Inventor---tube chassis

[losikid]

Is there a way to easily do tube chassis modeling in inventor? or possibly another auto desk software?

Because i can't figure it out....

[KC_JoNeS]

Solidworks dood.

Casey

[92LILREDYJ]

I have seen some made in google sketchup.

[C*H*U*D]

Are you looking to make drawings or accurate CAD models or just looking for something to do visualizations to get ideas?

[losikid]

Originally Posted by C*H*U*D

Are you looking to make drawings or accurate CAD models or just looking for something to do visualizations to get ideas?

All three

Mostly just to see how it'll look like....but i'm unsure i want to put my skills to the test with aluminum, so i'd like to be able to have a drawing/cad file i can give dimensions on where stuff is supposed to go...so someone else can build it

What i'm doing is taking my geometry off my lcc and make a tuber...i'm making abunch of changes to it, mostly making it more moa course friendly, while not changing up the geometry too much.

[losikid]

Originally Posted by KC_JoNeS

Solidworks dood.

Casey

It ain't free, dood

As a student i get autodesk software for free

[Crawling Calvin]

Originally Posted by losikid

It ain't free, dood

As a student i get autodesk software for free

Call me old school, I use #2 pencil and graph paper from my 18th birthday

That aside I use Autocad 2010 for the actual drawings that get turned into G-code

[TSK]

I used my eye and guesstamations when I made my tuber. And Calvin's assistance with steel side plates

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by 92LILREDYJ

I have seen some made in google sketchup.

That's what I would say as well since it's free. Duuuuuuuude might even be kind enough to do a tube tutorial for us.

If you just want to visualize, Blender and trueSpace are also both free but lack the CAD drawing features you may be looking for.

[Wrecker]

I use solidworks to design all the chassis I build then print 2d templates of the sides and top at 1:1 scale so I can bend the tube and then lay it on the template to make sure its perfect.

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by Wrecker

I use solidworks to design all the chassis I build then print 2d templates of the sides and top at 1:1 scale so I can bend the tube and then lay it on the template to make sure its perfect.

Originally Posted by losikid

It ain't free, dood

I also use Solidworks but for many it's not an option. I think he's looking for an inexpensive alternative.

[losikid]

Originally Posted by C*H*U*D

I also use Solidworks but for many it's not an option. I think he's looking for an inexpensive alternative.

No, a free alternative...I can have any auto desk software for free. I have experience in auto cad 2011 and inventor 2011. I don't have auto cad downloaded, but I think it can do it for the most part.

I have access to sw in the mach. Classes I'm in, but they don't start back up for a month...and I played with solid works last year...it was a pita, I don't like it

[losikid]

Originally Posted by Wrecker

I use solidworks to design all the chassis I build then print 2d templates of the sides and top at 1:1 scale so I can bend the tube and then lay it on the template to make sure its perfect.

Are you living in junction now?

[jettrooper02]

don't know if your still after help for this, but if you make a skeleton frame, or solid part that is in the shape of the piece you want, then go into an assembly, move to the design tab, and there is a chassis button. click that, and then select the material you want to make it out of. here's pics of what i mean using a short course frame. heck, i'll go and make a basic crawler looking frame right now just for this.

alright, so you start with your basic sketch, as usual for making anything,


then you extrude it out to the dimensions you want.


then after i added some more detail bits to it, it looks like this:


now i go into the assembly, place the skeleton key, and move into the design tab. click on the frame creator, and then for rc stuff, the solid bar is the only piece with the right size


then after you have the settings set up like i have in the picture or with your own, you start clicking on the edges of the key you want to have made into your frame.


in this example, i clicked on every edge on the entire part, because that's what i wanted to do for this design so everything is connected.


now, after clicking through the screens that pop up, you want to say yes to all of them, your tube frame has been created!


now from here, you can miter all the ends using the miter button, which is really easy, or just move on. i chose to miter all the ends, and then i deleted the skeleton key so all that was left was the frame!


using the same method i created this frame as well! it's short course inspired, just for the fun of it. if your having trouble finding the frame creator button, i highlighted it in this picture.


hope this helped! just learned all this last night, i have about a year of experience with out ever being taught inventor, so you can probably make a much much much better design for the skeleton key than i can.

[rob_b]

Don't delete your skeleton seed. When you do all of the frame members lose their definition and can not be updated any more(notice the icon to the left of their names). Just right click on it and un-check "visibility". I find 3D sketches are more controllable/reliable for making frames than the solid edge method but to each their own.

[losikid]

Originally Posted by jettrooper02

hope this helped! just learned all this last night, i have about a year of experience with out ever being taught inventor, so you can probably make a much much much better design for the skeleton key than i can.

I haven't been taught either, just 2d autocad. But within a week of my autocad class i was doing all the drawing stuff required on our final project/test. other than blocks/layers/etc i had the drawing nailed down.

So i went into 3d modeling and started building RC parts...then i moved onto inventor.

I'll give that frame thing a try once the time comes.

[losikid]

Originally Posted by rob_b

Don't delete your skeleton seed. When you do all of the frame members lose their definition and can not be updated any more(notice the icon to the left of their names). Just right click on it and un-check "visibility". I find 3D sketches are more controllable/reliable for making frames than the solid edge method but to each their own.

I figured out 3d sketches...i'm guessing i'd play in the frame menu to get a 3d sketch turned into a more realistic looking tube chassis than colored lines?

Could i add my mounting tabs and such this way?

[losikid]

Oh also...i haven't tried making a tube chassis yet in inventor, a few months back i was trying to build a PVC trebuchet on inventor instead of hand drawing it....i could never figure out how to simulate the pipe size, but i spent hours drawing it in a 3d sketch, hoping it meet the requirements...it didn't i wasn't too happy.

So now that i'm wanting to build a tube chassis for my losi, i'd prefer to model it on the computer screen before i actually build it, BUT i'm unsure how since i spent a lot of time trying to figure it out on the PVC treb project.

[rob_b]

Yeah, there is flatbar but the default selections are going to be way too big. You can edit the profile sizes if you go into the base sketch but you would have to do it to every member. Also, there is a method of adding your own profiles but its a pain. 3d sketches in inventor suck, what I do is create a ton of planes and even more 2d sketches. You really have to plan ahead and major changes can blow it all up but I still prefer it to 3d sketches. I'll post up one of my frames tomorrow but beware the tree is scary

[losikid]

Originally Posted by rob_b

Yeah, there is flatbar but the default selections are going to be way too big. You can edit the profile sizes if you go into the base sketch but you would have to do it to every member. Also, there is a method of adding your own profiles but its a pain. 3d sketches in inventor suck, what I do is create a ton of planes and even more 2d sketches. You really have to plan ahead and major changes can blow it all up but I still prefer it to 3d sketches. I'll post up one of my frames tomorrow but beware the tree is scary

I was thinking create a plane on the bar, draw a little rectangle, extrude out tab, then create a sketch on it for my holes...but i'm unsure if that's possible on the frame...

I'm not really a master at creating planes, they never go where i want them, so to start doing what i think your saying would be a big enough pita to just build the frame in real life.