Dianne,
Thank you for the effort you put into this. It is evident that you
researched this thoroughly. I am aware of the methods you suggest. Creating
a separate drafting standard for small holes is probably the best one.
With you forbearance I would like to take the conversation to the next
level. None of these configuration changes should be necessary to draw a
nice centerline. Inventor makes use of a huge amount of computational
intelligence. I think your developers could create a centerline function
that worked nice if they wanted to.
Much work has gone into making pretty rendered models that behave
wonderfully on the display. This is the fun stuff. However our money is made
off the drawings. This is the grunt work. Autodesk had a reputation for
being the premiere 2D Cad company. We used its product to create great
drawings. Even though 3D modeling has taken center stage we still need to
make great drawings. I used to do this by exporting MDT drawing views to
AutoCAD and doing all the annotating there. Since it is now possible to make
a decent drawing with Inventor, it is more efficient to maintain the
associativity and use inventor drawings.
Think for a moment about what a drawing describes. Edges and holes.
Dimensioning edges works great. Dimensioning holes doesn't. We are doing
good on 50%. This means that half the time I am annoyed by the boneheaded
way centerline show up on drawings.
What I am saying is: Fine, put all the neat stuff in that makes the product
compare well to the competition from a marketing standpoint. Just don't
forget what we use it for. To make those pretty models we must have
drawings. Since I have to make them I want to enjoy the process not fight
with it.
BTW
This is a real world complaint. I own a machine shop and my machinist must
use these drawings to make parts.
Thanks for your patience,
Best Regards,
Jim Short
"Diane Hawes (Autodesk, Inc.)" wrote in message
news:A6638A8024592C495B50E690FF59040A@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Jim,
>
> I apologize for taking so long to get back to you regarding this matter.
>
> The length and "shape" (meaning number of gaps, size of gaps, location of
> gaps, etc.) of the leg (sorry, I do not know the technical terms for the
> various parts of a center mark) of the center mark is determined by two
sets
> of data. One set includes the radius of the circular edge. The other set
> is located in the Drafting Standard dialog, on the Center Mark tab.
> Specifically the Mark, Gap, and Overshoot values. These values are
> physically or absolutely applied to the center mark. They are just
lengths
> applied to the lines and gaps.
>
> However, a problem would occur if the radius became too small. You would
> see things like the gap appearing outside the circular edge. And this is
> wrong according to the standard. So, when the radius of the circular edge
> gets too small, we ignore the mark and gap lengths and draw a solid line
for
> the leg which is the length of the radius.
>
> This is difficult for me to explain using words. If you could create a
part
> with holes of increasing size (say .1 difference in the radius) and then
> place center marks on all the holes in a drawing with a view of that part,
I
> think that would demonstrate what I am trying to explain.
>
> In the example you provided this is exactly what happened. The radius of
> the inner circular edge is too small for the values you have specified in
> the Drafting Standard. What you are seeing is a mark with legs that are
the
> length of the radius with an overshoot applied.
>
> There are three ways you can change this.
> 1. You can select the outer circular edge for your center mark. Given
the
> Drafting Standard data you sent me, this radius is large enough to display
a
> center mark with a gap. And the center of the center mark will be in the
> same location.
>
> 2. You can change the values in the Drafting Standard. The drawback with
> this solution is that all your center marks will change. So, if you have
> circular edges with a larger radius, your center marks will again look a
> little odd.
>
> 3. You can create another Drafting Standard with different center mark
> values. Use this new one when creating center marks for your smaller
> circular edges. And use the original one for creating center marks for
your
> larger circular edges.
>
> I hope this helps. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.
>
> Regards,
> Diane
>
>