Inventor

I have started working in Inventor.  First I completed some of the online tutorials to help familarize myself with the software updates; though I have used Inventor some before in my other engineering classes, in the previous drafting classes AutoCAD was the design program used mostly to create models in 2D and is the program I have had the most experience with. 

The transition between programs is not too difficult as both programs operate pretty similarly.  Though my heart will always be with AutoCAD, my first love, both programs are design software that allows drafters to create models that can then be manufactured based on the file.  Models can be drawn in Metric or English units, 2D or 3D, and with graphing lines on or off; these are just some of the features these design programs offer.

In AutoCAD the user had to be more knowledgeable as drawing lines color and thickness had to be choosen based on the type of line, for example dimension or section lines.  Though this could be a pain at times, it was very handy when the model being designed was complicated because the line colors could be changed and therefore easier to distinguish between the actual model and construction lines.  Inventor on the other hand designates the line color based on whether the line in constrained (blue) or unconstrained (lime green), below the picture shows a box where two of the lines are blue and two are green, this is because the two blue lines are constrained to the origin (0,0), whereas the two green lines are only connected to other lines and are therefore movable.



In the Inventor Tutorials I have learned sketch constraints and direct manipulation which I have some models to show for my progress.  Each model starts as a single sketch and from there is extruded or build outward, making it a 3D model.  From here another sketch can be made on the part or a plane which can be extruded as well or used for referance for another sketch or hole.  Another feature I have worked with is the fillet command which is used to round edges.

After the Part Tutorials I was proficient enough to complete several models by myself. 

Below are some of the drawings I have completed so far.

^Direct Manipulation Tutorial^

 DWG 4

DWG 5

The Next Class - 3D Modeling

My senior years off to a start with the third course in the Drafting series: 3D Modeling.  It has been a while, as last year I decided to change it up by taking Applications of Engineering, that was definitely a different experience and I am excited to get back to the heart of engineering: drafting. 

I jumped right into the curriculum this year with threads!  I started by calculating the tolerances and allowances of the hole and shaft and then finding the maximum and minimum clearance/interference.  Though this is not hard, it is very tedious because the numbers are to thousands of an inch and easily mixed up.  After working with this some I moved on to threads, learning about the different kinds and their uses, along with other thread properties.  Ever heard of "lefty losie, righty tighty"? I am sure you have. This is true for most screws which have right handed threads, but some screws are made with left handed threads, though, from my understanding left handed threads are mostly used in mechanisms. The toilet handle for example, has a left handed thread so that when the handle is pushed down the screw is not loosened. And this is just SOME of the information I have learned so far, along with this, I have already learned how to draw a Hex Head Bolt with a standard thread and am working on another with an ACME thread.  It was pretty intimidating at first, but I found drawing a thread by hand was much easier than it looked once I knew what I was doing.

So here's my first drafted thread and my second one is on the way--so stay tuned for more exciting informational drafting!