topic Re: Frame Generator with holes Workflow in Inventor Forum

Frame Generator with holes Workflow

CWC_Drawing_Office — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 13:46:51 GMT

Hi all,

I hope the community is doing well?

I need some assistance, I want to make a frame using FG. Some of the members will require holes for mounting purposes.

What is the correct way to insert the holes and how would I then go about detailing individual members that need detailing.

All assistance & advice is appreciated.

Re: Frame Generator with holes Workflow

christopher.jonesSYKHJ — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 14:08:48 GMT

Hi stacey,

The best way to add holes to a Frame Generator is to either using the Machining section of a Weldment assembly if that is being used, or as a standard hoel feature at the Frame Gen assembly level if it isn't a weldment.

You can add a hole to be 'Thru All' and remove participants by expanding the hole feature in the browser and right clicking on them (if for example you only want the hole to be through the outside members but not any others it passes through when using the thru all option). The only thing to note using this method, is that any new members that get added later in the holes path would also need to be removed as participants from the feature. To handle the individual members for drawing detailing using this method would mean isolating those members individually in the assembly using view rep's etc.

Re: Frame Generator with holes Workflow

SBix26 — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 15:18:12 GMT

Since you're asking about detailing individual frame members, I suspect that you want to add the holes to the members before assembly.

If that's the case, simply edit the individual members and add hole features as necessary, just as you would with any other part. And likewise, create drawings of the individual frame member part files just as you would with any other part.

If the holes need to be added during assembly, then of course you will create assembly-level hole features and detail them in an assembly drawing.

Sam B

Inventor Pro 2022.2.1 | Windows 10 Home 21H2

Re: Frame Generator with holes Workflow

jmenier — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 14:29:54 GMT

My company does many structural steel structures and frames. When detailing connections using frame generator my method is to double click and work in the Frame portion/folder of the assembly then use the "bolted connection" tool. This tool will drill the holes through the members and add the fasteners to a BOM which is helpful if you utilize that too. A caveat here is if you had an end plate that wasnt a structural member created by frame generator you will need to drag it into the Frame portion/folder to get it to behave with the bolted connection tool. A great thing about doing this way is that all your work is associative, so if frames change length your bolted connection will move with the frame.

Re: Frame Generator with holes Workflow

CWC_Drawing_Office — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 07:39:44 GMT

Great stuff! Thanks for the answer. I'll give it a go.

Re: Frame Generator with holes Workflow

charles.karl — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 17:08:55 GMT

Hello, I am having issues with point locations placed within my frame generator not updating the hole location on a frame member if an edited dimension drives the hole to a different location.

Here are the steps I am taking:
Place frame generator grounded at origin in my sub-assembly
Insert frame members
Edit the member to add holes
Highlight the member face and enter sketch mode directly to the frame member. (should I have added a reference plane here?)
Project points from the frame generator that represent hole centers
Apply holes to the frame member

Everything works great up to this point, but if I modify the length of the member or modify the point spacing in the frame generator, the projected points loose association with the frame generator Projected Geometry (the points). Using Global Update does not update the member either.

Re: Frame Generator with holes Workflow

johnsonshiue — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 00:58:19 GMT

Hi Charles,

The behavior does not sound right to me. It should just work associatively unless the frame subassembly is repurposed in a different assembly. Please make sure 2024.4.1 update is installed. If the behavior persists, share the files with me directly at johnson.shiue@autodesk.com. I would like to understand the issue better.

Many thanks!

Re: Frame Generator with holes Workflow

charles.karl — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 01:02:11 GMT

Thank you very much for responding. I will install the update you suggested and test it.