Name:___________________ Date Completed:_____

Basic Inventor Skills I

1. Sketch, dimension and extrude a basic shape
i. Select New tab from toolbar.

ii.

Select Standard .ipt from dialogue box by double clicking on the

icon.

iii.

Select a Shape tool from toolbar. The shape that you choose will
depend on what type of shape you are drawing. For this exercise
choose Rectangle.

iv.

To create the selected shape put your cursor in the grid area. You will
notice that your cursor turns to a cross-hair. Click ONCE and release in
the gridded area and drag your cursor to create a rectangle. Click
again to create the shape.

e. Before you make your two dimension shape three dimensions you need to
make sure the shape has the correct dimensions. To do this you will need to
select the Dimension tool.

f. When you select this tool you will need to:

i. Select two opposite sides of your object. To do this you will
select (by clicking once) the top of your rectangle and then going
to the bottom of the rectangle and clicking again.
ii. This will give you the dimension of the object.
iii. To change the dimension you simply click or double click on the
provided dimension.
iv. When this is done a dialogue box will appear where you can
change the dimension. See picture below.
v. Make your shape 2in. by 2in.

I
II

III
IV

To dimension the width repeat step f by selecting the vertical sides.

g. To make your sketch a three dimensional object you will select the
Finish Sketch button on the tool bar It has a large green check
mark above the words.

Once this button is pushed your screen will change. You no longer will
have the ability to alter your sketch. If you need to alter your sketch
you will need to select sketch in the browser bar this will take you
back to sketch mode.

If you do not need to alter your sketch you can make it a three dimensional
shape by selecting the Extrude button on the toolbar.

After selecting Extrude you will see this dialogue box.

To make your object three dimensional you need to select the distance that you
want the depth of the object to be. To do this you need to select your distance
and then select enter. This will extrude your object to the dimension you chose.
After you select OK your screen will look like this.
Make this dimension 2in.

Congratulations! You have now completed a three dimensional drawing!

Basic Inventor Skills II

1. Add sketch plane to object to create additional features.
a. You will continue to use the screen that displays your three dimensional
shape. If you want to add any features to your shape you will need to add a
sketch plane. To do this you will need to select the Create 2D Sketch icon
(not the words) on the toolbar.

After selecting the button you will need to select which face or side of the
object you want to add your feature to. To do this you will have to click on
the specific face (side of your object), when you do, it will add a grid
overtop of the object. See picture below.

b. To add feature select the shape tool that you need. For this exercise
select the circle.

c. To add the circle to the face of your object, simply click on the face of the
object and expand the circle to the desired size, or enter dimension in small
rectangular box and hit enter.

d. To center the circle you will use the dimension tool again. However,
when dimensioning the circle you will have to add the distance between
the edges of the circle and the cube with the radius of the circle. For this
demonstration your cube is 2 inches tall, the circle is 1 inch in diameter.
This means that you will have inch between the edge of the circle and the
edge of the cube. But, because you have to measure from the center of
circle you will have to make the dimension 1 inch. To do this:
i. Select dimension.
ii. Click in the center of the circle (green dot indicates center). Then click on
the edge of the cube and pull the line above the cube. This will indicate the
dimension.
iii. Change the dimension to 1 inch. You will need to double click on the
dimension to open the dialogue box to change it.
iv. Do the same procedure to the left or right side. After completion, your
circle will be centered on the face of the cube.

i
ii
iii

e. To extrude your feature you will need to select finish sketch (this is the
on the top right of the toolbar with the big green check mark).

f. When you do this your view will change and you will need to select the
extrude button. You will see this dialogue box when you do.

g. You will need to select the following items in this dialogue box to extrude
your circle:
i. Select the Profile button and click inside of the object you want to
extrude.
ii. Select Join this will extend the feature from your shape.

iii. In the extents area you can adjust the depth or height of your
feature by typing in the dimension. Make the dimension 2 inches.
h. After you have done this you will need to click on the inside of your
circle. After this is done the OK box will become highlighted. Click OK.

When you click OK you will see your feature change, see image
below.

