alignment without constraints

[Anonymous]

Howdy folks

Relative newbie here - just stared a class last month - and I'd like to do something that looks kinda simple but no go so far. All I need to do for now is to align one part to the center axis of another part. Later I will constrain but for now I just need to see  where the two meet so I can project geometry onto a draw surface. So, all I need to do is make their central axes coincide on one straight line.

I can achieve the same result by counting the various lengths but I'm hoping there's a simpler solution.

Thanks much in advance

Joe

[MariaManuela]

Hi!

You're talking about the Assembly environment?

If yes you have a tool called Grip Snap

"Use the Grip Snap command for precise movement or rotation of one or more assembly components, work geometry, or subassemblies"

Hope help

[SBix26]

This is precisely what constraints are for.  What you are describing ("make their central axes coincide on one straight line") is a constraint.  Why not use the tool that Inventor provides for this purpose?

That said, it will be considerably easier for you to accomplish if you have modeled the two parts symmetrically around their respective origins, but you can also do this by creating work axes in the parts.  If you post the parts and assembly files here, someone can show you how.

[JanVarholik]

There is also "Assemble" command (Menu\Assemble\Assemble) which automatically creates contraints for you. So, you don't need to select (or know) the contraint type before using it. It's probably easier to play around with this command before you enter the world of constraints.