© E. Brunelle 2018

Toy Block

In this tutorial, you will construct a Toy Block that a child might use to play with and learn the

alphabet.

© E. Brunelle 2018

Part I - Getting Started

1. Open Inventor. In the Get Started tab, click on Projects > New > New Single User Project.

Click Next.

2. In the Project Name box, type Toy Block. In the Project (Workspace) Folder, Be sure your

H drive is selected. If not, click on the browser box to select your H Drive.

3. Click Finish. The box below should appear. Click OK > Done.

4. You will use this process whenever you start a new project.

5. In the Get Started tab, click on New. Select English > Part > Standard(in).ipt > Create.

6. Click on the Save icon . Since you created a Project Folder, your Block should

automatically be saved in your Toy Block project folder. Be sure the file name is

Toy_BlockINL_3-D_1.

7. Go to Tools > Document Settings > Units. Be sure Inches is selected from the Length

dropdown menu. Click Apply > Close.

8. Create a New Sketch on the “XZ” plane.

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9. Manipulate the view cube so that “Front” is facing you: See Below.

10. Click on the Top-Right corner of the View Cube.

See Below:

11. Right Click > Set Current View to Home > Fit to View. This will set the Isometric View

correctly for our project.

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12. Click on the Rectangle > Two Point Center tool. Create a Rectangle, starting at the Origin

Point. Enter “3” as the value for both sides. Hit Enter > Finish Sketch

Watch Video 1

Origin Point

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13. Click, pause, then click again on the sketch in the Browser window. Rename the sketch to

“block”.

14. Click on the Extrude icon. Select the 3” square and extrude the profile to 3”

SYMETRICALLY. Always extrude symmetrically if possible. You now have a 3” cube (3 X 3

X 3).

15. Rename the extrusion to ExtBLOCK.

SAVE YOUR WORK Watch Video 2

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16. Be sure Select Faces and Edges is selected in the Select drop down menu. The Select

menu is located in the QAT – just above the ribbon.

17. Select the Fillet tool . Check off All Rounds and change the radius to .25. See below.

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Notice also that by selecting All Rounds, you have selected all 12 edges of the cube. Click

Apply, then Cancel or close the box. Your block should now be fully rounded like the one

below:

NOTE – There is no need to rename the Fillet, since it will be the ONLY fillet used.

SAVE YOUR WORK Watch Video 3.

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18. Be sure Select Faces and Edges is activated. Select one of the six faces of the block > Right

Click > New Sketch.

19. Select the Text Tool . Be sure the size is set for 2.5. Choose a font that is not a script.

See below:

A A

20. Click OK.

Comic Sans is OK Scripts are NOT OK

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21. Hit the Escape Key twice, then position the letter so that it is square on the surface. Finish

Sketch.

22. Extrude the letter > Cut materiel > Direction 2 > Distance > .125”. Click OK

23. Rename the Sketch to the letter you used (“A” in the example), and rename the extrusion to

Ext_A (substitute YOUR letter for the “A”)

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24. Repeat steps 16 through 21 for the remaining five letters of your choice. Be sure to rename

the sketches and extrusions!!

Watch Video 4

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Part II –Add Color/Textures

1. Click on Select Bodies from the Select menu on the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT).

2. Right Click on the Toy Block > Properties. Choose a material property (Birch is used below)

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3. Click on Select Features from the Select menu on the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT).

4. Right Click on the letter extrusions in the Browser > Properties. Choose a color for each

letter, or use the same color for all of the letters.

Watch Video 5

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Part III –Render and Save an Image

1. Go to the Environments tab > Inventor Studio. For this assignment, we will only create

(render) an image, but you can see by the options that you can also render an animation,

change camera angles, lighting styles, scene styles, etc. You are encouraged to experiment

with these tools when you have finished with creating your image.

2. Click on Render Image. The box below should appear. In the General Tab, change Height

and Width to 800 X 600. Choose your Lighting Style, Scene Style and Render Type –

whichever options you like.

H:\3-D\toy_block\toy_block_INL_3-D_1

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3. In the Output Tab, select Save Rendered Image and click on the Folder Icon. Navigate to

your “H” drive > 3-D >Toy Block folder. Name the image as toy_block_imageMRB_p5,

using your initials and your period number. Save the image as a .jpg. Click on Render. The

image will appear in your 3-D > Toy Block folder.

Watch Video 6

3-D