Fusion360forBeginners:ThistutorialismeanttohelpthosenewtoComputerAidedDesignlearnhowtonavigatethebasicsofFusion360aswellastolearnsomeofFusion360’smostusefuloperations.GettingStarted:Beforewebegintocreateourprojectletsfamiliarizeourselveswiththedifferenttabsanddropdownsonthescreen.Knowinghowtochangeourviewoftheprojectmakesiteasierforustomakespecificchangeswithoutmakingmistakes.

WhenwefirstopenFusion360wewillseeablankworkspaceforanewuntitledproject.Tostartanewprojectorchangethenameofthecurrentprojectlooktowardsthetopleftcornerofthewindow.The+symbolallowstheusertocreateanewprojectandgoingtofile“save”willallowtheusertochangetheprojectnamefrom“untitled”tosomethingelse.Belowtheprojectnametheuserwillseeatoolbarwiththetabs(SKETCH,CREATE,MODIFY,ASSEMBLE,aswellasmanyothers).ThesedropdownscontainmostoftheoperationswewillbeusinginFusion360.SKETCH-Thisdropdowncanbeusedtocreate2dimensionalshapesincludingrectangles,ellipses,andcircles.Wecanalsodrawlinesandconnectthemtocreatemorecomplex2dimensionalshapesCREATE-Allowsustoeditanexistingsketchorquicklycreateabasic3dobjectsuchasaboxorcylinder.

MODIFY-Themodifydropdownallowsustomakelargerchangestodifferentbodies.Ontheleftsideofthescreenweseeadropdownwiththetoptabbeingourprojectname.Currentlytheonlythingwecanseebelowthisisatabmarkedorigin,butaswecreatenewbodiesandsketchestheywillbeshownasseparatetabsontheleftsideofthescreen.Alltabspresentonthissideofthescreenhavealightbulbiconthatallowsustohidespecificpiecesofourproject.Thisisusefulwhenweonlywanttoeditonespecificsketchorbodyofourprojectanddon’twanttomakeunintendedchanges. (Noticehowtheorigindisappearswhenthelightbulbisoff)Noticethathavingtheoriginonshowsusthreeyellowsquares.ThesesquaresrepresenttheXY,YZ,andXZplanes.

*Infusion360itisimportanttorealizethatmostofourworkbeginsasa2dimensionalsketchthatwethenbringintothe3rddimensionatalaterpoint*

Nowlet’slooktowardthebottomofthescreen.Herewecanseeabarthatgivesustheabilitytoviewourworkspacefromdifferentperspectives.The“Pan”optionrepresentedbythehandiconallowsustodragandmovetheworkspace.The“Lookat”optionrepresentedbytherectangleiconallowsustoviewone2dimensionalplaneinourworkspace.SimplyclicktheiconandthenclickonefaceoneithertheoriginoranexistingbodyThe“Orbit”optionrepresentedbytheleftmosticonallowstheusertospinorrotatetheentireworkspacebyclickinganddraggingit.(Thiscanalsobeachievedbyclickinganddraggingonthecubeinthetoprightcornerofthescreen)

Timetobuild:BelowIwilldiscusshowwecanmakeaverybasichouseasaproject.I’llgothroughhowtomakenewsketchesandaswellashowtousesomeofthemostusefuloperationsinFusion360.Recallthatwhenwewanttocreatesomethingnewinourprojectthatwestartbyworkingonlyin2dimensions.Todothiswestartbyselectingoneoftheplanesonouroriginoronanexistingbodyandthenclickingonthe“SKETCH”dropdownmenu.Thiswillbringusintoa2dimensionalpointofview.Let’sstartbycreatingabox.WithintheSKETCHdropdownmovetorectangleandthenselect2-pointRectangle.Afterdoingthisclickoncetosetthelocationofthefirstpoint.Theneitherdragorbegintypingtosetthedimensionsoftherectangle(Begintypingtosetthefirstdimensionandclicktabtobeabletosettheseconddimension). Atthispointselect“stopsketch”ontherightsideofthetoptoolbar.Nowwehaveanewrectanglesketch,whichwecanhideorshowusingthe“Sketches”dropdownontheleftsideofthescreen.Nowthatwe’vesuccessfullymadea2dimensionalsketchlet’sbringthatsketchintothethirddimension.WewillachievethisbyusingtheExtrude/PressPulloperations,whicharefoundintheCREATEandMODIFYtabsrespectively.Theseoperationscanalsobeaccessedbyrightclickingonthedesiredsketch.Usingextrudeallowsustoassignathirddimension.Youcaneitherdragthearrowortypeapositivevalueintooneofthefieldsmarked0.00mm.

OntheaboveexampleIassignedaDistancevalueof35.00mm.NowIwillshowhowwecanuseextrudetohollowoutpiecesofourproject.AboveIcreatedanewrectanglesketchontopofourexistingbox.Ithenaccessedtheextrudeoperationandassignedanegativevalueresultingintheimageontheright.*Extrudeisoneoftheeasiestwaystoaddorcutawaymaterialfromyourproject.Youcanalwayscreateanewsketchanduseextrudetomodifyanexistingbodyorcreateanewone*

ByrepeatingthesameprocessofmakinganewsketchandusingextrudeIwasabletoaddwindowsandadoortoourhouse.

Nowlet’screatearoofforourhouse.Wedothisbycreatinganewsketchandthenusingextrude.Thistimethoughwewilladjustthe“taperangle”sowehavelessmaterialasweextrude.Notethatanegativetaperanglecausestheextrusiontonarrowwhileapositiveonewillcauseittowiden. Usingonlyextrusionandsketcheswehavecreatedabasicmodelofahouse.Otherimportantoperations:Fillet:Thefilletoperationallowsustocurvetheedgesofthebodieswecreate.ThiscanbedonebyeithergoingtotheMODIFYdropdown,selectingfilletandthenthedesiredorsimplybyrightclickingontheedgeyouwanttoaddafilletto.

Itisoftenimportanttousefilletsonmanyoftheedgesinaprojectbecausethe3dprintersoftenhavetroubleprintingat90degrees.References:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5bc9c3S12g(LarsChristensenyoutubechannel)

WrittenByAlexArmour