Deep Dive into Fusion360 pt 1

The purpose of this project is to become more well-versed with Fusion 360 and learn the essential tools of Fusion 360 designing. Additionally, this project helps allocate more exposure to PrucaSlicer and 3D printing mechanics.

NEW Storage Box

To start the New Year right, I emptied my EDM box containing all my EDM Semester 1 projects and pieces.

The engraved and vectored box is cut on the large Epilog Laser with the cardboard material saved settings. The vector and engraved hairline lines in the design are split by different colors, and the vector cuts are set to 40% frequency and engraving cuts to 100% frequency. The cardboard box has vectoring on the bottom rectangle where the 3.8mm-thick-cardboard folds.

What is Fusion 360?

Fusion 360 is a CAD 3-dimensional modeling software that is cloud-based, being able to access it both off and online. From past experience with Fusion 360, I recall struggling with object fills and imported designs having too many faces, thus crashing Fusion 360. Additionally, I also remember using the create button on specific axis to work on different planes.

Application Bar

The application bar allows you to access your projects and files in an easy to locate, organized manner.

Data Panel

The data panel features the file, save, undue, and redue commands. \

Profile

The profile tab allows you to acess your Autodesk account, adjust Fusion 360 preferences, view or edit your profile, share product feedback, refer a friend, and sign out of your Fusion 360 account.

My default preferences in Fusion 360.

Help

The help icon includes learning content, documentation, community resources, troubleshooting support and diagnostics, new updates for Fusion 360, and the search bar to find solutions to your problems more efficiently.

Toolbar

The toolbar allows you to access tools in an easy, convenient location. Additionally, the toolbar changes slightly when in different workspaces such as the Solid, Surface, Mesh, Sheet Metal, PLastic, and Utlities tabs.

Browser

The browser lissts all objects in your assembly and organizes the data by componets including origins, components, bodies, sketches, joints, construction geometry, and more. Additionally, you can also control object visibility and change document units and names in the browser.

ViewCube

The viewcube allows you to move around and view your design 2-dimensionally or 3-dimensionally.

The view cube helps you to view design from multiple views at once.

Canvas

The canvas shows the design assembly and provides visualization for such designs.

Marking Menu

The marking menu allows you to delete, move, copy, extrude, unisolate, fillet, and insert a hole in objects or lines. Furthure, you can pan, zoom, view with a constrained orbit, set and reset orbit center, remove orbits, show orbits, and many other object changing commands.

Navigation Bar

The navigation bar allows you to change the perspective you view your designs and objects from.

Display Settings

The display settings allow you to control how your objects and designs are displayed on screen; including the effects, visibility, ground plane offset, environment, and visual style.

Timeline

The timeline lets you access and change sketches or alterations in your designing and sketching processes.

Pro Tips

In Fusion 360, I recommend becoming well-versed with the Browser tab. Most importantly, In the browser, select the arrow on the sketches to be able to see and access your design's sketches so you can edit or duplicate them to increase your design efficiency.

Additionally, also under the browser tab, it is crucial to familiarize yourself with the origin tab. Clicking the eye next to the origin tab will toggle the origin's visibility on your canvas. Additionally, underneath many of the other tabs, you will see more origin files that you can click the eye to edit their visibility as well. This aids in de-cluttering and working more precisely while designing.

The Fusion 360 Interface Labeled

3D Printing

Paperclip Design

While creating the paperclip design in Fusion 360, I learned how to use many new tools.

By right-clicking sketched lines to access the marking menu, I was able to scroll down and select construction lines to create the lines the later tangent arcs would be based upon.

I learned to create tangent arcs by selecting all three construction lines connecting the ends of the straight lines of the paperclips and using parallel constraints on these lines. I could then create arcs that would be tangent to one another automatically from the constraints previously applied.

Additionally, one of the new tools was the sweep feature which defines a shape from a selected planar face or sketch profile along a selected path. To use the sweep feature, select the "Solid" tab, click create, and then click sweep in the drop-down tab. Next, I clicked "Select" next to "Profile," selected the inner ring of the .75mm circle at the tip of the paperclip before choosing "Select" next to "Path" and selecting the entire line of the paperclip. To tell that I had chosen the desired items, I looked for them to turn to a light blue color after clicking. After selecting the desired profile and paths for sweeping, I hit "OK."

Paperclip 3D Printed

While 3D printing the paperclip, I learned that you should use thin items, such as a screwdriver), to gently pull up 3D prints that may be succeptable to breaking while pulling up with your hands.

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Paperclip 3D Printing Timelapse

Root Beer Bottle Design

While designing the Root Beer bottle in Fusion 3D, I learned how to first use canvas' in Fusion. By importing a desired image you can create a reference image and move the image around by right clicking and selecting the "Edit Canvas" button in the marking menu. Additionally, you can calibrate the image to a certain height to proportionally scale the image to your desired size.

By using the line tool I created a point at the center of the bottom of the bottle and the center of the top of the bottle with a line connected between the two points. Clicking on the vertacle constraint option under constraints in the tool bar also allowed me to create a line parallel to the x-axis. Additionally, the revolve tool under "Solid" was used to sketch a planar face or sketch profile around my selected axis, the x-axis. This turned my 2D sketching into a 3D object.

The shell tool was used to hallow the inside of the bottle, the apperances tool to apply glass material to the bottle and provide a more thoroughly analyzable apperance, and the fillet tool to smooth the edges of the bottle.

Root Beer Bottle 3D Printed

While 3D prinitng the Root Beer bottle, I learned that filament oozing from the 3D printer noozle while it does automatic bed leveling does not affect the quality of the final print despite looking precarious.

I also utilized the "Object manipulation" in PrusaSlicer to roate the beer bottle 270 degrees on the y-axis to have it stand upwards and size the z-axis height of the bottle to 2 inches tall.

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Root Beer Bottle 3D Printing Timelapse

Problems Encountered

Some problems I encountered while doing this project include not knowing how to screenshot on a computer and the 3D printer leaking fillament while automatically leveling the bed. To resolve both of the issues, I asked for the help of my teachers. For the screenshot issue, Mrs. Morrow informed me that pressing the "windows", "shift", and "S" keys will result in a screenshot. While encountering the leaking of fillament from the 3D printers; however, I asked another engineering teacher who informed me that fillament leakage is completly normal and would not affect the quality of my 3D print.

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