Inventor Bolt List

[FORBESWILSON6174]

Further to a previous post on Bolt Grades, I am not winning in creating Bolt Lists in Inventor.

I know Inventor will populate a Parts List with the Bolts in an Assembly, however that is not ideal as it messes up the column widths and format of our Parts List.

Is there a way to create and populate a Custom Bolt List that can be inserted into an Assembly drawing and be exported to excel to provide a Supplier.

We have managed to export Bolted connection parts inserted from the Content Center, but the we can't do anything with the connections created from the Design Bolted Connection.

We can obviously export the list to excel re-name it and modify it, but how can we import the list back into the Inventor drawing.

With all the users out there, I am sure someone has figured out a way to create a Bolt list from an Assembly.

Any help / suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

[rhasell]

Hi

Not sure I understand 100%

As for the Assembly number, I don't think that is going to work, firstly the content center is read only, so you cannot write the value to the part/assembly, secondly, these are all shared parts so any value written, if at all possible, will get overwritten the next time you use it. This will affect all old drawings.

Below is screen cap of one of my typical bolt lists on a drawing. (looking at the screen cap, I see I need to update my library, the M10 nut used for the extrusion assembly, is still from an old configuration, that's the beauty of the content center, after I update the library, all future/past assemblies and parts will update)

fasteners.png

or another job

fasteners -2.png

[cadman777]

I just create a separate assembly drawing set for all fasteners.

If there are sub-assemblies, then I break them all down in order.

Each sub-assembly has its own fastener PartsList.

And I have a Total Fasteners PartsList on the last sheet.
You can't always please your customer.

I just tell them it's a lot of extra work, which means a lot more money, and they capitulate.

So unless you can code, and don't mind wasting all that time for one little thing a customer wants, then I think it comes down to logistics and cost. But if it's a long-term thing, then it may be worth hiring someone to code it for you.

[FORBESWILSON6174]

Thanks for your reply Reg, I should have realized that what I wanted to do was not possible without code, so Chris’ and your options are the best for each Assembly.

We have managed to capture bolts in out Design Management Data Base, and at the moment the Bolt lists are the only item not finalized, but thanks to all those who responded to the Post we can populate the following:-

Master List

Bolt List 6.jpg

Drawing Register 

Drg Register.jpg

Material List 

Material List.jpg

Bought Out List 

Bought Outs.jpg

Bolt List 

Bolt List.jpg

I still have work to do on the CC Library, but at least we will have a Complete Doc Control System.

I will post an update when it is finished.

Regards,

Forbes 

[FORBESWILSON6174]

Hi Reg,

After some serious project work, I now have some time to re-look at the bolts.

Looking at your Bolt List, you populate it with your own custom properties, correct?; if so what happens to the Part Number / Description from Custom Content, how do you handle that?

How do you prevent that from appearing in the Parts List?

[FORBESWILSON6174]

I managed to successfully create custom bolts, nuts and washers in my Custom Content Folder, however I have subsequently found out that the Bolts and nuts should have been Heavy and not just the inch series.

I deleted the parts from the Content Center and created new custom parts from the correct library items, however the problem I am now having, is when I try and add the Custom column (which was deleted with the parts) to the Family Table the table rejects the column advising that the Parts must be unique and won’t allow me to continue.

This was not a problem when I created the original column and mapped it to an Inventor Property.

How can I rectify the problem, as the info needs to be mapped to Inventor properties as we originally set it up along with a couple of other columns for our system to function as we have set it up.

Any help will be appreciated, as I am in territory I am not that familiar with.

Regards,

[cadman777]

I found that when that message appears, it's b/c the 'designation' (FileName in the FT, and PartNumber in the PartsList) for each part is the same for one or more parts. I found that when I do edits to the FamilyTable, esp. when I copy one Record and Insert it into the FT, that the column items that are automatic (based on the formula in the Properties DB) remain static and don't update with the changes made to the Record (such as thread pitch or height, across flats, etc.). The way I solve that is to first make sure I got all the data correct for each new line-item. Then I delete all the BLUE colored text in each line-item so it auto-updates to what it's supposed to be. That usually solves it. The key is making sure all the identifying info is different for each and every part in the FT. I believe the FT looks at the FileName to determine that.

[FORBESWILSON6174]

Thanks for the feedback.

It doesn’t make sense to me, the FT is created with no problem, but the minute I add a new column, the lightning flash appears, before I have added any values to it.

Family Table 1.jpg

Family Table 2.jpg

If I delete the column the lightning flashes remain and the only way they disappear is if I exit the Table without saving.

So before even editing the Table I have a problem.

I will try a new setup from my Laptop and see if that works, but I just find it strange that the system was working with the ‘incorrect’ bolts, and the edit has caused problems.

