topic Can't get this solid to shell in Inventor Forum

Can't get this solid to shell

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 15:44:23 GMT

I have tried varying thicknesses and can not get the solid to shell. I would like the shell to be .05 inches. Any suggestions?

Re: Can't get this solid to shell

JDMather — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 16:49:11 GMT

There are many errors in the construction - note the i in circle glyphs in the browser.

You only need one user created workplane (and maybe not that one) and don't need any work points.

Some of your sketches aren't fully defined.

I found some "zig-zags" in you sweep profile sketch?

While someone works up a solution - I recommend that you install Service Pack 2.

Re: Can't get this solid to shell

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 17:31:55 GMT

Is Service Pack 2 an add-on to Inventor?

Re: Can't get this solid to shell

JDMather — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 17:36:56 GMT

Maybe something like attached is what you really wanted.

Service Pack 2

or this one (can you find the difference).

Re: Can't get this solid to shell

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 18:46:52 GMT

I appreciate your help. Was the main design change turning the 4 extruded parts into ribs?

Re: Can't get this solid to shell

JDMather — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 20:46:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

... Was the main design change turning the 4 extruded parts into ribs?

Nope, had nothing to do with anything - just a different way.

The main problem is that your sketches are basically garbage (see the image I posted above) - I would concentrate on creating clean, simple, fully constrained sketches.

Can you reproduce my sketches one-by-one? Reproduce my Sketch 1 and attach your file here for inspection. We can work our way though this step-by-step

Re: Can't get this solid to shell

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 12:19:15 GMT

Here's sketch1

Re: Can't get this solid to shell

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 13:13:10 GMT

Also, which faces did you select at this step?

Re: Can't get this solid to shell

JDMather — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 14:15:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Here's sketch1

Excellent!

It looks like you discovered the Centerpoint Rectangle tool and the Projected Origin Centerpoint.

Model all of your parts making use of geometric symmetry (if it exists) about the Origin Center Point and you will have better sketches, fewer workplanes and often fewer features.

For the Shell select all of the faces you want to remove - any remaining unselected faces will be offset by the thickness you choose.

Basically what you are doing is Delete Face and Thicken (two separate commands in Inventor) in one operation with the Shell command. So concentrate on the faces you want remaining to Thicken. For practice you might use the Delete Face and Thicken rather than Shell and then Shell will make more logical sense. There are some additional benefits to Shell once you understand the command (like multiple face thicknesses - expand the dialog box).