Can't Inventor 2009 convert 3D DWG's to a 3D solid?

[jewells]

Am I missing something (other than enough experience)?

I want to convert lots of 3D DWG's so that Mastercam sees them as solids, rather than recreating them, or extruding them, or whatever Plan B might be.

I am currently downloading Mechanical Desktop 2009 to see if it will let me save my DWG's as STP or something else that Mastercam should like. Any idea if this will work?

I'm simply amazed if Inventor can't convert DWG files. I mean, the 3D DWG wireframes look great, to scale, and it's obvious what features exist.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Scott

[ger21]

I mean, the 3D DWG wireframes look great, to scale, and it's obvious what features exist.

How are they drawn? Solids? Meshes? Just lines?

If solids, you may be able to export an .sat that inventor might like. If drawn with meshes and or lines, Inventor probably won't have a clue what you have.

[MustangBill]

Inventor does have a feature that will import DWG files. However, I have found that DWG files created with Mechanical Desktop work a little better. Open Mechanical Desktop and let it run in the background. In Inventor click on file open then click once to highlight the DWG you want to open. In the open dialogue window there is an option button. Click this button and select import. Now click the open button. Inventor will then open several windows with import option. After you select the options you want Inventor will open the file with Mechanical Desktop, regenerate the model, and try to extract information. I have found this has about a 75% success rate. I have about 30,000 older Mechanical Desktop files to contend with so I have to perform this procedure quite often.
Good Luck,
Regards,
Bill