Autodesk Inventor Master Sketch Info

Ok, so you have probably heard people mention Skeleton Modeling or Master sketch modeling... so what the heck is it?

It is a method of making multiple parts share common points in their sketches. By doing this you can make assemblies be completely adaptive without all the overhead of using the normal adaptivity.

The basics behind it are to draw all the sketches for features that will interrelate in a assembly all in a Master.ipt file. Then each part is made by deriving in the sketches pertinent to it, and using them to build the part. After all the parts are built they can be easily brought into a IAM file using the Multi Insert and Fix program. To make changes you open the Master.ipt file and make the changes there. Then just use the update button in the IAM and everything will maintain the constraints you have put on them with the sketches.

From that method a slightly different method has evolved. There was always the issue that "Purchased" parts weren't involved in the process until you got to the IAM file. This made it a little harder sometimes. A couple of users in the AutoDesk Newsgroup (Quinn Zander and Walt Jaquith) came up with this method. The basic idea is to put the "Purchased" parts in a assembly and working off the origin planes locate them where you want. Now derive the solids from that into a Master.ipt file and use the solids to base sketches off of. In the Final Assembly file you can just place the purchased parts IAM along with the parts and it all automatically fits together.

If the "Purchased" parts need to be moved, simply open their assembly, move them as needed and then update the final assembly and if you have built your sketches properly they will adapt to the new locations.

I have put together a example file and a little more detailed document. This certainly won't make you a expert in the method, but may help you get a better understanding of it.

The main files to pay attention to in the zip are

Purchased Parts.iam, Master.ipt, Top.ipt, Bottom.ipt, and Top Assembly.iam

The wires are 12v.ipt, Ground.ipt, and VDD.ipt.


The zip with Example files and the PDF Document.
iMaster.zip 2,118 KB

If you don't want the files, you can just download the PDF document here
PDF document 492 KB