Inventor Tutorial for Designing a Shaker Table – 2 – Sketching Stuff

In the first installment of this Inventor Tutorial for designing a Shaker Table , we left off adding parameters that will be used in the Sub Top Sketch to create the table’s leg and two apron sections. The apron sections will be mirrored into full parts later, then all three will be mirrored to create 4 apron parts and 4 legs.

This sketch is very basic and should take very little time to complete. We are starting with only the Sub Top Sketch visible, the View Cube set to TOP, and zoomed in on the lower left corner of the projected rectangle. Activate the sketch by double clicking on it in the Feature Browser, then create a square in the general location where the leg will go (image below). Add the Leg_Width parameter to both sides of the square, and use the Leg_Inset parameter to position the square equidistant from the lines representing the corner of the table top…

 

Now, zoom out a bit and draw two rectangles in the rough location and size of the apron sections. Note that the apron sections will be drawn at about half length…

 

It was at this point in the design (adding the dimension for the apron thickness) that I realized that I had no parameter for same. So I left the parameter I just added to one of the apron sections as-is, opened the Parameter Editor, and added Apron_Thickness to the list with an Equation of ¾”. When done with that, I double clicked the parameter that I just placed and chose the new parameter just created. The other apron section needs the same.

 

Next we will need to connect the ends of the aprons to the leg. We will do so with a Collinear Constraint between the apron end and the line representing the closest inner face of the leg…

 

After constraining both aprons to the leg, you need to add the Apron_Inset parameter between the face of the outer faces of the aprons and leg…

 

With that done, there are two dimensions needed to fully constrain the sketch (as can be seen in status bar in the lower right of the program). In this case we will not be adding dimensions, but rather constraining the outer ends of the apron rectangles to the centers of their nearest top line. If the ends of your aprons are nowhere near the center of the projected lines from the top, drag them close, then grab the Horizontal Constraint and click either of the corners of the leftmost apron, then the center of the projected line…

 

…do the same to the other apron using the Vertical Constraint. The sketch will now be fully constrained. Click the big fat green Finish Sketch check mark in the upper right of the program and save the file. Now for a corner brace. Start a new sketch on the same plane –the Sub Top Work Plane, and name it Corner Bracket. Now would be a good time to let you in on an Application Options change you should likely make. In the Application Options, go to the Sketch Tab, change the default Constraint placement priority from Parallel and perpendicular to Horizontal and vertical. Very bad things can happen with the default setting that will cause you no end of misery. Trust me. I’ll do a post that demonstrates the particulars at a future date, but for now, just make the change.

 

 

 

With the change above made, draw a line segment as shown to the right anywhere in the center of the table top. While the implied Vertical Constraint glyph is visible, click to create the line. You will now have a line with a Vertical Constraint applied to it. Right click the line and choose “Show Constraints” from the context menu to be sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finish drawing the bracket as shown below making sure the bottom line has a Horizontal Constraint. Use the Apron_Thickness parameter for the bracket’s thickness. Because things will be resized  later, having the thickness of the bracket relative to the thickness of the apron makes sense. At any rate, all parameters can be overridden via iLogic if desired later.

 

Now grab the Project Geometry tool and project all of the inner lines from the previous sketch to this sketch. Shut off the visibility of the Sub Top Sketch and you should have something like the image below…

 

Now we need to add another parameter to the parameter table. Add Bracket_Offset and give it an Equation of ½”. That’s all for today, in the next installment, the bracket will be fully constrained, and we’ll add a driven dimension that will be read by some iLogic code that will automatically select the correct hanger bolt. See you then…

 

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