forum doesnt like outside linksJ

 

You have to have more than 10 posts to put in a hyperlink.

But to attach your file directly here there is an easy way.

In the browser drag the red End of Part marker to the top of the browser hiding all features.

Save the files with the EOP in a rolled up state.

In Windows Explorer right click on the file name and select Send to Compressed (zipped) folder.

Attach the resulting *.zip file here.

Hi josh. I didnt spend much time on the example so there may have been some issues as you mentioned. The part i attached wasnt drawn in inventor and since i have 2011 you wouldnt be able to see the files. If i get a chance today ill draw something with an older version of inventor so you can see how I approached the problem.

You have to have more than 10 posts to put in a hyperlink.

But to attach your file directly here there is an easy way.

In the browser drag the red End of Part marker to the top of the browser hiding all features.

Save the files with the EOP in a rolled up state.

In Windows Explorer right click on the file name and select Send to Compressed (zipped) folder.

Attach the resulting *.zip file here.

Sorry JD, my brain must be on the blip today, as I could'nt follow your instructions at all. Sorry.

 

... Shifts method is good too but as you seem very unfamiliar with inventor surfaces are not the best thing to just jump into in my opinion!... feel free to upload your part and i'll have a play.

Hey Rob, lol yeah, unfortunately I think Shifts method is a bit above my level of understanding, but it did seem spot on. And thanks for your kind offer to look at my work, the files are already uploaded at my own domain, the link is www.joshuakeenes.co.uk/ChocMould.zip . But when you click on it here, it says its failed (as I still cant figure out a way around uploading a .zip file to the forum), so just copy and paste that link into your browser and it should be there to download.

 

edit/update:

 

Hi josh. I didnt spend much time on the example so there may have been some issues as you mentioned. The part i attached wasnt drawn in inventor and since i have 2011 you wouldnt be able to see the files. If i get a chance today ill draw something with an older version of inventor so you can see how I approached the problem.

Ah I though as much Matt, no problemo Well that would be absolutely amazing if you do manage to find the time to do so Matt, but understand if you dont, as its not like your being paid for it.

 

I've been proceeding with the loft method, but still cant get it to a satisfactory standard. So I've just emailed the client to ask a few more questions, see if the mould needed to be hollow or not etc, as Im sure that will change the way its constructed, so should hopefully bide me some time to produce this drawing for her.

 

Just wanted to say, I've been extremely impressed by the level of support there is here on this forum, only been a member today (but a long time reader) but already had several people taking time out of their days to help within hours of me posting. I cant thankyou guys enough.

 

 

J

Alright i threw this together real quick. Take a look at this and ask any questions and ill try to get back on here an answer them for you. This was an inventor 2007 drawn file so you should be able to see all the features.

ChocMold.zip

oh yeah, there are mold tools in inventor(not sure how they were in 2010) but do a search and follow some of JDs posts about it.

Matt that looks spot on!! Awesome. Thankyou so much chap. I will now stop spamming the forum and take some time to try and understand how on earth you did it, and come back with I'm sure a question or two.

 

Thanks a bunch!!!

 

J

See attached. Notice that I grabbed the End of Part marker (hereafter EOP) to the top of the browser above all features.

 

It is not the features that make a file particularly large but rather the shading in the graphics window of the solid.

In order to shade CAD programs break the faces into thousands and thousands of little triangle shading each one a bit differently for highlights and shadow areas. This is (mostly) what causes the file size to become large.

Then Microsoft Windows has a built in file compression tool.

Right mouse button click on a file name (hereafter RMB) and select Send to Compressed (zipped) Folder.

Between rolling up the EOP and zipping the file it should now be small enough to attach here under the forum size limit for attachments.

 

On the download end the user will simply RMB on the download zip and select Extract all and then drag the EOP back to the bottom of the feature tree.

 

Notice that I added a feature to Matt's solution (Stitched the surfaces into a solid) and attached file size is still smaller than his attachment here.

 

(I don't know if you ever stated what version of Inventor you are using. I am using Inventor 2011 student version, so if you have 2010 you will not be able to open my file. In any case delete the file after examining.

ChocMold.zip

Ok I'm back, everyone hide

 

Take a look at this and ask any questions and ill try to get back on here an answer them for you.

After looking at it for most of the night and today, I'm still struggling with progressing.

 

I will upload a picture of my efforts, out of a solid part, so I hope this explains a bit better of how Im doing it. (I maybe doing it completely wrong, but this is a process I am familiar with, apologies if it seems a bit of a rubbish way of working).

Picture below shows my "finished" attempt, with buldges and not smooth joints.

 

I'm sorry Matt, but I'm not too familiar with the splits you used. Is there any way you can create it out of a solid part for me (completely cheeky I know), so I can see how you did it. As I was a bit unclear what process you took to get all the measurements / references correct (what was the elipse on the top for?) as Im not the smartist at maths and calculating. I'm feeling really stupid now, that I cant do something that seems so incredibly simple. It really does make me realise how much I dont know.

 

I have also attached my current .pt file (thanks for the clear explanation JD, sorry that I couldnt understand first time round, nice trick with the EOP, never knew that) for anyone kind enough to look at and tell me where Im going wrong, or how it should be done I would really apreciate it.

 

I'm currently using Inventor 2010.

 

Thanks in advance guys. Deadline is getting closer, and Im getting more stressed by the hour, lol.

 

J

 

ChocolateMould 4.zip

Hi Josh. My file wasnt the greatest so dont be worried if you didnt follow it. The ellipse at the top was to represent and offset of the dimple in your original part.

 

As far as the method you took, step 3 is what is screwing you up.

 

One thing to remember is that if you delete faces of a solid it becomes a surface body. If you knit surfaces back together you can create a solid again. In the file I uploaded I started with a solid and split faces for sections I wanted to remove. As jd mentioned he knitted them back together and made a solid again. Ill try to make some screen shots and try to explain this for you.

If you knit surfaces back together you can create a solid again. In the file I uploaded I started with a solid and split faces for sections I wanted to remove. As jd mentioned he knitted them back together and made a solid again.

Oh right, I dont have any experience of doing that. I will have to look into that. Im completely self taught on Inventor (apart from a 3 days training course at Uni 5 years ago) so yeah I just know the basics of constructing and such.

 

Ill try to make some screen shots and try to explain this for you.

Thankyou Matt, that would be highly, highly appreciated. An idiot proof guide is always welcome, lol.

Thankyou for taking the time out of your own day to help me with this.

 

J

If you knit surfaces ... As jd mentioned he knitted them....

 

Stitch Matt, Knit is another SoftWare program.