threads

[ebmanne]

I have looked at inventor for the first time and I'm a bit confused, has anybody else noticed that the thread form is round, formed by a coil, and not triangular. In AutoCAD, threads can be formed by using the "thread.lsp" routine to provide a true thread shape, is there anyway to do something like this in inventor. Also what about none standard thread forms. Many parts I draw require unusual thread sizes ie. .5" dia with 56 tpi, 1" 40tpi, etc.

[bweir]

Try using a coil....The thread form that is displayed in Inventor is a bitmap for a reason, it saves on processing power while modeling. In your drawing, a view can have threads turned on or off.

[Ron Oldenbeuving]

I could suggest editing your thread.xls file in the "Inventor ? \ Design Data" directory to include the unusual thread forms you wish to use. First, make sure no windows of Inventor are open, and create a copy of this file (just in case things don't quite work out), then open and edit the spreadsheet as needed. When you open Inventor next, these new threads should be accessible. Good luck,

[robertb.65723]

Threads in inventor parts are a surface image only, this is to increase performance/ reduce file size.

[ebmanne]

If the threads are there for "show" , can I assume that the data contained in the spreadsheet is correct,to provide an accurate model.

[BigBopper]

I'm not quite sure what you think is going on here...
The spreadsheet does not drive the thread model, niether does it drive the image. To my knowledge, there is no model generated for standard thread forms. If you are planning to drive a machine tool from this, I don't know if you can. The only way I'd create an actual model for threads is if it is a custom thread form that must be machined. If its in Machinery's Handbook, I don't bother.

[BigBopper]

PS,
I have seen people get hung up on the thread issue before. If you are newly evaluating Inventor, I SURELY wouldn't write it off because of this. It is really not an issue, because once you understand why it is the way it is, you will see that this is an excellent solution.

[ebmanne]

Other than the thread issue, I really like what I see in inventor. Since I only do solid modeling of parts, it seems like a good choice but I will have to purge my brain of Autocad and reprogram it for inventor, hopefully with out a meltdown.I will have to work on my nonstandard threads. Thanks for the help.

P.S. there aren't many people on the inventor forums, compared to the AutoCAD forums, are inventor users just smarter than AutoCAD users and don't need as much help or what?

[RELSTL]

I,ll agree with Big Bopper, first you must decide where the purpose lies .
I,ve been in autocad for a while and I shure don,t know that much about all the
background stuff and this is my first year of inventor class , thank goodness
for a good young teacher.
I'd say if you are doing these strange theads all the time think about
creating an .ide file .
Or there is a possibility a user site has already created one you can download, there
is lots of that stuff out there people are always playing and making new programs
they want to show off all the time.
I dont create programs but in the last ten years the greatest thing that I've taught
my self is to research web sites and in my own system , reuse , reuse ,reuse .
Relstl, Real Steel Design.

[ebmanne]

I just received my copy of "Autodesk Inventor 9, Essentials Plus" from amazon (two days shipping for free, not bad) so I can start to dig into details and get a better understanding of what I'm doing, I'm still thinking in terms of Autocad. A note on threads, I just downloaded an article from Sean Dodsons website and it may explain how to do the threads I need. There are literally hundreds of thread types out there 55 deg, 47 1/2 deg, obsolete Metric (which are still in use) plus all the odd sizes, and these are what I frequently have to use. It will be a challenge but that can be fun too.