ERP Ready Cabinet Design Tutorial – The Face Frame Options

Best guess is that we will only need three intermediate rails, so that’s what we will create. We also need to represent the top and bottom rail in this sketch here to keep things bulletproof. What I mean by that is that if we were to use the top and bottom rail profiles in the Side Elevation sketch to create our features, then some idiot (me) drives the width to a dimension larger than the face frame itself, the line that represents the top or bottom rail goes beyond the frame geometry that it used to be part of. The example below shows a bottom rail that is sketched the same way as our Side Elevation sketch… Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

ERP Cabinet Design – Inventor 2013 Squirrely Graphics Update

As of yet there is no word on what causes Inventor 2013’s graphics to go squirrely, but my best guess is that it has to do with sketch geometry being driven by an iLogic rule. At any rate, I’ve decided … Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor 2013 New Feature – Origin Plane Display

            This new feature for Inventor 2013 takes a bit of getting used to, but when it all boils down, it’s a nice addition to the program. In the old days, when you clicked on … Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor 2013 New Feature – User Preferences

This new Inventor 2013 feature is new in the same sense as buying a used car. It is new to you --but has been around the block. What they have done is removed some of the preference that used to be only available while you were installing Inventor, and placed them in various places within the program. This not only benefits you with the access to these settings at all times, but also makes for a much smoother install. I can say from my recent (two days ago) experience installing Autodesk Product Design Suite 2013, that it installed flawlessly -without a single nag screen –a vast improvement over previous versions where Inventor alone was a nightmare to install (Product Design Suite 2013 has a huge amount of included programs, and all of them installed effortlessly and attended from a flash drive). Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

ERP Ready Cabinet Design Tutorial – Explaining iLogic Code

The ERP system I worked with using Inventor 2011 and 2012 was still in beta, so I’ll look into where they are at, and hopefully add some tie-ins to their system. At any rate, whether or not we tie this model into an ERP system immediately, we should be able to do so at a later date without too much modification. We’ll begin today with a video… Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor 2013 New Feature – Squirrely Graphics?

I just finished creating a YouTube video for the next post in the Automated Cabinet Design series, and started to write the post, when I ran across some bizarre behavior in Inventor 2013. I have been working on the Plan sketch with the Side Elevation sketch turned off for at least a week now –since before installing the production version of Inventor 2013. I needed to take a look at both sketches together so I turned the visibility of the Side Elevation on, and there it was…..a blob of blue spaghetti way off in the distance, with no way to get to it… Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Cabinet Configurator Tutorial for Inventor 2013 – Plan Sketch – 3

In the last installment of this Cabinet Configurator Tutorial, we left off with the Plan sketch nearly complete --but the side panels geometry was left only partially constrained due to the length of the post. As with the Shaker Table blogtorial, we need to create a setback in the sketch that is driven by iLogic, which will be driven to zero at some configurations. Doing so will almost always result in a portion of your model flipping inside-out when driven back to a non-zero configuration. So what we will do to stop this from happening is create an outrigger. Please use the outrigger link if you would like more info. Otherwise, let's get to it... Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor 2013 New Feature – Default Application Options

...this Inventor 2013 new feature is incredibly brief. In Inventor 2013, two of the default settings in the Application Options have changed --both of them on the Sketch Tab. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Autodesk Products Online Only says Autodesk’s CEO Carl Bass

Below is a video of an interview of Autodesk CEO Carl Bass by Andrew Keen. At about 2 minutes into the video, Bass states that in 2 to 3 years, Autodesk Products will be Online Only --which, and I'm guessing here, likely means a 'subscription only' sales model. Most of the companies I know of update their software as infrequently as humanly possible to squeeze every last nickel out of what is a very expensive purchase in the case of most Autodesk Products. Please click the 'Continue reading' link below, and sound off on the Autodesk Products Online Only sales tactic in the comments. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor 2013 New Feature – Enhanced Error Messages

This New Feature for Inventor 2013 is obviously geared specifically towards the Inventor noob. What it does is this; noob (or overzealous old-timer) clicks on Extrude or Revolve with no Sketch (not the more common lack of closed loop –no sketch at all!). Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Cabinet Configurator Tutorial for Inventor 2013 – Plan Sketch – 2

In the last post in this Cabinet Configurator Tutorial, we added a new work plane, created the Plan sketch, then created the geometry that represents the plan version of the face frame. In this sketch, all geometry from front to back that is constrained to the projected points –such as the face frame, will not need dimensioning. The projected points will smoothly update to any changes in the parameters that dive the geometry they were projected from. Any geometry drawn front to back however, will require dimensioning. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor Simplification IP Removal – Autodesk Labs

Anything that helps protect Intellectual Property is a welcome addition to Inventor. I will run the plug-in through some tests and report the results here –most likely over the coming weekend. You can find the download over at labs if you want to give Inventor Simplification a shot. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor 2013 New Feature – Overflow Menu

