Autocad Inventor

[hwd_woodworking]

I am wondering if any one is using autocad inventor for there drawings and 3d models.

We are looking to purchase either inventor or solidworks and are having demo done at our shop. The real main reason we are looking into this is because of the lack of diversity the other cabinet softwares offer. We do custom cabinets and our cabinets and built ins are usaully not generic enough to allow a cabinet software to work.
I have heard of a very large millwork / cabinet shop using autocad inventor becuase of the same reasons I just mentioned. It also create a bill of materials and you can call up specific parts like just cabinet sides ect. The price is not to bad at ~ $3500 for autocad and the inventor series (mechanical desktop).

The main real advantage I can see with this software (either solidworks or inventor) is you can make parametric models of you cabinets so it will preform just like the cabinet softwares.
With inventor you can link it to excel and drive your drawings from a spreed sheet.
For example if you have you cabinets linked to the back wall and you constrain the sink base to stay at a 36" cabinet but you drawer and double doors are allowed to stretch. If you click on the dimension of the back wall cange it to what it should be and you model also changes accordingly, including you bill of materials.

I know these 3d programs can make some pretty cool 3d models to but haven't played around with it enough to talk about it.
Was wondering if any one else sees this kind of software as an advantage or disadvantage.

Nate

[oddcoach]

Hi nate
I use a 3d program called pytha. I do the same kind of work you do and was frustrated with the limitations of the software out there. Pytha is designed with cabinetmakers in mind. it has parametric capabilities. it can give you a detailed parts list with costs too if you need it.
feel free to send me an email if you want more info.
john

[oddcoach]

forgot to add it can also do photo qualty renderings
and create animations that can be saved as avi files
john

[hwd_woodworking]

The problem I have with pytha is that I don't have $40,000. for the complete program. If I want what I would need with out any cnc packages it would be over 12,000

[btk]

Nathan,

Inventor is an excellent product for doing assemblies parametrically.

One thing that you may want to address when you get your demo is once you configure the cabinet with parameters, how to "flatten" and nest the parts efficiently and export as DXF to your CAM software.

Brian

[hwd_woodworking]

Thanks,
I was also thinking because inventor can be linked to excel, it would probably fairly easy to write a basic nesting program and link it to the program.

For our larger commercial jobs it would be nice to only open up and excel program and input your field dimensions and that would update your models.

Nate

[bleeth]

Does anyone have a plus and minus comparison of Autocad 2006, inventor, and architect?
Dave

[tbs]

Hello,

Do you mean you need to have comparison of AutoCAD 2006, Autodesk Inventor and Architecture Desktop?

[bleeth]

Yep

Dave

[hwd_woodworking]

You get all of those when you get the inventor series

[gerald_d]

*post about learning curve deleted*

[bleeth]

Thanks Nathan-For now that's enough info.

Dave

[hwd_woodworking]

We had a demo of autocad inventor and a demo of solidworks this past week. And I'll have to say solid works has inventor beat. A much more user freindly format and smaller files. Plue to get to your finished product it seamed to be quicker.

Was wondering if there was any feedback on the two??

Nate

[bleeth]

Nathan: I can't help you there but there is a personal story about CabinetVision that I always try to remember when I watch people doing demo's.
I had CV demoed for two different companies I was involved with about 7 years ago. The guy who did the first demo was the national sales rep and he knew the software inside out. The second time I had it demoed the rep had been with them for around 6 months and basically knew only how to stick to the canned script. Needless to say the product looked entirely different in the hands of the two different reps.

[gerald_d]

Software demo's are mostly worthless. 30 day trials are mostly worthless. Friends/colleagues who are happy to guide you with their programs are priceless.

[hwd_woodworking]

Good points!

I am really trying to automate our cabinet making as much as possible but still remain very custom.

I have writen some basic excel programs that will generate tool paths. (i did this for my v-bit to lead out corners)
My dream is to use a parametric software that can be linked to excel and have excel generate the code for the run of the mill custom cabinets.
Even if that doesn't work to be able to generate the geometry at the clients house I think would be extremely profitable.

[chrislvtbooth@hotmail.com]

Solidworks is far more user-friendly than any of the AutoCAD family of products (as Nathan Hawkes points out above), and Solidworks not only has a powerful excel-based parametric capability, but once a design model has been made Solidworks can even automatically generate an excel table (imbedded in the Solidworks model - no switching between programs) which typically only needs a little tweaking to be just what you want.

Yes, Solidworks is capable of "pretty cool 3D models" - in fact it´s pretty difficult to deal with a 2D environment (!), and making e.g. a pretty cool model of a cabinet that is fully parametric, and assuming you've set it up beforehand (I mean the model and its imbedded spreadsheet)then it could generate the geometry at the client's house!

O.K. The potential for going from the Solidworks software in the direction of impressing a potential customer is pretty much covered and do-able. (But note it is, e.g., easier to show a parametric model of one piece of cabinetry than it is to hope to measure a kitchen, make a new model and throw into it several different models, adjust them parametrically and say - "there you are - it'll look like that" in a matter of minutes. Not without a lot of preparation!)

The potential for going from the software to the cutting files is less clear. As BTK points out above, "...you may want to address...how to "flatten" and nest the parts efficiently and export as DXF to your CAM software.

This can be done - but not with the ease with which it can be done with a (2D/2.5D oriented) specific cabinet-making software.

Nesting is perhaps the weakest point, but can be tackled in Solidworks with a "work-around" that is pretty poor compared to a software using an algorithm to do it properly - but if you choose Solidworks I'll send you some files to show how it can be done.

The "flattening" is achieved by making drawings of all parts and exporting them as .dwg (or .dxf) which imports to Part Wizard with no problems. A useful trick is to create all drawings in Solidworks with a surrounding edge that matches exactly the size of the "Setup Job Dimensions" and then by using File/Import/Vector Data and ticking "Centre in Page" the drawing comes in exactly where expected, and can then be prevented from moving.

I would strongly recommend Solidworks, and believe it would get you further along the route to your dreams than most other offers. I have a lot of experience with its potential in general - and not as much with other softwares - so maybe I have underestimated others (for example, it seems BTK is pretty happy with Inventor!)