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new to the inventor world and i have a few base questions


warlord

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inventor 9 edit: 2009

 

let me start off by saying that i am new to the whole inventor scene, i haven't used any cad software since microstation, and that was just in high school 10 years ago.

 

ive tried picking up on some software here and there but never could grasp their concepts. so far since microstation ive tried autocad, 3dstudio, xsi, and now inventor.

 

the hardest part of learning a new program is learning the terminology of that program ie... ((vertice = point = node = vertex) or (face = wall = edge = surface)).

 

my main interest in inventor is the fact that i like to weld and fab up things that i think that this would compliment it nicely.

 

but anyway onto my first setbacks.

btw ive went thru the tutorial that was built into the program up until "creating weldments".

 

1. now i am trying to make a part.

in this case it is an "A" frame suspension component. and since this particular part is often level with the ground i want to be able to sketch it from the top view. but simply rotating the view to the top causes the grid to disappear or technically flatten, and i cannot draw from the top down.

 

is there anyway to get the grid on the top view?

 

2. when making parts, how complex can they get. say im making an oscillating fan! and i want to make the blades. would the blades be modeled together with the nose that they all join to or would each blade have to be modeled and the nose seperatly as a part and then both be fixed together as an assembly? and then would that assembly be assembled with the other assembles (motor, cage, stand) in a master assembly so to speak, or is there just one level of assembly and everything has to work in that.

 

i guess to rephrase that, can different assembles be assembled together in a new assembly? therefore making an assembly that is made of assembles that are made of individual parts?

 

3. how do i cut a part or a sketch to conform to its neighbor? ie.. i have 2 pieces of tubing and i want to weld them together to make a "T" intersection, i would take one piece of tube and using a tubing notcher (basically a hole saw) i would cut the end off the tube which would result in there being a convex(i think) edge on it, so when i mate it up against the side of the other piece of tube it sort of wraps around it.

 

so in short is there a notching tool? and is it done at the sketching, part, or assembly phase?

 

still reading? thanks for your time and even more thanks for your answers/suggestions.

Edited by warlord
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it doesn't really matter what plane your sketch is one if it's part of an assembly, i have mine set so i pick the plane i want to make my first sketch on tho, so that would solve your problem if you still want to do that

 

you can make a part how ever you want, you can make it in peices, or as a whole, if the parts are going to be made separately then i would make them seperate parts, but if not, then it doesn't matter, just assemble them afterwards, you can have assembled parts in assemblies as well, and can go as far as you want (assembly in an assembly etc)

 

if you make two parts, assemble them together, then you can edit the part in-place and use the other part to define the first, just right click, edit

 

as far as notching, you can just extrude out material from more than one angle if need be

 

i am relatively new at this but use 2009 as well and am more than happy to help you, one of the more senior members will likely chime in tho if you prefer

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oh yes sorry it does say 2009 on the title bar of the program

 

and yes i would like my grid to start on the top. how can i set that?

 

and so far the only way i managed to get a notch going was to first extrude the tube in a cut fashion and then extrude it again in a normal manner to get it right.

to me this doesn't sound like the right way to go about that.

 

oh and let me add another question

 

when you make tubes or pipes or any other curved piece in a part, are the center lines automatically there for assembly constraining purposes or to i have to manually define center lines?

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i can tell you are very new...

 

why do you want to start from the "top"? theres isn't really a top for drawing a part, the only reason why it mattered to me is the program one of my machinists uses needed something drawn on the y-z plane. for drawing a normal part, i see no reason for it to matter, but if you must know, under tools, go to application options, click the "part" tab and then select the "no new sketch" circle, then when you start a new part, you need to select the plane in which you want to draw your first sketch

 

as for the notch question, can you attach a picture or part file so i know what you mean?

 

i'm not sure what you mean by define the centerline, if a part is round (made with a circle), there is an automatically generated center point/line that can be used for contraining in assemblies etc.

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this is how i managed to make it so far.

Untitled-2 copy.jpg

 

as far as starting from the top, i guess i dont really have to but it would make translating the things as i see them in my head much easier

 

here would be a notched tube

DSC01288.jpg

 

and you answered my center line question perfectly

 

oh and yes i am very new, i ordered a couple of used training books to see if they can advance me further into this

aarm.jpg

Edited by warlord
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well my books came in and wouldn't you know it, i ordered the wrong books. i ordered inventor 9 books instead of 2009, didn't know there was a difference at the time of ordering.

 

so now i need to order a 2009 book

 

any recommendations? im looking for something that will teach me some of the terminology as well as some basic to advanced modeling techniques.

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you lost me there. what is this in response to?

 

If you have your part and specifications i can have a quick look through it over the next couple of days and give u a bit of a walk though of how i think it would be best done n how to go about it. Up to you though. :)

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you lost me there. what is this in response to?

 

It is easier to communicate with 3D geometry than with a 2D bitmap picture.

From your picture I can tell that there is sick (pink) geometry and I would predict other problems as well.

Grab the red End of Part marker (hereafter EOP) and drag it to the top of the browser hiding all features.

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

In Windows Explorer right click on the filename and select Send to Compressed (zipped) Folder.

Attach the resulting *.zip file here.

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