In the 2012 version of Autodesk Inventor, the marking Menu was introduced, and it had one flavor –the marking Menu plus a full overflow menu. As of Inventor 2013, there are now tree flavors: Radial Menu Only, Short Menu, and Full Menu. I covered a lot of this in the Inventor 2013 New Feature – User-Defined Marking Menu post, but there’s some new material here as well. The Radial Menu Only can be seen to the right, and the Short and Full menus are shown below… Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Cabinet Configurator Tutorial for Inventor 2013 – Plan Sketch – 1

In the last installment of this Cabinet Configurator Tutorial for Inventor 2013, we completed the Side Elevation sketch which described pretty much everything there is to see when slicing through the cabinet vertically through its center (whether or not the element is actually sliced through). This next sketch will show the elements that are possible horizontally. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor 2013 New Feature – User-Defined Marking Menu

In this segment of the Inventor 2013 New Feature posts, the Marking Menu, which made its debut in Inventor 2012, gets a second, user defined instance for those of us that desire to fine-tune Inventor to match our workflow (and why would you not?). With this new feature, you can create a very granular set of on-demand commands that should speed up your day by a boat load. At least. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor Tutorial – Layout Part Creation – Side Elevation – 5

In the last installment of this Automated Cabinetry Inventor Tutorial, we got all the way around the cabinet with our sketch, but there are still a few things to add. We need to get the applied toe kick in place, add a locator for the adjustable leg, and add the rail representations in the top nailer frame. If time allows, we will start on the variable sketches that will begin to describe the variation available to the base design. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor Tutorial – Layout Part Creation – Side Elevation – 4

The sketching begins with two parallel lines that are each coincident to the line that represents the back of the face frame and the line that represents the inner face of the back panel. Remember that every line in these cabinets either needs a horizontal or vertical constraint with a few exceptions that will be called out, so from this time forward, it’s up to you to not screw up. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Autodesk Product Design Suite Premium 2013

For those of you who are unaware what a Product Design Suite is, let me fill you in. Last year, Autodesk got rid of the old software suites (mine, Inventor Series, included Inventor, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Mechanical, and Vault Basic), and replaced them with much larger Design Suite packages. People who were current subscribers to the old Inventor Series were bumped into one of these new suites. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor 2013 New Feature – Context Sensitive Marking Menu

        Context Sensitive Marking Menu’s are not new for Inventor 2013, Inventor 2012 had this feature as well. What is new is an additional environment that the Context Sensitive Marking Menu is available. It is now available … Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor Tutorial – Layout Part Creation – Side Elevation – 3

In the last installment of this Cabinetmaking Inventor Tutorial, we created a couple parameters, sketched in the face frame profile, and dimensioned the new face frame using the new parameters. Today we will continue sketching. The features we will need to portray in this elevation slice are a top nailer frame, a back nailer, the back, the deck, the kick, and the face frame’s rails. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor 2013 New Feature – In-Command Marking Menu

Not a lot to say about this Inventor 2013 New Feature. Back in Inventor 2012 when the Marking Menu made its debut, the In-Command (while you have a tool active, such as the Extrude or Revolve tool) menus were not consistent. The Loft tool for instance, had no Marking Menu at all. In Inventor 2013, all of the tools I have looked at so-far have a consistent In-Command Marking Menu. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor Tutorial – Layout Part Creation – Side Elevation – 2

In the first Inventor Tutorial in this series we went through a lot of the Inventor basics, and left off with a Layout Part with a couple parameters in it controlling a rectangle that describes the extents of our model … Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor 2013 New Feature – Create New File Dialog Box

This new Inventor 2013 feature, Create New File Dialog Box, will be about as exciting as watching paint dry for some, but if you have a busy company with lots of clients, or, if you would like to automate a lot of the daily design grind, then this may be of interest to you. I wouldn’t really call this feature new –it’s more of a huge improvement on an old one. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor 2013 New Feature List Debut

This will create a handy way to easily find out what specific features do, and allow for commentary on the plusses and minuses of each feature, and allow for people to describe their own workflows for the feature in question. At the very least, it will be very helpful to the struggling noob ;-) Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.

Inventor Tutorial – Layout Part Creation – Side Elevation – 1

Inventor uses a Right Handed Cartesian coordinate system, whereby your base plane is XY with the Y axis pointing up towards the top of your monitor, the X axis pointing to the right, and the Z axis pointing out of the computer monitor towards you. The model would come out the same no matter which coordinate system is used, but we need to stay on the same page if you want to end up with a working model at the end of this blogtorial. Continue reading →

Autodesk Inventor Tutorials by the OpenDesignProject - This site is the home of the Autodesk Inventor Blogtorial series tutorials.