Importing a dwg into a ipt. and scaling

[SteveFrey]

I have a .dwg that I need to import into a .ipt file.  My problem is scaling the new part.  The .dwg is in mm and I need it to be in Inches. I forget how this is done.  Can someone explain?  Thanks.

[JDMather]

Is it a 2D sketch or 3D geometry?

[SteveFrey]

2D

[yannicknielsen]

I believe you can force it to import it as inches. Not sure, however, if it imports it as 25mm being 1 inch, or 25 inches.

[JDMather]

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@SteveFrey wrote:

2D

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I would convert to Inventor Sketch Block - then it is easy to scale (if needed) and place anywhere desired.

Units can be handled in several ways, including -dwgunits (with the - sign) in AutoCAD.

[SteveFrey]

Hi JD.  This is the part I need a little "how to" instruction.  Converting to a sketch block seems simple enough but I can't figure out how to scale something.  Can you assist on this?

[SteveFrey]

I think I figured it out.  Since the part I was importing into Inventor was 86 mm wide it showed up as 86 in. once imported into a standard .ipt template.  I edited the sketch dimensions and did 86/25.4 which is the conversion to inches.  Now it's the correct size. 

[Curtis_Waguespack · Accepted solution]

Hi SteveFrey,

If you have AutoCAD, you can select the geometry to import in AutoCAD and choose Copy (Ctrl + V), then switch to Inventor and choose Paste (Ctrl + V). You'll see a bounding box at your cursor before you click to place the geometry. It is at this point that you can right click and choose Paste Options and choose the units to use scale the geometry.

Paste Options dialog box

http://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2014/ENU/?guid=GUID-F7601F0D-21B8-4746-B37D-A80429CA73E2

Copy AutoCAD data into 2D sketches

http://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2014/ENU/?guid=GUID-4C473C5C-0AA5-4DB9-9C64-17956CA9111D

If you don't have AutoCAD and are using Inventor's Import "wizard", then you should have an opportunity to choose the units in the Layers and Objects Import Options dialog box.

Import AutoCAD data into Autodesk Inventor part or drawing

http://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2014/ENU/?guid=GUID-9996B399-313F-4AC2-9E39-B92CE5112F30

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[mdavis22569]

why not save a 2nd DWG .. copy out the mm drawing into a Inch dwg and scale it ...then import it into Inventor 25.4 ...poof done

[SteveFrey]

Now that makes it really easy!  Thanks!

[SteveFrey]

What I can't figure out is how to use the scale tool.  I can't find any instructions on how to do this.

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Hi SteveFrey,

If I recall correctly, you can't scale a sketch block, but you can scale "loose" sketch geometry. If the scale is not a straight units conversion, my preference is to scale in AutoCAD and then paste into Inventor, and then make it a sketch block.

Scale sketch geometry

http://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2014/ENU/?guid=GUID-8E9190C1-6C82-45B9-A05A-25C8AE1F3254

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[SteveFrey]

I remember scaling in AutoCAD was easy (but I don't remember how).  Maybe that was the question I should have asked in the first place. 

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Hi SteveFrey,

In AutoCAD:

1. Type SCALE (or SC ) into the command line, or click Home tab> Modify panel> Scale.
2. Select all of the geometry to be scaled.
3. Specify the base point by selecting a point on screen.
4. Enter the scale factor into the command line.

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[SteveFrey]

In my case I'm trying to make a part that measures 86mm to be the equivalent size in inches.  Normally to figure this out you would divide 86/25.4. 

I can't seem to make this work.  What would my scale factor need to be?

[SteveFrey]

.0393700?