Basic Inventor Skills III

1. Create a hole in an object.
a. Using your existing drawing you will create a hole in the object. There are
two different ways to do this
Method #1:
I. Place a sketch plane on one of the faces (sides) of your cube
not the side with the extrusion.
o You can do this by clicking on Create 2D Sketch and then
clicking on the face of the object that you want to add the
feature to.
II. Select Circle shape and place a circle on the face of your cube.
III. Make the circle 1 inch and center it in cube.
IV. Click Finish Sketch.
V. When the new toolbar appears you will click on Extrude.
VI. When this is done you will see a dialogue box. You need to select
the following items:
o Profile
Cut
Select All in the Extents area

VIII. Once you have selected these buttons you need to click on the inside
of your circle this will highlight the OK button. Click the OK button and
you will see feature change. See image below.

This is the method for creating a hole using the Extrude/Cut function.
You can also create a hole by using the hole function.

Method #2
To do this you will need to create another sketch plane on one of the other
sides of the cube.
After this is done you will need to select the POINT tool on the toolbar.

After you select the Point tool you will need to try to determine the
center of your circle before clicking on the face of the cube you have
selected. Once you have determined where you think the center is you will
click on the spot and you will see a green cross hair. This means that you
have located the point on the face of your cube.
The image below shows the green cross hair after you selected your point.

Once you have selected your point your will click on the Finish Sketch
button.
This will change your view and you will see this toolbar.

You will want to select Hole.

After you select hole you will see this dialogue box.
You will need to do the select the following items:

From Sketch
o Centers
Through All
o Simple Hole
Once you have selected these options you will be able to click OK and a
hole will be inserted into your object. To change the size of the hole you
will need to change the dimension in the upper right hand dialogue box as

seen above. When you click OK you will have hole going through your
object as seen in the picture below.

You now have two different methods to create a hole in an object.

Basic Inventor Skills IV

1. Create two different parts and use the constrain feature to put them together.
a. You will need to create two new parts for this exercise. You will
need to select Standard .ipt and create a rectangle with the
dimensions of 3 inches wide, 5 inches long and 1 inch deep (done
when you extrude the shape). See picture below.

b. Select Create 2D Sketch and place it on the face of the object that
is facing you.
c. Select the Rectangle and place a 1 inch wide and 1 inch tall square
on the sketch plane the square must be inside of the rectangle.

d. You will cut the shape out of your rectangle by selecting Finish
Sketch. When your toolbar changes you will select Extrude, to cut
the piece out you need to select the following items:
o Profile - will select the feature that you want to extrude.
o Cut
- removes selected area.
o All
- removes entire depth of feature.

When you select these options OK will be highlighted click it and

you will see the shape cut out of your shape. See image below.

You will now need to save this part. Click the large orange I in the top
left hand corner of the screen.

When you do this, you will see the screen below, you will need to
select save. Make sure that you save it to your folder not the
computer! You should see your name in the address bar when you
save and nothing else do not simply hit save. If you save parts in
different places you will not be able to access them later. This will
create more work for you. No whining if you do not do this correctly
ask if you need help.

 then you wil see this. You need to select this name.
Not this one!
You will see your name not mine!

Make sure that you name your parts (specific name, not just part 1)
and then click Save.

2. Now you will need to create a shape that will fit into the hole that
you created in the rectangle. For this exercise you need to create a

new part.
o You will do this by selecting New which looks like a sheet of
paper and selecting an .ipt file.
This part will be a square that is 1 inch wide by 1 inch tall and extrude
it 3 inches. It should look like this.

After you create this part you need to save it as square peg and
make sure that you save it under your folder.

3. To be able to put these pieces together you will need to create an

assembly. To do this select the orange I in the top left hand corner.
When you do this you will see these options.
i. Select New from this toolbar.

ii.

You will then need to select Standard .iam.

iii.

By selecting this you will see a new screen. You will need to
select Place from the toolbar.

iv. When you select place you will see this dialogue box. You will need
to select your name from the dropdown box in the center. Once you
have done that you will see all of the parts that you have constructed.
Select your board and click open.
The following image is only an example Yours will look different.

You will need to select the pieces that you want to assemble. To
select the piece that you want click on the piece and select Open.
After do this you will see the piece on your screen. To place the piece
you will need to right click and select Done. This will set the piece in
your work area. If you accidentally set too many pieces in the work
area you can simply click on the unwanted pieces and delete them.
See the image below.

