Best methods to start modelling

[NachitoMax]

Hi

i have drawing with Inventor for a while now and currently i start within a part file, draw up a majority of parts and then save them out as new parts to an assembly. I wondered though, is the the best way? from my point of view, it allows a certain amount of paramater integrity as i only have 1 set of parameters for material thicknesses etc whereas, in the assembly environment parameters are limited to that individual part.

Just recently i tried starting from scratch in an assembly environment and came across a few pros / cons

Cons

no F7 function to cut to the surface when in sketch mode

paremeters do not pass to the assembly file without needing some sort of science degree......

much harder to alter or fine tune dimensions i.e. changing width from 2000mm to 1998mm is difficult vs part

too many clicks involved in add a new part and lots of browsing for templates and file paths

ifeatures added in assembly do not reflect in main construction ipt

after a while, you have to revert to assemlby anyway to complete the model

Pros

you can quickly add in duplications of parts you have created

contraints remain intact (i copy pasted all parts from one assem to another created in my usual method, everything was spread like it had exploded)

you can add your ifeatures quickly thus identifying potential collisions / errors

when i draw, i tend to box out or butt joint panels together then in the assemlby, use ifeatures for join methods of rebates / dados etc.

So, what would be the best way? it seems that either way you have to start in one and edit in the other. In an ideal world, you would start in the assembly and add ifeatures as you went along and also fixings (which you cant do in the part file).

i would be interested to hear other peoples preferences as to what they start in and how they feel about that 🙂

Thnaks

Nigel

[rmerlob]

Hi,

I actually think your way is much better and most people will recomend it, especially in plastic parts.

I think the only set back is if you try to add too much detail on the master part then it might get confusing, I like having the master part just containing the most important information for the parts (sometimes just parametric sketches), with the majority of details within each part file.

I then add content center stuff on the assembly, I dont think it is such a good idea to add features at assembly level though, or at least I havent found a benefit in doing so if you are deriving the parts from a ´´master´´ file.

What do you mean by ´´fixings you cant add in a part file´´?

BTW: If everything you drew with a common origin explodes when placing in an assembly you can right click and select place grounded at origin.

RM

[NachitoMax]

Hi

thanks for the reply. what i mean by 'fixings you cant add in part file' is lets say, minifix connectors. BTW i am in woodwork so i have or speak a certain level of joinery sayings. When i first started, i had a feature to make the holes then in the assembly, add the component whereas now, i use iparts with the holes included. This way i can add the components from the library and make the holes in one shot. it saves me lots of time. The holes are not shown in the main model ipt but are shown on the exported parts.

i was actually mistaken with adding ifeatures in the assembly  lol, i was trying to think from memory ha ha.

For now, i will continue with my method. i tend to draw everything basic and butt jointed together then wizz round afterwards and add my rebate joints. i add my dowels, dowel holes and hinge holes in the assembly.

Thanks

Nigel

[rmerlob]

Cool, seems you have a well thought out workflow for your type of work and that might be the most important thing, could you post an example picture of it so we can give more feedback?

[NachitoMax]

Hi

Yeah no probs. I'll take some screenshots tomorrow as i go through my model to demonstrate 🙂

Nigel