Mobileinventor Posted December 29, 2010 Share Posted December 29, 2010 One of my sketch rectangles had a line moved and now the loop is not closed and when I try to extrude there is not a hole with the one rectangle. I tried to make the 2 line endpoints concentric but that did not work. How do I make it snap to the endpoint? Please explain all the available options to connect the 2 lines! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Mather Posted December 29, 2010 Share Posted December 29, 2010 I tried to make the 2 line endpoints concentric but that did not work. Lines cannot be made concentric (only circles/arcs) - I think you are looking for coincident. You might drag one away from the other to make it easier to pick the endpoints. From the picture of your sketch there is far more wrong than just the missing coincident constaint - you might read this document http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/skillsusa%20university.pdf You might attach your file here for other suggestions on improving workflow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mobileinventor Posted December 29, 2010 Author Share Posted December 29, 2010 (edited) My .ipt file is an invalid file type when I try to upload it here. You are right I meant coincident - I tried it but it wouldnt work! I get an alert that the constraint already exist but I do not see it and the points are not together. I tried searching on how to upload part files but I do not see it. Thanks Edited December 29, 2010 by Mobileinventor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Mather Posted December 29, 2010 Share Posted December 29, 2010 I tried searching on how to upload part files but I do not see it. Go to Windows Explorer. Find your file and right click on the filename. Select Send to Compressed (zipped) Folder. Attach the resulting *.zip file here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mobileinventor Posted December 29, 2010 Author Share Posted December 29, 2010 Ok got it but it wouldnt let me zip 2 files together, ohwell. In vent 1 there are way too many constraints but I still would like to know how to connect line end points so I can close loops for extruding. Vent 2 is a similar remake with less constraints. On the sketch the holes are slightly off centered with the outer boundary. Is there a way to group all the holes so I can make 2 construction lines - one on each side - and then set them equal? On Vent 2 I am also trying to extrude slanted louvers - to look like bent metal - in the holes to direct air. To do this I tried to place a plane from a construction line in the hole on the original sketch to a line on the face of the extrude but since the lines are on different sketches they are unable to be seen at the same time. These lines are shown on the left most hole. Once I get this figured out I'll probably start over with vent 3 so I can copy the 1st occurance for all the rest. How could I make the vent so if I wanted to change the angle or size of the louvers or holes I could just do it to one hole - do I have to use rectangular pattern and will it work with the holes rotated 90, 180 and 270 degrees? Vent 1.zip Vent 2.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Mather Posted December 29, 2010 Share Posted December 29, 2010 (edited) It is going to be a while till I can get back to this, but a couple of observations 1. STOP - read that pdf document I linked earlier - you are doing wayyyyyy too much work. 2. Use = equal constrants rather than repeating dimensions (I know what and where Inventor is adding constraints - so I never have the visibility turned on cluttering up my screen. 3. Better yet - don't repeat stuff in sketch. Use Feature Patterns, Mirror - in general symmetry when possible (see #1 - read that document). See attached - keep sketches simple. Can edit with just a few dimensions - simply double click on dimension, make change and click Update. Better.zip Edited December 29, 2010 by JD Mather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mobileinventor Posted December 30, 2010 Author Share Posted December 30, 2010 Yes making the reference to the center point sets the sketch up perfect for mirroring! - but I do I connect those 2 yellow dots? When I make a shell .05 inch thick, if i want to cut the material so the red highlighted slice of material can bend to make a louver can I split it apart to pivot it on the axis or should I convert to sheet metal first? What I actually need to do is only make a shell with the outer most boundary -with there being no shells in the center around the holes - and have the louvers the size of the holes and bent. I just noticed I need to bend the plane across the red highlighted section in the picture so as to direct air flow in the vent outwards but it should still be the same principle for learning purpose. Thanks for any and all help as I'm asking lots of questions - I appreciate it a lot! Now that I think about it again, would it be best to take the sketch of all the holes, add flaps to the outer edges to bend over for the outside shell and add flaps in the holes so I can bend those too for when its converted to sheet metal? Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Mather Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 (edited) There are pre-created louver iFeature at http://www.cbliss.com Now that I'm beginning to get the idea of your design intent I will try to revisit this part to present some other techniques. Do you need the flat pattern of this part - or just the finished part. I intentionally didn't show you this technique (see attached) as I nearly always use Feature Patterns rather than Sketch Patterns, but there are times when Sketch Patterns are more appropriate (or perhaps the only way). Patterned Sketch.zip Edited December 30, 2010 by JD Mather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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