Community
Inventor Forum
Welcome to Autodesk’s Inventor Forums. Share your knowledge, ask questions, and explore popular Inventor topics.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

re: shelling an object on the outside

8 REPLIES 8
Reply
Message 1 of 9
cmanzo1
638 Views, 8 Replies

re: shelling an object on the outside

Hello All,

 

I am trying to shell this object (a smart phone case) on the OUTSIDE by 1.8mm. It is giving me an error message with one vertex too small (in the corner).   I have gone down to .05mm to reduce the thickness just to see if it will shell at all, and it does not. Any thoughts? I finally got shapes to sweep here to make the object the correct shape and really need the actual object to be a shell 1.8mm larger than this current body. 

 

Inventor 14pro

 

Thanks much,

 

Christopher

Tags (1)
8 REPLIES 8
Message 2 of 9
BarryZA
in reply to: cmanzo1

I just learned something - didn't know you could shell to the outside!

 

Have you tried working with surface tools instead and offsetting the surface?

Or maybe derive as a percentage, just throwing ideas around.

 

I'm still on 2013, so I can't open your file I'm afraid.

Message 3 of 9
cmanzo1
in reply to: cmanzo1

Found it - split off corner (the offending part) first, then shelled each separately.  Combine back and wha la, a complete shell.  C

Message 4 of 9
wilkhui
in reply to: cmanzo1

Hi Christopher,

 

It's good to hear that you found a workaround but there are some underlying sketch issues which may cause you downstream problems, such as what you're experiencing with the shell failure.

 

For instance, if I look at Sketch6 I can see that it hasn't been constrained because of the "62 dimensions needed" notification in the bottom bar:

 

Sketch6.JPG

 

Further, the sketch has multiple lines that are close to each other, which can introduce unpredictable behaviour:

 

multiple_lines.png

 

I'd like to draw your attention to JD Mather's 60 Autodesk Inventor tips document, in particular pages 5-12.

 

I'll work on your part and see if I can get the desired shell to work if the sketches are fully constrained and the duplicate lines removed but in the meantime I hope that JD Mather's tips prove useful.

 

Best wishes,

Indy



Inderjeet Singh Wilkhu
Product Owner - ASM
Autodesk, Inc.

Message 5 of 9
wilkhui
in reply to: cmanzo1

Hi Christopher,

 

I couldn't extract enough information about your required dimensions for the phone case so I've created a similar example made with fewer features, hopefully it illustrates what I meant in my previous post. I could have avoided Combine1 by changing the workflow a bit, it just goes to show that there is always room for improvement..!

 

case_example_iw.JPG

 

Thanks,

Indy



Inderjeet Singh Wilkhu
Product Owner - ASM
Autodesk, Inc.

Message 6 of 9
cmanzo1
in reply to: wilkhui

Thanks Indy - I got it to shell by breaking off the corner and working each piece seperately.  What is 'constrained'?  I've seen this, but have no idea what it is/ does.  

 

Cheers,

 

C

Message 7 of 9
wilkhui
in reply to: cmanzo1

No problem - constraints and dimensions allow you to define sketches using conditions (perpendicular, parallel, etc.) and measurements (lengths, angles, etc.) in a similar way to what you would see in technical drawings.

 

If you haven't used these in Inventor before it may be worth going through the Sketch Constraints tutorial.

 

Hope this helps and feel free to get in touch for anything else,

Indy



Inderjeet Singh Wilkhu
Product Owner - ASM
Autodesk, Inc.

Message 8 of 9
cmanzo1
in reply to: wilkhui

Hello Indy,

 

Oh... I have been using constraints... just did not know that was their name. So, Inventor likes known, constrained forms....got it. The more definition, the easier it is to make solids out of them.  Like the sweep, extrude, combo!  So, you are creating 'the edge' condidtion and then merging it into the block. Shell after this is done. That is nice. I was doing alot of extrude, extrude, extrude with the occasional sweep when it worked. But this has been getting me clunky corners, so I will try this other work flow as you have outlined. 

 

I was also able to, finally, make the sweep sketch 1.8mm larger, sweep it, and then shell it down inside.  Not sure why it was a problem to make it larger, but there you go. I also cleaned up the sketch, so that might have helped a bit.

 

Thanks for your help here - have a great holiday!

 

Christopher

Message 9 of 9
wilkhui
in reply to: cmanzo1

Hi Christopher,

 

That's correct, in general more definition makes life easier later on. Like everything else, it gets faster the more you practice and if you get stuck then the online Inventor community is always ready to help.

 

Hope you enjoy your holidays as well Smiley Happy

 

Indy



Inderjeet Singh Wilkhu
Product Owner - ASM
Autodesk, Inc.

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Post to forums  

Autodesk Design & Make Report