Starting on Inventor

[rickG123]

After recently passing my qualifications in Mechanical Engineering, my company offered me a chance to train as a CAD engineer,so I've started on the Autodesk inventor 2014, this is my first time on doing anything on computer related drawings as i have mostly been on the shop floor machining.I'm Finding it hard to get the grip of things on more complicated drawings. My question is how hard is this program to use for beginners and if anybody has any tips for me to make life a bit easier. Any sources of information would Be helpful.How long did it take for you to get comfortable with 2D and 3D drawings?

 

[rollupswx]

Help>Learning Tools>Tutorials and Skillbuilders.

http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/SkillsUSA University.pdf

http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com/p/inventor-tutorials.html

Post a file when you run into trouble.
I learned better than 90% of what I know from on-line forums like this one.

 

[GregLocock]

I leant Autocad from the tutorials, way back when (v11), but I recently worked through a book on Inventor by Banach Jones Kalameja which at least gave me the confidence that I knew roughly how to do simple jobs properly.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[imcjoek]

Fully constrain your sketches and you will be ahead of 90% of the "3d Cad Experts" I get the privilege of interviewing.

 

[swforge1]

Hi All
Been working with Inventor for over a year now, prior 10+ in Solidworks. In assemblies I notice if there is a mate(sorry constraint) problem, I am unable to drag parts around until I correct the afflicting constraint. The bad constraint does not appear to be as evident as it is in SW however. Sometimes I can do a rebuild and find all broken constraints, but not always(?). Also fixing each individual contraint, or deleting ot thru the repair tool seems to be very time consuming. Can anyone suggest an easier quicker way to find and address constraint issues? Thanks

 

[cbell1007]

If you have been on the shop floor machining this whole time, you have a bit of advantage I never had when I began using inventor 6 months ago (my previous experience is in Pro-E and 8 years OTJ of AutoCAD). You are going to model your parts the same way you would in the shop and create cuts and other parts, on assembly level, from the first on you created. The company I work for is getting ready to hire another inventor drafter and I will be training him/her. So feel free to email me with any questions you have and I will be happy to help, as i'm sure my new co-worker will have similar questions they may not want to ask that I don't think of.

Good luck and Have fun!
CBELL1007@gmail.com

 

[rollupswx]

... and create cuts and other parts, on assembly level

Assembly level cuts only appear at the assembly level (not on parts at the part level).
I would probably not advise a beginner to create assembly level features or adaptive (assembly level) parts.

 

[Sparweb]

I have found that attempting to navigate Autodesk's website for help of specific questions can be frustrating.
Starting a fresh Google search with "autodesk inventor....." gets me what I want every time.

When you don't have a specific question, the tutorials are good and quite fine-tuned by now (they used to leave people high-and-dry wondering why something didn't work). Work your way through them, download the example files, do your own models in step with the tutorial system. It will help freeze in a lot of the lessons from the training course.

I hope your company has a draftsman who will review and correct your drawings, an essential part of the process. Good model-makers may or may not be good drawing-makers.


STF