[cadman777]

Here's some things to try:

1. Did you try saving the table with the LighteningBolt but without making any changes to see what happens?

You should get a warning message telling you that you have empty cells in the table.

2. Did you try adding values to the cells in spite of the LighteningBolt and then Save the FT to see what happens?

3. Did you try editing the table in Excel? That's the icon at the top far left.

[FORBESWILSON6174]

Thanks for the feedback Chris.

To answer your questions:-

1. Yes, message attached.
2. Added values no problem, just wouldn’t save, gives the message below..
3. Haven’t tried the Excel option, that was going to be the last resort, but I will give it a try.Family Table 3.jpg

   The above message appears as soon as I make changes and try and save, like adding the column with no data. 

[rhasell]

Hi

Did you copy the library into a new library?

Are the fasteners going to a new directory, this could be the issue of duplicate file names.

Also is the file name by design, i.e "copy of.. bolt name" ?

Chris is correct in deleting all the blue values, it will re populate

Below is some screen shots of my library setup

The highlighted columns are all custom or modified. Some of the columns are for my default BOM sorting setup (The 'z' places things on the bottom of the list.)

bolt.pngbolt 1a.pngbolt 2.pngbolt 3.png

[rhasell]

Also, if I remember correctly, if you need to edit the library, you need to run Inventor in administrator mode.

(RMB, "Run as Administrator")

[cadman777]

It may be possible that you have a corrupt FT.

Did you reuse a table that you previously edited extensively?

I've had that when I did a lot of changes to a table.

It sucks, b/c you have to start from scratch.

But in the end it's worth it.

Also, you have to be careful when using Excel to edit the table.

I can't tell you all the ins-and-outs of it b/c it's quirky.

You'll find out when you use it.

But Excel is an excellent way to do it.

I did my entire structural re-work using Excel b/c it's easier to change things repetitively.

[FORBESWILSON6174]

Hi Reg & Chris,

Thanks for the responses.

What I have done now, is deleted the Custom Bolts, and saved parts to the new library folder with new FT.

The part is reflected in my CCC Library. I opened Inventor as administrator, and tried to edit, same problem.

Family Table 4.jpg

 

I tried editing the FT in Excel, saved the file, but when Inventor saw the file it rejected it with the previous warning.

It must have something to do with the File Name and [Copy of ANSI B18.2.1 - 1/2-13 UNC - 1(4)], but when I did this the first time, all I did was replace the ‘Copy of’ with A325-GR8 and there was no problem.

Not sure what to do next, I will keep plugging away and hopefully find the answer, I even tried to set it up on my Laptop, but the same thing happened.

[cadman777]

Sorry you're experiencing this trouble!

If it was me, the next thing I'd try is to reboot the computer, reopen Inventor, and try your project on another fastener.

If that fails, then I'd try it on another type of CC part.

If that fails, then I bet you have either a WindowsSecurityRights problem or you have a problem with your Inventor installation.

I do not know how to test for either, sorry.

I'm betting Johnson knows or at least can get your started in the right direction.

[FORBESWILSON6174]

Hi Chris, no problem, if I can't sort it out by tomorrow, I will book a half day with my Autodesk supplier, the will send someone to my office to sort the problem out. It will give me the opportunity to sort out a few other things as well.

Thanks for all your help, I will give you all an update when we are up and running properly.

[FORBESWILSON6174]

After trying more options, I have established that the problem lies with the original CC Heavy Hex Bolt - Inch part.

A colleague of mine tried the Heavy Hex Bolt and had the same problems that I am having.

I exported the Heavy Hex Structural Bolt and edited it no problem.

I just need to compare the dimensions to see if the Structural bolts are the same.

[FORBESWILSON6174]

I forgot to ask if anyone has the solution to the problem, to let me know as the Heavy bolt properties are different to the Structural bolt properties.

[cadman777]

Give these a try (attached).

They are from IV2010.

Note: These are my own custom fasteners.

They are not out-of-the-box Inventor CC parts.

So you'll have to massage them to suit your standards.

Maybe your newer HHB FT is just corrupted?

I wonder if anyone knows of a way to check the CC for corruption and fix it, like AuotCAD has with its Audit command?

[rhasell]

Hi

I went on this mission to try and see what was wrong, I created a new library, found and copied the Heavy bolts to the new library.

As soon as I made a change to the file name, I was presented with the same error.

I then tested it with another bolt family, this worked as expected.

I suspect you may have uncovered a bug.

@johnsonshiue  perhaps you can assist with the issue here, I have screen caps, and can replicate the issue in Inventor 2023.01 (I used the library of "Heavy Hex Bolt - Inch")

I made a small change to the file name, which results in the error when trying to save the library.

Thanks.

[FORBESWILSON6174]

Hi Reg,

Thanks for the reply and effort.

At the moment, I am using 2021, so I hope they fix the bug that far back.

Regards,