Starting a Project

Now to get to work on the Medical Depot job. Start inventor, and click Projects on the Launch panel. Select Browse to the job folder you just created, and select the project file – in this case, Medical  Depot.ipj. The project is added to the list. Everything else is already as need be because it is a copy of the master’s project file.

 [level-advanced]There are some things you can adjust to suit your needs as far as file structure and naming goes, but there are things you can do that will screw things up royally as well. It’s best to use the file structure and workflow shown here to begin with, then ask questions in the forum as to how others are modifying things.

 With the new project file selected as shown in the previous image, all you need to do is click Open > Modeling > then slowly double click Master.iam, and change its name to the name of the job –in this case, Medical Depot. Once renamed (you can leave the name as-is if you like), double-click the file to open it…

 Your Master Assembly should now be open, and there should be a folder in the browser named Global. The files in this folder are structured as Reference files, and therefore do not show up in the Bill of Materials. They are where they are for easy access to them, and to control them via the global form.

Setting the Global Parameters

Your global parameters will already be set to your shop standard. You should only need to change items that are specific to the job. For instance, if this particular job has thicker case material, you would change that parameter before placing cabinets. You can do so afterwards, but then you need to wait for the update –not really a big deal unless there are 10 – 20,000 parts, which would take awhile to update (1,000 takes about a minute on my old computer, so it’s not a huge deal).

Any big changes such as new hardware and the like are done in the Master File, not here. A key thing to remember is that you are not building a gigantic library of every possible size and orientation of the parts you need. They are made on the fly, then archived when you’re done with them. Each project folder is a self contained universe that will not self-destruct down the line due to changes made.  [level-advanced]