learn-fusion

The Estes Valley Library's very own Fusion 360 tutorial

Download Fusion 360 client software here

The interface

Fusion has a pretty sleek and simple interface, all things considered. We are going to interact with three main areas:

The viewport, where we create our design. The most important part of the viewport is the view cube in the upper right.

The menu, where we will use the tools underneath the Sketch, Create, Modify, and Make buttons

And the browser, which lets us keep track of the multiple designs we'll work on today. The top level of the browser and its activate/deactivate radio button is highlighted in pink- we'll need that later.

You will also want to know 3 mouse/keyboard controls:

• Scroll with scroll wheel to zoom
• Click and hold the scroll wheel and drag with the mouse to pan
• Hold Shift and click and hold the scroll wheel and drag with the mouse to orbit

Our first project: making a die

• In Fusion's top bar menu, choose the 📄 File menu and then Save. Name your document "game pieces".
• To keep everything neat, choose Create > New Component and name it "die"

Selecting the plane

We have three axes and three planes to work with. Sketches are created on a flat plane, so now's the time to choose how you want to think about your model. Are you going to start top-down, from the front, from the side?

For this first example, we are going to start from the top, as if we are looking down on our die.

Start sketching

• From the Sketch menu, choose Rectangle > Center Point Rectangle
• Choose the plane by clicking the orange square between the blue and red axes (the X-Y plane)
• When you see the crosshairs, click once to place the center of the rectangle.

There are two ways to choose the size of the rectangle.

• By dragging: Move the cursor away from the center point, then click to place the rectangle.
• By entering parameters: Your rectangle will have two floating fields- the parameters for the sides. Begin typing (no need to select anything) to fill in the first field, then use Tab to move to the second field.

Let’s make a perfect square. You choose the size. Use Command-Z to undo if you don’t like your square.

Entering the third dimension

Now, we officially enter the 3D realm.

• Choose Create > Extrude
• A floating Extrude pane showing the tool options will appear.

• Click your square to select.

Now, rotate the view cube slightly so you can get a better look, and you’ll see your square has a nice blue arrow-handle sticking out. -Drag to pull up on the handle or type to add the parameter.

• Hit Enter or the OK button on the Extrude pane to apply the extrude.

We could stop there, because we’ve created a printable 3D object- but I assume you want to keep going.

Modify

I noticed that dice have slightly rounded-off sides, so we are going to Modify our cube to give it softened edges.

Choose either:

• Modify > Chamfer
• Modify > Fillet

then click and drag a selection window around the entire cube to select all of its edges. Notice the you get both a blue handle ⬆️ you can drag or a parameter box for typing the dimension.

Try them both- just click cancel to leave the tool without applying the change. Try some of those crazy options even if you don’t know what they’re for. I certainly don’t. Take a second to evaluate the options and then click OK or hit Enter when you’ve got one you like.

Rotate the view cube a little to admire your edge treatment, because it’s about to get really wild.

Sketching and creating on faces

First, we sketched on a plane- the first square we drew. Now, we are going to work on the planar faces of the die, one face at a time, The thing I think the faces need is some dots.

• Choose Create > Sphere
• Hover your cursor over a face of the die until you see the edges of the face turn light. You’ll also see an inviting golden-yellow square representing the plane, but don't click that- we want to select the face.

- After selecting the face, **click once** to place the center of the sphere, then type a parameter for the sphere's diameter.

Notice something different? The sphere is red because it intersects with the face of the die and Fusion selects the Cut operation automatically. That's just fine, since we want to scoop a half-sphere out. Hit Enter or the OK button.

Adding more spheres

• Use the view cube to move the view so another face is visible. This time, right-click on the face. A circular context menu will appear around your cursor.
• Choose Repeat Sphere from this menu, click once to place the center of the sphere, and use Enter or OK to cut.

Now, finish the last four faces:

• Rotate your view using the view cube
• Right-click on faces to display the context menu, then choose Repeat Sphere
• Click once to place the center of the sphere and use Enter or OK to cut.

Our second project: a Monopoly-style house

Let's continue keeping things neat by creating a new component. Click the radio button next to the top level item in the Browser to activate it, then choose Create > New Component and name it "monopoly house"

• Rotate the view cube so the Front face is visible
• Choose Sketch > Rectangle > 2-point Rectangle
• Click to place one corner, then move and click to place the other.
• Choose Sketch > Line to draw a roof across the top of the rectangle
• Choose Sketch > Trim, then hover over to highlight and click to remove the extra line between the rectangle and the roof.
• Choose Create > Extrude. Rotate view cube if needed, then either pull the handle or enter the parameter. OK or Enter to apply.

Home improvement

Now, I want to add a chimney. The logical place would be on one side of this roof, but I’ll show you what happens if I do that. Instead, I want to sketch the chimney on the flat bottom of the house, and extrude it through the roof.

• Choose Sketch > Circle > Center Point Circle OR Sketch > Rectangle > Center Point Rectangle, then click and drag or type the parameter.
• Choose Create > Extrude, select your chimney shape and extrude it through the roof. Rotate the view cube as needed to see it better and then pull the handle.

Notice that like the spheres on the die, it’s red. Because it intersects the house body, Fusion chooses the Cut operation by default.

• In the Extrude plane, change the Operation to Join and click OK.

Now, let’s add a tiny bit of character to the chimney.

• Chooose Sketch > Offset, click to select the face on top of the chimney, then click the line around the edge of the chimney. Pull inward or enter a negative value in the parameter field. OK or Enter to apply.
• Choose Create > Extrude. Select the new offset shape we just made and pull the handle down to hollow out the chimney.

On your own, add 1 more feature to the house:

• Rotate your view using the view cube
• Choose Create > Sketch and click on a planar face
• Using the Sketch tools of your choice, sketch something on that planar face. Front steps? Door? Window? Up to you.
• Use Sketch > Offset and Create > Extrude to make the feature 3D.

Last trick: Rotational-symmetry game piece

Create a new component. Click the radio button next to the top level item in the Browser to activate it, then choose Create > New Component and name it "pawn" (or anything you want)

Creating the profile of the game piece

• Rotate the view cube so the Front face is visible
• Using the Create > Sketch tools, click to select the front pane and begin drawing a shape of your choosing. This one uses Center Point Circle, 2-Point Rectangle, and 3-Point Arc.

- Whatever you drew, make sure you place a `Sketch > Line` down the middle of the drawing to cut everything in half. This piece is going to have rotational symmetry and that line will be the axis that we rotate around. - Use Sketch > Trim to remove stray lines.

Revolving your shape

• Choose Create > Revolve
• Select the shape you created. The Revolve pane will show “Profile: 1 selected”
• In the Revolve pane, click on the Select button next to the Axis setting, then click the edge of your shape, the one that you want to be the center.
• Leave the rest of the settings how they are and click OK.

Open lab

We will use the rest of our time for an open lab. Create your own game piece using the tools you've learned today.

• Don't forget to create a new component for your unique game piece. Click the radio button next to the top level item in the Browser to activate it, then choose Create > New Component and name it something descriptive

Ready to print

We'll stop 20 minutes before the end of this class so everyone can submit a finished model for printing.

Submit your file for printing

• Activate the component that contains your favorite model by clicking on the radio button next to its name in the browser
• Choose Make > 3D Print
• Click on your model to select it
• In the 3D Print pane, uncheck the option Send to 3D Print Utility
• Name your file "yourname_color". My two available colors for this class are orange and light blue.
• Click here to open my Dropbox Request for File Submissions and submit your STL file.

Questions?

acavis@estesvalleylibrary.org