Fusion 360

To learn how to use Fusion 360 and refine our Fusion knowledge, we designed a lamp using a powerpoint slide show and then had to design a pencil sharpener without any guidance. The powerpoint that we used to design the lamp is in the google drive folder above. Below, I will highlight important parts of the workflow:

Designing the lamp shade on Fusion 360:

1. Import the sketch (insert -> attached canvas -> choose image -> shadeprofile.jpg)
2. Calibrate the image (right-click on "shade profile" under browser and select "calibrate")
   1. Select the two ends of the markings and enter the value 13.5 cm
3. Edit canvas and move it so that X and Y axes in drawing line up with the axes in workspace
4. Create three lines: one from origin to the end of the base (13.5 cm), one from the origin up the vertical axis (19.2cm), and one for the short segment at the top
5. To create the curved part, select spline and place points sparingly from the lower right to the top
   1. The sketch is now complete (should turn light yellow)
6. Revolve sketch around the vertical axis (create -> select sketch -> choose vertical axis -> click OK)
7. Shell the lamp shade (modify -> select bottom and top faces -> set thickness to .15 cm -> click OK)
8. Can change the material/appearance under "Modify"
9. Create a sketch on the XY plane and create a center diameter circle of .8 cm along the middle of the neck.
10. Extrude and cut a hole by selecting both halves of the circle and extruding them all the way through
    1. You may have to orient the view cube
11. Create a 2.5 cm line that goes from the center of the neck through the hole and a 3 point arc from the end of that line to the Y axis. Create another arc from the end of the last one to where the base of the lamp will be
12. Use fillet to smooth out the curve you have created
13. Create a workplane (Construct -> plane along a path) and click the point at the top of the arc and set the distance to 0
14. Create a .75 cm diameter circle on the plane you have just created
15. Create a .55 cm diameter circle within the circle you made in the previous step
16. Sweep- choose the outer ring as the profile and the arc as the path and hit OK
17. Change the material if you would like
18. Create a new design and create a form to make the stand:
    1. Create a box (2.5 cm x 3 cm x 2.5 cm)
    2. Select mirror internal symmetry and select these two faces:

1. Edit form and select both sides of the face
2. Hold command and pull it out 12.5 cm
3. Don't hold down command and just pull it outwards 7.5 cm
4. Drag it down by 5 cm
5. Click OK
1. You can make small adjustments to cut down on the material in the middle
2. Select the back face of the tripod and pull down 5 cm and forward 5 cm
3. Make the end of the leg a tip
4. Make the whole object level on the XZ plane
5. Remove the symmetry line and hit "Finish Form"
1. Create a plane at an angle, select the z-axis, and make the angle 30 degrees
2. Create an offset plane, choose the plane created in the last step, and pull the arrow out 7 cm
3. Sketch a point and create a .8 cm diameter circle somewhere around here:

1. Create an extrude, select both halves of the circle, and set extents to "all"
2. Extrude an cut part way into base but not all the way through
3. Save file as "lamp stand"
4. Underneath the browser, right click on the body that corresponds to the lamp shade and select "create component from bodies". Do the same thing for the body that corresponds to the arm.
5. Sketch a 1 cm line at the bottom of the arc you used for the arm at a 30° angle. Create a .4 cm fillet with the arc and new line.
6. Reveal arm and edit feature -> click path and select new segment -> click OK
7. Right click on lamp shade component and select "ground"
8. Click on "as-built joint" (under assemble) and select lamp shade and arm and click OK
9. Insert lamp stand into current design
10. Orient and align the stand so that it is near the end of the arm
11. Change view mode to "wire frame with hidden edges" to help see where we want the arm to fit into the stand. Then, change view mode back to "shaded"
1. Create a joint (first component = circle at the end of the arm second component = dot in the middle of the cylinder) and click OK
2. Render and draw the schematics (the rendering of mine is below as well as in the google drive folder above)

After we finished our lamp shade, we went about trying to model a pencil sharpener. A picture of the real sharpener is below:

1. Start by creating a rectangle (r) that is 145 mm x 75 mm
2. Extrude (e) the rectangle up by 95.25 mm

1. Chamfer the 8 edges of the faces at each end

1. Fillet the 4 long edges so they are rounded instead of sharp
2. Create a sketch and create a center rectangle
   1. Tip: you can scroll over the top and side lines and find the midpoints of each and thus find the center and create a centered rectangle
   2. Create another line and trim (t) off any excess lines

1. Extrude the rectangle -2 mm and set operation to "cut"
2. Create a cylinder that has a diameter of 25 mm and a height of 5 mm
   1. Fillet the top so that it looks something like this:

1. Move this rounded, cylindrical object to the center of the rectangle and move it into the rectangular prism.

1. Tip: move using "point to point"
1. Combine the two objects using the operation "cut" to create an indent

1. Create a circle with a diameter of 10 mm and extrude (e) it -30 mm and change the operation to "cut"
   1. This should make the hole where the pencil goes
   2. Center the circle by finding the midpoints of the top line and side line

1. To model the cord, make a path by creating a spline and create a rectangle (3 mm x 2 mm)
   1. Use "point to point" move to move center of the rectangle to end of spline

1. Use sweep tool (profile = rectangle path = spline operation = new body)

1. Combine the "cord" and the rest of the sharpener using the "join" operation

SUMMARY

I learned that designing something from scratch is a lot more difficult than following a powerpoint that takes you step by step through the process. However, I took what I learned from the lamp project and applied it to the pencil sharpener. For example, I extruded a 2D sketch, cut out an object from another body, created a spline, and used the sweep command. I learned the trick of finding the center before beginning sketch and learned how to move using "point to point". Overall, I thought this project gave me a chance to really explore Fusion 360 and taught me that there is usually more than one way to do something.

The lamp project was a good starting place to familiarize yourself with Fusion 360, since it guided you step by step and touched on many tools/techniques. The most challenging part of the lamp project working in "form" mode. Forms give you more flexibility to change its shape and lets you do funky things to it. However, it was important that you knew what parts you had selected before pulling/pushing, or else, you wound up with something you didn't want. Also, getting use to working in multiple planes and choosing the right plane to start a sketch took a little bit of time. One setback I faced was drawing the schematics. When I tried to draw a dimension, it would keep "snapping" to a point that I didn't want it to snap to, so my dimensions are a little shorter than they should be. Overall, I thought that this was a good introductory project, and I can't wait to continue to develop my Fusion knowledge.