stevsmith Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 The company that i work for designs feature staircases using 2d AutoCAD. Broken down into fabrication drawings for manufacturing. I have been asked by my compnay to investigate the advantages of moving over to Autodesk inventor. My concern is that it wont achieve what we require. My understanding is that it is more primeraly used for mechnical products rather that feature architectural works. Can you supply and images of feature stairs using inventor? And let me know if it would be benificial to switch over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Mather Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 One of my former students uses Inventor to design staircases. I would think it would be an ideal use of Inventor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevsmith Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Do you think it would take alot to customise inventor to suit the nature of the project. I have uploaded an example of a stair I am working on just now. Its a twin stringer helical that cranks in 3 directions. 425-01 01 Rev F 1.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Mather Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Do you think it would take alot to customise inventor to suit the nature of the project. I don't know why any customization would be needed? If you do a lot of similar stuff of course you could set up iPart, iFeatures, iAssemblies and/or spread sheet driven parameters to make designs go very fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shift1313 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I think you would be very happy with the transition if you are designing these in 2d right now. You may produce some techincal issues that may have been missed doing this type of work in 2d. I just drew some lines real quick. I took your pdf, put a bmp in a 2d sketch and "traced" the path lines. I then did a few work planes and projected my 2d lines onto these planes. I drew one stair and tried real quick to do a linear pattern. I would have to play with it a bit to figure out if you could do it all in one path, but you can it to follow the path. same thing with hand rails, support beams etc. You can take all this and make a 2d drawing from it after as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevsmith Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 I've never been sceptical about using inventor. It's probably just the fact that I've never drawn a stair using it that is making me have second thoughts. I used to use inventor years ago, but I've lost touch with it through the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankman Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 A client recently purchased Inventor '09 specifically for stairs. A very expensive program, ouch. He did try a few drawings, I was impressed. I intend to watch his progress with interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevsmith Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 He did try a few drawings, I was impressed. I intend to watch his progress with interest. I'd be really interested in seeing some of his samples. If it's not to much trouble:D:D:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankman Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I'd be really interested in seeing some of his samples. If it's not to much trouble:D:D:D When he returns to Pennsylvania from Arizona, I'll have a drawing sent to you. I have only viewed the printed drawings (Inventor '09). Never saw Inventor in action. However, seems to me (just my opinion), I would rather build from vanilla CAD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevsmith Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 When he returns to Pennsylvania from Arizona, I'll have a drawing sent to you. I have only viewed the printed drawings (Inventor '09). that would be fantastic. thanks tankman:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojo Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I designed all of the staircases on the yachts my company makes with inventor. I am working on a staircase tutorial, but cannot post a link. Sorry. Inventor is the way to go though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kencaz Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I've never been sceptical about using inventor. It's probably just the fact that I've never drawn a stair using it that is making me have second thoughts. I used to use inventor years ago, but I've lost touch with it through the years. Curious, I am assuming you want to transition to 3D. Have you tried drawing any of your plan-view stairway's in 3D yet using AutoCad? It is certainly very capable... I am a big Inventor and AutoCad 3d Fan and I think Inventor could certainly do what your asking, however, since you have 3D capabilities already at your fingertips, you may want to experiment with that a little before making a big purchase decision. Just a thought KC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thea Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 I don't know why any customization would be needed? If you do a lot of similar stuff of course you could set up iPart, iFeatures, iAssemblies and/or spread sheet driven parameters to make designs go very fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevsmith Posted October 13, 2009 Author Share Posted October 13, 2009 Curious, I am assuming you want to transition to 3D. Have you tried drawing any of your plan-view stairway's in 3D yet using AutoCad? It is certainly very capable... I am a big Inventor and AutoCad 3d Fan and I think Inventor could certainly do what your asking, however, since you have 3D capabilities already at your fingertips, you may want to experiment with that a little before making a big purchase decision. Just a thought KC kc. I can actually do staircases in autocad 3d. but if there is a design change it can make life a living nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevsmith Posted October 13, 2009 Author Share Posted October 13, 2009 I don't know why any customization would be needed? If you do a lot of similar stuff of course you could set up iPart, iFeatures, iAssemblies and/or spread sheet driven parameters to make designs go very fast. Did you cut and paste JD's answer?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denimoth Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 I'm also working for a company that designs ornamental metal products, which mostly involves stainless steel/glass railings on a stair (or many stairs). This one project I'm on currently also has us designing and fabricating the stair structure itself along with the railings. Stevsmith is correct in that when you receive design changes, or have to modify the stairs due to site dimensions (what an architect shows and how things are built on site don't always match), modifying solids in AutoCAD is a pain. I've been using AutoCAD for the past 11 years and am now really starting to think about switching to Inventor. I'm not at all concerned with using Inventor for the fabrication part of our drawings. I'm more concerned about whether or not we can also provide architectural style submittal drawings so that the architect and general contractor can review what we intend to make, and how it fits in with the other structures that aren't by us (i.e. floor structure, walls, ceilings, raised platforms, etc.). From my very limited knowledge of Inventor (I've only done a couple of tutorials using Inventor 2010 trial version), I figured out how to move different views onto new drawing sheets. But how can I change the View Labels to show a standard detail bubble (a circle with the detail number in top half, and the page number that the detail is on shown in the bottom half). I can't have a detail named "C" and have the architect flip through 30-40 pages looking for this detail. Can this be automated or do I have to insert it as a block (if that's even possible)? Also, I guess I'd have to create parts for the floor structure, walls, gypsum boards, steel studs, and will have to make sure these aren't incorporated into any BoM's or such, since they wouldn't be things our company would make or install on site. But these need to be visible on our submittal drawings so that our installers will know where to place the stair or panels or whatever, in relation to slab openings and wall locations that would be existing on site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERIC(NAC) Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Hey guys sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong place but I'm new to this Forum stuff. I am also a new user of Inventor and so far I love it but I can't really do much with it. What I really want to learn is how to draw stairs with Inventor. Like Steve I also work for a stair company and we use Auto Cad 2010 for all our drawings. I was wondering if there were any Tutorials on how to draw stairs.Can anyone help me please? Thank You Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Mather Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 I was wondering if there were any Tutorials on how to draw stairs.Can anyone help me please? Probably the best place to start is, "Can you attach something that you have done so far?" so that we can see where to start. If you haven't gone through the built-in tutorials, skill builders or training you might at least do the turorials first. This might be of use (a little old but still good starting point) http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/AU2006/MA13-3%20Mather.pdf I would imagine stairs would be pretty simple use of Inventor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shift1313 Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 do you have any examples of what you want? welcome aboard by the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERIC(NAC) Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 I'm trying to attach some PDF files just to give you an idea of what kind of work we do. As for the built-in tutorials I have gone through them and they where very helpful. I actually created a movie for a Zip Bolt to hold together rail parts, it's not the greatest movie ever but it's a work in progress. I would attach a link to the movie I created but this Forum will not allow any rookies to attach links until after 9 post. SAMPLE 1 OF 2.pdf SAMPLE 2 OF 2.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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