Way to Count Bolts? Anybody Know?

[Anonymous]

I have a question. Since we all know it isn't good practice to bog you assembly down with hundreds of bolts, due to sluggish performance issues when you get large numbers of parts in an assembly. My question is, then how do all you guys perform a bolt count for your entire finished assembly. I mean, is there a way to recognize how many bolts you need without having to go in and add them. And if their isn't a way, then how do you guys perform this task with your own finish assemblies? Do you manually count each? A fix I thought about would be to have the ability to just count the tapped holes in the assembly, giving a thread description next to quantity. The problem you then run into is how long of a bolt. Then I thought about having the ability to add a simple clean thread tag to the thread hole. Say for instance you have a hole in a plate that you have used the "Through all" selection on hole depth, how then do you recognize this bolt depth. My idea of this would allow for a bolt depth tag note, that allows for a distance to be included for bolt type counts. This is the only quick fix I could think of. I wouldn't even know where to begin at attempting this. This is just a problem that I encounter in Inventor and wanted you guys feedback on how you go about doing this. Thanks, Travis

[Anonymous]

I think I'd create a new assembly and add the main assembly to it and then add the bolts and other accessories. That way you'd only work on the top top level when needed. Now my own question: if you have a design view that eliminates all the bolts, and at OPEN, select to open the design view, will the bolts be loaded into memory or only "as needed"? Need to get an assembly to play with..... -- Rui "Travis (IV Pro 9)" wrote in message news:416e973c$1_1@newsprd01... > I have a question. Since we all know it isn't good practice to bog you > assembly down with hundreds of bolts, due to sluggish performance issues > when you get large numbers of parts in an assembly. My question is, then how > do all you guys perform a bolt count for your entire finished assembly. I > mean, is there a way to recognize how many bolts you need without having to > go in and add them. And if their isn't a way, then how do you guys perform > this task with your own finish assemblies? Do you manually count each? A fix > I thought about would be to have the ability to just count the tapped holes > in the assembly, giving a thread description next to quantity. The problem > you then run into is how long of a bolt. Then I thought about having the > ability to add a simple clean thread tag to the thread hole. Say for > instance you have a hole in a plate that you have used the "Through all" > selection on hole depth, how then do you recognize this bolt depth. My idea > of this would allow for a bolt depth tag note, that allows for a distance to > be included for bolt type counts. This is the only quick fix I could think > of. I wouldn't even know where to begin at attempting this. This is just a > problem that I encounter in Inventor and wanted you guys feedback on how you > go about doing this. > > Thanks, > Travis > >

[Anonymous]

I have always put all my fasteners in my assemblies. That way when I hand over my assembly drawing to a tech to put together, all the info is there. Most of my assemblies are also broken up into smaller subassemblies which also helps with my working file sizes.

However, there have been a few times when things have gotten to large and I need to increase the speed. What I have done then was to still insert all my fasteners but to then "disable" them while I continue to work. I enable them when I am ready to make my ipn and idw files. That seems to of helped. I know this is just a work around but without say the ability to tell a certain hole that "you are going to use a M4x20 SHCS with M4 Flat Washer and M4 Lock Washer" what are you to do.

Way back when in the old 2D days, I had attributed tapped hole blocks that asked these questions and then could extract that info from the file, no fasteners needed.

[Anonymous]

Good question. We are struggling with this exact thing now. Although the fasteners are common parts that are used throughout the assembly, they do put a strain on the resources if you have a large number of them. Even if you apply design views to turn them off, from what I have been told, they are still loaded into memory. In my case the fasteners are required so I can tell where interferences will be. Putting the fasteners in a sub-assembly doesn't really benefit anything and if the holes that the fasteners go in moves, the bolts will not move with them. So you loose some fuctionality doing it that way. I don't have a solution other than to use design views that turn them off. It does help when you have to work in the iam's and you can do without them being turned on. But, at some point you will have to turn them on and that is when things get slow. Same thing for the idw's. When you place the views in the drawings, if you can do without showing the fasteners, then don't show them in the views. Show them only when you need them. -- IV R9, SP1 Dell PWS360, 2.6ghz, P4 2 Gb ram nVidia FX1000 6.14.10.6808Driver 1260x1024x32 bit "Travis (IV Pro 9)" wrote in message news:416e973c$1_1@newsprd01... > I have a question. Since we all know it isn't good practice to bog you > assembly down with hundreds of bolts, due to sluggish performance issues > when you get large numbers of parts in an assembly. My question is, then how > do all you guys perform a bolt count for your entire finished assembly. I > mean, is there a way to recognize how many bolts you need without having to > go in and add them. And if their isn't a way, then how do you guys perform > this task with your own finish assemblies? Do you manually count each? A fix > I thought about would be to have the ability to just count the tapped holes > in the assembly, giving a thread description next to quantity. The problem > you then run into is how long of a bolt. Then I thought about having the > ability to add a simple clean thread tag to the thread hole. Say for > instance you have a hole in a plate that you have used the "Through all" > selection on hole depth, how then do you recognize this bolt depth. My idea > of this would allow for a bolt depth tag note, that allows for a distance to > be included for bolt type counts. This is the only quick fix I could think > of. I wouldn't even know where to begin at attempting this. This is just a > problem that I encounter in Inventor and wanted you guys feedback on how you > go about doing this. > > Thanks, > Travis > >

