Rotating A Part

[Anonymous]

I am new to Inventor, so I have browsed through some other posts and I am still coming up empty.

Some of the problem might be the many years of using AutoCAD but I'm unsure either way.

I have a model that I've started to asssembly and have a corner bracket attached to a tube using a constraint.

So now I wish to rotate that bracket 180 degrees about that same tube that I have it attached to.

I am having a devil of a time figuring out how to do this.

I have read a few other responses that are similar but I'm having trouble following the process.

I'm thinking I need visual guidance as apposed to verbal.

Can any of you help me out here?

Almost forgot to add, I'm using Inventor 2014.

I'm attaching a screenshot as your visual aid.

Radar

[Anonymous]

Really depends on the full set of constraints but you can always try rotating and updating:

[JDMather]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm attaching a screenshot as your visual aid.

Radar

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An even better aid would be to attach the actual assembly here.

The usual practice is to model about the origin planes and then Mate or Mate-Fush the appropriate planes.

[CCarreiras]

Hi!

Depends what you use to constraint, can be made in several ways... this is only one more idea...

[Anonymous]

@wimann,

I looked at using free rotate but I don't see how I can control the rotation about a linear point.

Not to mention that I'm looking for 180 degrees and I've never been one to just say "Oh that looks close."

At least not where my cad files are concerned.

As to attaching the assembly I would but I'm unclear on how to do that when you're looking at parts that are being imported from other locations.

I guess I could make them all available.

Is that what I would have to do?

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

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@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous,

...

Not to mention that I'm looking for 180 degrees and I've never been one to just say "Oh that looks close."

At least not where my cad files are concerned...

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I would never suggest such a thing 🙂 Allow me to demonstrate. This is assuming that you've fully constrained it but it is facing the wrong direction.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the video ccarreiras.

I'm sure that I have what you were showing me in the vid figured out but I'm not getting it to work.

I think it may be because after I constain the elbow I am also setting the tube into the elbow at a specific depth.

So then I can't get the part to rotate as you show in the vid.

Radar

[Anonymous]

Okay wimann, no matter what I've tried I just can't get the matting surface of my tube to highlight as you show in your video.

So I get as far as rotating the elbow bracket and selecting Local Update, which does re-orient the elbow but I still can't get it to align with the tube.

So there is still something missing in my process.

Although I will say that I had to set your video up to loop since you ran thourgh it so fast I could not keep up.

I just kept watching it over and over again until I thought I had the process down.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

...Although I will say that I had to set your video up to loop since you ran thourgh it so fast I could not keep up.

I just kept watching it over and over again until I thought I had the process down...

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Oops. My mistake. For the record, some of my other videos are worse. Glad you got the concept of what I was trying to show. I first highlight my constraints to show how the pieces are held together and how I'm getting a result I don't want. Then using the rotate command allows me to move the piece without the constraints momentarily, then updating reapplies the constraints and presto, it's oriented properly.

As for why this would not work for your parts, well, I would need to see the constraint set you've used on those parts. If you want, you could do a "Pack and Go" to save all of your parts in that assembly (and the assembly itself) to a folder that you can then zip and post here as an attachment. Then we can all look and diagnose what's going on.

[CCarreiras]

PLace here the parts, and we show you...

[Anonymous]

Okay so I have some good computer skills, I've been using a computer for over 20 years.

Not just for work but at home too, for many different things but this Pack and Go thing has me confused.

Like this for instance:

That is the name of the assembly file.

So then I get this:

So I'm guessing that I need to do something with the destination folder but I'm unsure.

If it worked the way I would expect I would just be able to select all of the parts currently being used and pack them all together and send off the zip file.

This is the problem with not having someone right here at work that I can learn from and watch as I go along.

[CCarreiras]

Hi! 

You have to give a destination folder. In this destination folder you will have the copy. Zip that destination folder and upload it here.

Also make sure you skip templates and styles, or your file will be bigger then you need.

Read about "Project Files". But now, i think you can skip the warning and continue.

[Anonymous]

The way that I believe I've done it in the past is to set the destination folder, unselect "Include Linked Files" and just leave that as "Model Files Only", I don't believe I've left the "Collect Workgroups" box checked in the past. Then once you're there, you click "Search Now" and it will do a quick memory check then you click start. It will think for a minute or two depeding on the size of your assembly then once it is done, click done.

Admittedly, Pack N Go is one of the most clunky and archaic tools in Inventor. But once you find your way through it, it can be really helpful. I think once vault became a more prominent player in the AutoCAD design world, Pack N Go's became more and more obsolete and thus the need to update fell to the wayside. That's my assumption anyway.

[JDMather]

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@Anonymous wrote:

...This is the problem with not having someone right here at work that I can learn from and watch as I go along.

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With internet access you have the entire world of Inventor users right at your desk.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to both WiMann and JDMather for all of your help with this stupid problem.

I really appreciate all of the help!

I understand how it can be since I have helped others myself on a couple of different forums that I belong to.

Okay so here is my zipped folder.

It's about 4 meg in size, so it's very manageable.

I have figured out a work around but I still need to work out the original problem.

With the work around I just took an exsisting file and saved it off and changed it to what I needed.

I still need to create the drawing with the dim's & the part list.

Oh, I really liked the video, it even had a voice attached!

Although it didn't sound anything like the guy in the avatar.

Radar

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

All this needed when I opened it was a centerline constraint. Start a normal constraint and select the cylindrical face of the elbow bracket and and then the cylindrical face of the pipe and presto.

Was this not what you needed?

[Anonymous]

Yes!

Thank you, that was what I needed.

I was just having trouble following along with the video, so that on top of being a newbie with this program I keep hitting speed bumps.

With your written response it filled in the gaps.

Although I ended up getting a constraint error message but I hit accept and it went away.

So I think I'm good with this.

That doesn't mean it won't trip me up on the next model I start!

Radar