Simpler Drill Bits with Inventor 2016

By Scott Cunliffe

A customer asked me to demonstrate the method for drawing a drill bit.  It’s easy when you know how, but the initial profile can be tricky to work out.

Since this was the first time since I was tasked with this particular design since the release of Inventor 2016, it dawned on me that it is now even easier with the Twist function inside the Sweep command.

Historically we would need to sweep the profiles along a helical curve inside a 3D sketch.  The helix itself requires a 2D sketch reference for its origin and direction.

With 2016 we can disregard the helix and work solely with a 2D straight line for the swept path, and insert the number of rotations in degrees:

Also worth noting is the Loft feature between the shank and the rod – here we used the Transition tab to good effect to ensure the cutting teeth melded into the shank more realistically.  You will need to uncheck “Automatic Mapping” to release the Point Sets for editing:

Before:

After:

• Drill Bit.ipt400 KB