[Designer_Mike]

I'm hoping Mechsoft will streamline this issue. Kent's kwiksert has made the process much less painful, and I usually don't have enough fasteners to noticeably affect performance.

BTW, where is that Mechsoft suff anyway?

[joemang]

Travis
I add 2 custom properties to the part that list the mounting hardware. I add this to my part IPT template so it is always available when creating a new part. The quantity is added to the end of the string to help in sorting.
FASTENER 1/4-20 X 1.00LG (4)
DOWELS .2500 DIA. X .75 LG (2)
This way I can have it part of the bill of material and know what hardware to use with a specific part. The bill can be exported to excel and sorted on the hardware column to get a pick list.
Joe

[Anonymous]

We go ahead and place all our fasteners. The performance hit is not as bad as the one we take from all the other library parts that are in our assemblies. Most of our library parts are dumb solids that were STEP imports. Travis (IV Pro 9) wrote: > I have a question. Since we all know it isn't good practice to bog you > assembly down with hundreds of bolts, due to sluggish performance issues > when you get large numbers of parts in an assembly. My question is, then how > do all you guys perform a bolt count for your entire finished assembly. I > mean, is there a way to recognize how many bolts you need without having to > go in and add them. And if their isn't a way, then how do you guys perform > this task with your own finish assemblies? Do you manually count each? A fix > I thought about would be to have the ability to just count the tapped holes > in the assembly, giving a thread description next to quantity. The problem > you then run into is how long of a bolt. Then I thought about having the > ability to add a simple clean thread tag to the thread hole. Say for > instance you have a hole in a plate that you have used the "Through all" > selection on hole depth, how then do you recognize this bolt depth. My idea > of this would allow for a bolt depth tag note, that allows for a distance to > be included for bolt type counts. This is the only quick fix I could think > of. I wouldn't even know where to begin at attempting this. This is just a > problem that I encounter in Inventor and wanted you guys feedback on how you > go about doing this. > > Thanks, > Travis > > -- Hal Gwin Mechanical Designer Xenogen W2K SP4 Dell Precision 650 Dual 2.66 GHz Xeon 1.5 GB DDR Quadro4 900 XGL nVidia 6.14.10.6085 w/registry update Dell UltraSharp 19" LCD

[Anonymous]

Joe,

Why don't you take that one step further and define 4 custom properties: one for the fastener call and one for each fastener call quantity. That way when you export to excel you will already have a column of just quantity to sum up and sort with.

[Anonymous]

I heard that we should be seeing this in the next few days. -- IV R9, SP1 Dell PWS360, 2.6ghz, P4 2 Gb ram nVidia FX1000 6.14.10.6808Driver 1260x1024x32 bit "Designer_Mike" wrote in message news:2324878.1097770972955.JavaMail.jive@jiveforum2.autodesk.com... > I'm hoping Mechsoft will streamline this issue. Kent's kwiksert has made the process much less painful, and I usually don't have enough fasteners to noticeably affect performance. > > BTW, where is that Mechsoft suff anyway?

[joemang]

I am trying to keep it lean as in most cases an accurate count is not important. Do I need a box of 50 or 100 of 1/4-20 x 1.00 SHCS. I will always issue more than what the bill calls for because I don't want the assembler to spend $2.00 (10 min) looking for a $0.10 screw if he drops one.
Joe

[Anonymous]