After you place your first piece you will need to go back to
Place and select the square peg. You will follow the same
procedures to place the peg.
v. To assemble the pieces you will need to use the Constrain
function.

When you select this function you will see this dialogue box.

You will need to select the following items:

i. In the Type section Mate.
ii. In the Selections section 2.
iii. In the Solution section Mate
After you select these options you will need to click on a side of the
square peg and the corresponding side of the peg board. See image
below.

You will select the inside of the hole that

matches the side of the cube. You may
have to turn the object to see the inside of
the hole.

When you do this your object should look like this.

If your object does not look like this you will need to constrain
another side to get peg inserted to the hole.

The next step you need to take is to select Apply and then Cancel.
This will allow you to pull the cube out of the object and select a side
that is next to the side you just mated. You do not want to select the
opposite side of the object to mate it will not work. See image
below.

This side is already mated.

This side is next to or adjacent to the mated
side and is the side you need to select for
your second mate. Then you will select the
inside of the hole and it will insert your
cube. Your cube should move freely through
the hole. See image below.

This is what you should see on your screen. You have completed an
Inventor Assembly!

Basic Inventor Skills V

For this skill you will be drawing on a round surface. To do this you
will have to put a Work Plane on the surface that you are working on
and then cover it with a Sketch Plane to draw your desired feature.
First you have to draw a shape with a rounded edge. To do this we
will use the Revolve function after Finishing our drawing.
i. Start by drawing a rectangle (1 in. wide by 3 in. tall) with Inventor.
ii. To add designs to your shape you will add them to the side of the
rectangle. You can do this by using any of the shape tools. Choose
Circle and add a circle to your drawing putting the center of the
circle on line of the rectangle. Make the circle .5 in. See image below.

iii. To get the circular shape you will use the Revolve tool. To do this
you will need to Finish Sketch. After you have done this you will
select Revolve. This icon is next to Extrude.

When you select Revolve you will see this screen.

When you see this screen there are two things to do:
1. If your shape is not highlighted in blue you will need to click
Profile and click inside of your shape you will need to select all
portions that you want to revolve. If a part of your shape is not blue
then it will not be revolved.
2. Then you will select Axis and then select the opposite side of the
shape that your features are on. The Axis (outside edge of the shape)

will turn white when it is selected. Select the OK button and you
will see the following shape.

iv. Now that you have a round shape if you wanted to add more
features you need to follow the following steps exactly. The reason is
that it is difficult to draw shapes on a round surface; so to do that you
need to put a flat plane over top of shape that you want to draw on.
Step one using the screen that you already have you will select
Plane.

Once you have selected this you will select the side of the shape that
you want to draw on for this exercise you will select the rounded
side of the shape below the circular protrusion. When you click on it,
it will turn blue. See image below.

Step two Now that you have selected your side you will expand the
Origin folder in the Browser window. You do this by clicking on the
+ next to the word Origin. When you expand the folder it will look
like this.

You will want to select the Plane that covers the blue area of your
shape. In this case it is the YZ Plane. When you select it, it will cover
your shape and change from blue to yellow. It will look like this.

From here you will select Create 2D Sketch and click on one of the
corners of the yellow rectangle to place your sketch plane. See the
following image.

Before you can draw a shape on the plane you should Project
Geometry so you know what area you have to work in. To do this
you click Project Geometry and click on large lower portion of your
shape. When you click it will project the top and bottom lines. If you
want side lines you will need to bring your mouse over to the side of
the shape until you see a white line. When you click on the line the
line will project orange. Do this on both the right and left sides so that
you have an orange rectangle at the bottom of your shape. See image
below.

Now you know what area you have to work with and a flat surface to
draw shapes. For this exercise we are going select Point from the
Draw Panel. Center the point inside of the orange rectangle. Once
you place it, it will leave a green bulls eye. See image below.

You can then follow hole directions to place a hole in the object.
When you are completed the shape will look something like this for
this demonstration the hole was made .5 inches in diameter.

The final step is to remove the work plane. To do this you simply right
clicking on the Work Plane 1 from your browser bar and unchecking
visibility as seen below. When you uncheck it, it will disappear.