Tag Archives: Architectural Millwork

Architectural Millwork created as rules-based ‘Smart Parts’ using Autodesk inventor with iLogic

Pella ThermaStar New Construction Window BIM Objects – Good to Go!

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It’s been a busy few days filled with computer crashes  & glitches, email interviews, and a huge amount of hectic modeling  behind-the-scenes on a big fat house model.

Thanks to help from Mark Flayler over at IMAGINiT, the big culprit behind all of the crashing I have been experiencing has been traced to the Autodesk Labs 3DA technology preview… which makes sense I guess. Technology previews are not finished work where most of the buggyness like this is ironed out  before it gets added to a program, or —-in some cases just gets discarded. Think of Labs as a place where the programmers can throw their digital spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. Sometimes you get smacked right in the face, but safe is for sissy’s ;)

 The Make Components Crash Fix

For those of you that have installed the Inventor 3DA technology preview and are experiencing crashing upon using the Make Components command, just go to Tools>Options>Add-Ins, select Inventor 3DA from the list, then uncheck the Load On Startup and the Loaded/Unloaded checkboxes at the bottom of the dialog as shown below…

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Introducing the Open Design Project’s New Eco Home Design Section!

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The ODP now uses the Multi-Site feature of WordPress to integrate multiple, separate blogs into one larger whole, and the first off-shoot, the Eco Home blog is now up & running. 

The new  format will allow people with disparate  design goals and styles to meet under a single roof, and hopefully share solutions to design problems. The main thrust will be wood related trades as they relate to ecologically sound home construction, outfitting, and maintenance … no different than it has been, just easier (I hope)  to accomplish.

I will also be splitting off  Woodworking into its own section sometime in the near future, and hope to have the integrated forum up & running shortly….which is one of my projects for today.

So if the site is a bit off-kilter in the coming days, it’s just me in the background screwing things up ;)  —but in the long-run, all will be well.

Look for my post on quickie reverse  engineering later today (if at all possible), its a fairly quick way to get models made when the manufacturer of a given item has no models (and usually not even 2D CAD drawings) available …and all you have to work with is a lame image with dimensions on it.  Until then, have a great day!

[Update: I dumped the multi site crap from wordpress as it totally sucked. there is a new site for home design, but it ia on an entirely different domain. Use this: The Craftsman Cottage]

 

 

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The Mission Table Model Final: The Creation of the Assembly

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There is some pretty slick stuff coming down the pike in this Inventor Tutorial series including web configured components and a eco starter home with a designed-in upgrade path.

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But for now, back to the Mission Table. The skeletal stuff is now complete, and all that’s left is to make components of the whole mess (47 solids). The image to the right shows the outcome … but for now, we have what you see below…

 

 

 

 

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Autodesk Inventor’s Projected Loop Error – A Workaround

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Sick Sketch in Autodesk Inventor

As I was working on the model for the Grape Trellis Design last night, I ran across a ‘Projected Loop’glitch that causes a sick sketch in Autodesk Inventor.

I have been running into this problem since the introduction of multi-solid bodies, and have been using a workaround that I came up with way back in the beginning…..but while prepping for the video below, I found a better workaround.

The Glitch

In essence, if you create a sketch in an Inventor Part with multiple solid bodies, then project more than one loop, all loops but the last one will be sick –as can be ascertained by the sickly pink color of the lines (see image). If you project 100 loops, 99 will be sick. Continue reading →





iLogic for Kitchen Design and Cabinetmaking – Shifting Focus

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Progress on the iCabinet has hit a snag in the creation of an iLogic/API Rule to automatically demote promoted solid bodies to assembles and sub assemblies.

Due to my total ineptitude in writing the part demotion code, I will simply model the process manually and use the opportunity to report the time it takes and any mistakes (if any) that pop up along the way. In the end, this will at least give me the baseline figures for comparison to the procedure once the code is in place –which shouldn’t be too far off.

So I dug the trusty stopwatch that I bought back in the Inventor 10 days when I was tasked with evaluating Inventor’s feasibility as a replacement for AutoCAD…….. it did not go well until Inventor 11 came out, but I’ll leave that for another post –if ever. Since Inventor 11, the program has become incredibly stable, the sun shines brighter, everything seems to taste better, yada, yada, yada…

Anyway….with stopwatch in-hand, I will be placing all of the lower cabinets in the little test layout, then doing all of the demotions to sub-assemblies by hand.

When all of the cabinets are properly demoted to sub assemblies, I’ll move on to creating output automation.

Drawings should be relatively easy, but time will tell. The question I am asked the most though is “does Inventor output to CNC?”. The simple answer is no. Continue reading →





Inventor iLogic for Cabinetmaking – AutoCreate Materials A Success! For Real This Time!

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The latest version of the RGB test is a success! You can download the source files here, and I’ll run you through the process of setting things up.

 The Material Test folder contains the Materials.iam assembly, which contains the RGB.ipt part file. The iLogic External Rules folder contains an External Rule (MaterialFromFeatureColor.iLogicVb) and a Visual Basic  file ( SolidBodies.vb) to handle the heavy code lifting.

In all likelihood, future versions of Inventor will have a higher level of access to to the multi-solid bodies in part files, but until that happens, this scheme works damn well.

After you unzip the RGB_Test.zip folder, you will need to either place the iLogic External Rules somewhere on your machine where you you will remember the location, and use it as your iLogic External files folder, or, if you already have such a folder, place both of the external rules contained within the folder in your own folder. The Material Test folder can go wherever you keep your Inventor files.

If you do not have an External Rules Directory set up, you will need to do that now. On the Tools Tab, click the little down-arrow on the Options Panel, to expose the iLogic Configuration command and click it to get the Advanced iLogic Configuration dialog shown below.  

 

The Advanced iLogic Configuration Dialog

As you can see, I set up the External Rule directory and the iLogic Addin DLLs Directory to point to the same folder. At some point, when there are lots of external files,  I may want to split them up, but it works great for now. Also make sure that the Default Extension for External Rule Fileshas at least the .vb and .iLogicVb showing. If not, add them. Continue reading →