Is there a way to pull all the threaded holes out of an assembly grouping the similar ones with their respected quantities? Or what about this idea. I think this would work, tell me my problems I could run into. I'm brainstorming here guys. In theory, now that we have a clearance hole selection in the hole creator. Wouldn't it be safe to say that would be a way to read all threaded holes in the assembly, then all the clearance holes in an assembly and having a matching simulation. What it would do is match the threaded hole to the clearance hole of its respected size. Now can Inventor know how deep a distance the clearance hole is? Same would be true for a threaded hole that is all the way through. If you can get the distance of the hole thingy worked out. I don't see why you couldn't make an add-on that would match these things up, and tell you the ones that didn't find a match. But the problem I see is knowing the length. I just thought that there would be a way to match up a threaded hole with a clearance hole and then add their depths for a bolt length. I know I'm doing the its easier said than done thing, but I'm trying to get some ideas out there about this stuff, its really time consuming and agrivating. Travis "Travis (IV Pro 9)" wrote in message news:416e973c$1_1@newsprd01... >I have a question. Since we all know it isn't good practice to bog you >assembly down with hundreds of bolts, due to sluggish performance issues >when you get large numbers of parts in an assembly. My question is, then >how do all you guys perform a bolt count for your entire finished assembly. >I mean, is there a way to recognize how many bolts you need without having >to go in and add them. And if their isn't a way, then how do you guys >perform this task with your own finish assemblies? Do you manually count >each? A fix I thought about would be to have the ability to just count the >tapped holes in the assembly, giving a thread description next to quantity. >The problem you then run into is how long of a bolt. Then I thought about >having the ability to add a simple clean thread tag to the thread hole. Say >for instance you have a hole in a plate that you have used the "Through >all" selection on hole depth, how then do you recognize this bolt depth. My >idea of this would allow for a bolt depth tag note, that allows for a >distance to be included for bolt type counts. This is the only quick fix I >could think of. I wouldn't even know where to begin at attempting this. >This is just a problem that I encounter in Inventor and wanted you guys >feedback on how you go about doing this. > > Thanks, > Travis >

[Anonymous]

See the 9.5 Upgrade? I thought it was suppose to be released mid summer this year, but I guess they're falling behind. I'm hoping it has something for bolts, I'm getting aggrivated with this stuff. Trav "Kirk A." wrote in message news:416eb390$1_1@newsprd01... >I heard that we should be seeing this in the next few days. > > -- > IV R9, SP1 > Dell PWS360, 2.6ghz, P4 > 2 Gb ram > nVidia FX1000 > 6.14.10.6808Driver > 1260x1024x32 bit > > > "Designer_Mike" wrote in message > news:2324878.1097770972955.JavaMail.jive@jiveforum2.autodesk.com... >> I'm hoping Mechsoft will streamline this issue. Kent's kwiksert has made > the process much less painful, and I usually don't have enough fasteners > to > noticeably affect performance. >> >> BTW, where is that Mechsoft suff anyway? > >

[Anonymous]

Hw do you know how long of a bolt to use? You would have to look and see what its mating up to, right? Also do you put the custom data on the threaded part, or the clearance hole part? Travis "joemang" wrote in message news:15603541.1097772960124.JavaMail.jive@jiveforum1.autodesk.com... > Travis > I add 2 custom properties to the part that list the mounting hardware. I > add this to my part IPT template so it is always available when creating a > new part. The quantity is added to the end of the string to help in > sorting. > FASTENER 1/4-20 X 1.00LG (4) > DOWELS .2500 DIA. X .75 LG (2) > This way I can have it part of the bill of material and know what hardware > to use with a specific part. The bill can be exported to excel and sorted > on the hardware column to get a pick list. > Joe

[dan_mayers]

Unless you subscribe to the "figure it out after you build it" school (which works quite well sometimes), I usually put in fasteners if I am able. It just eliminates all of my mad leet counting skilz 🙂

For a really large assembly like you are talking about, I would look at using a simplified fastener-- maybe just a short cylinder or something -- with the necessary values associated. It gets you a mid ground between counting it all yourself and the performance hit from adding a bunch of fasteners.

Dan

[kbenoit10]

For piping assemblies, to account for studs, nuts, and gaskets for flanged connections, I made cusom iParts that are geometrically nothing more than a small sphere (a revolution 1" in diameter), then populated the description of each set in the content center, that includes (4 per set) or (8 per set) etc., followed by their proper description. Then when the pipe run is done, the last thing I do is go over to one end of the pipe run, and insert one "studs & nuts" part  and one "gasket" part per flanged connection. Again these just come in as small spheres (they don't look like studs or gaskets), then I turn off their visibility in the model, but they still show up in the parts list, then I just manually adjust the quantity (10 instances of 2" 150# RF Studs X 4 per set = 40 total). If I later add or remove some, I switch back to static value of description so I can see how many required per set, then manually adjust total again.