Learning Inventor 2016 - Not Happy

[SuperCAD]

I'm trying to add holes using a rectangular sketch on a surface. When I go to click on the lines to add the holes I can ONLY select the corners of the rectangles. I cannot add a hole at the midpoint of the line unless I add a point on the line in the sketch. Is that normal or am I doing something wrong?

[Magnum Z]

I think holes in inventor have always worked that way but there are multiple choices using the hole feature command. "From sketch" - works from points only, "Linear" - works from part/solid features, "Concentric" - self explanatory, "On Point" - also self explanatory. If you're just trying to make an extrusion/cut of a simple circle, you could just draw the circle on the sketch and do it that way. Actual "Holes" require pre-arranged & constrained geometry, sketch or solid, to create.

 

 

For your purpose, I'd say your best bet to make a hole would be to use the Linear method. You can locate the hole on a face and certain distance from two reference edges.

 

 

I'm using 2015 so I'm not 100% sure the haven't changed something.

[SuperCAD]

Thanks for explaining that. When I use the linear option, it creates a new hole in the feature tree for every point that I click on. Does that mean that I cannot change all of those holes in one shot if the size needs to change? Do I have to change them individually?

 

I guess I should have prefaced this thread by saying that I would MUCH rather use SolidWorks, but corporate is forcing us to go with Inventor because it's cheaper, and because they are under the impression that more people have "heard of it". I don't expect Inventor to work the same as SolidWorks, but compared to what I'm used to this feels like it's about 10 steps backwards.

[MarkFlayler]

Trying to explain the benefits of Inventor to a devout Solidworks user is like trying to explain evolution to a creationist.

 

 

In all seriousness, they are very similar and have both pros and cons on both sides.

 

 

In regards to your issue, is there any reason why you wouldn't just use a rectangular pattern on your holes instead? I normally do this so that I can use the Pattern associatively in the assembly for component patterns.

[SuperCAD]

The reason is lack of experience with the software. I'm just starting out with Inventor, and while I'm not happy about the direction the company is moving in, I'm trying to give it a fair shot and really learn it. Right now, however, it just seems like there are more steps to accomplish a task than what I'm used to in SolidWorks (again, most likely related to lack of experience with it). We had a training session with an Inventor reseller and well over 80% of the questions I asked him, which were all based on things that I COULD do in SolidWorks, his reply was "no, Inventor doesn't do that." I even cracked open my laptop to explain my question about sketching to him, and he was amazed that I added an additional sketch plane so easily. However, I know this could all be because he wasn't very good at using Inventor.

 

And trust me when I say that I know SolidWorks isn't perfect and has its' own set of flaws, but I haven't seen anything from Inventor yet that tells me that SolidWorks isn't the better tool for my job.

[czc]

Thanks for explaining that. When I use the linear option, it creates a new hole in the feature tree for every point that I click on. Does that mean that I cannot change all of those holes in one shot if the size needs to change? Do I have to change them individually?

 

I guess I should have prefaced this thread by saying that I would MUCH rather use SolidWorks, but corporate is forcing us to go with Inventor because it's cheaper, and because they are under the impression that more people have "heard of it". I don't expect Inventor to work the same as SolidWorks, but compared to what I'm used to this feels like it's about 10 steps backwards.

 

You could link all of the holes to the same parameter and change that.

[SuperCAD]

You could link all of the holes to the same parameter and change that.

 

I could, but that would be an additional step. I'm trying to reduce the amount of steps it takes to add features.