C'ADventures

[Susquatch]

It was some time before I realized that: sketch -> solid model -> drawing.

Although I've had fusion for 6 months, I have not really used it. Finding something out there, downloading it, and modifying it to work for me has been way too much work and the pain hasn't been worth the gain.

Realizing your simple description (sketch, model, print) with the help of others is like a giant lightbulb turning on for me.

Now it’s so natural I would find AutoCAD very limited, working in 3D is tremendously intuitive after you get the hang of it.

This is the goal. Thanks for the encouragement.

I'm still far out to sea with no land in sight. But at least I have a compass now and I know there is land out there somewhere.

I'm finding @Jangers thread on getting started very valuable. It's amazing what some will do to help others.

@phaxtris even made me some videos first thing getting home late from work! Wow!

 

[jcdammeyer]

Little side drift, but since this is about learning, RPN calculators are best for the approach of equations in three concepts.

1. Floating stack to allow you to manipulate the equation.

2. Inside out first always, followed by,

3. Top down.

Nice thing is you see you intermediate answers along the way and that alone is worth it.

This dynamic change in thought process is similar to changing on how you approach simple 2D drawing to CAD/CAM 3D drawings.

Interesting little side drift considering that I'm in the process of relearning the FORTH language after being away from it for many decades. All so I can run it on older PIC18 processors. I have a couple of tubes of them and they are looking for a project that is not Aduino.

 

[StevSmar]

Realizing your simple description (sketch, model, print) with the help of others is like a giant lightbulb turning on for me.

I know what you mean.

Coming from AutoCAD I thought “I’ve already drawn a sketch, I should be ready to make a drawing”. But that doesn’t really work in fusion because the typical process is:
- Draw a sketch.
- Use it to make a model.
- “Draw another sketch and use it modify the model” OR “use the tools to modify the model (like extrude, draft, boolea, champher)”.
- etc. etc.
- Make a drawing.
- Turn off the features you don’t need in your drawing.
- Add dimensions etc (snapping to your model)
(I believe you can make drawings directly from sketches, without a model, though I’ve only ever used a combination of a model and sketch to dimension a drawing).

The more proficient you become the more you you’ll structure your sketches and models in a way Fusion 360 likes.

In case you aren’t aware, you can even define formula’s in Fusion 360:

I made the above for a friend who wanted to get this CNC machined. In this model, I’ve used the sprocket tooth profile in Machineries Handbook. I’ve then defined formulas for variables in fusion 360. The dimensions in the sketch then referenced the variables.
I tend to build sketches “in layers” because several simple sketches are better than one complicated one.

So for above I’ve made a sketch for:
- base geometry (the purple lines).
- I referenced in the base geometry and added the tooth profile (the above sketch)
- Then I used a circular array to make an “all teeth” sketch.

Making the model is a combination of revolving a sketch profile to make a “blank” then using the “all teeth” sketch to cut the teeth, and another sketch to cut the keyway.

 

[PeterT]

Coming from AutoCAD I thought “I’ve already drawn a sketch, I should be ready to make a drawing”. But that doesn’t really work in fusion because the typical process is:

Yup, I see this a lot & I come from similar background. Its OK to use ACAD vernacular in a general sense if it helps you understand the broad picture of a new 3D program. But many important words have very different meaning or usage so relating back to prior experience can & often does become a learning hindrance. Unless you are Happy Gilmour, hitting a puck & golf ball are quite different although both involve swinging a stick haha

In ACAD, 'drawing' meant the constructed & dimensioned 2D outline of front view or floor plan or whatever. Very similar to old school drafting. You also have 'layers' which is analogous to old school sheets of vellum. Draw electrical on top of same scale floorplan, that kind of thing. Output/printing/plotting was pretty much renditions of whatever you had on your 2D screen. 3D was not part of the workflow. Well there were some attempts but they were a disaster. That's when they developed or bought other 'real' 3D apps. They milked 2D for for as long as they could, and for many flatlanders, that's all they required

In 3D, 'sketch' is roughly the same as drawing but much more powerful & sophisticated. The 2D sketching tools like line, circle, arc, spline... are very similar. Maybe a different symbol but pretty transferrable from ACAD aside from their coordinate input shortcut. But in 3D you draw on ANY plane in 3D space, on ANY surface of any part. This is what makes it so powerful. (Technically you can also sketch in 3D space but I don't want to complicate matters). The point is, once this sketch is defined, you do something with it. That was the whole point of doing it. Extrude it outward (make a 3D solid), depress it inward (a cut), revolve it about an axis (3D solid), sweep it along a helix (a thread form)... on & on. A 'drawing' in 3D usually means the hardcopy output of 3D model. This in particular makes 2D-ACAD look like a stone chisel. Here you bring in the 3D part model & with a button click make 8 projected / isometric views. Keep what you like, delete what you don't need. Need a section through that point or through that feature, no problem, 2 clicks. Dimension, auto-dimension, explode it like assembly, make tables of parts, assemblies...

Layers in 3D kind of depends on app. I've seen it used in SW confined to relatively minor drawings enhancement. But its not like ACAD where you display floorplan + electrical. 3D modelers have much more powerful ways of hiding or suppressing parts in assemblies. Assemblies mean collections of parts with defined mates. Sketches can also associate or link to one another. But this is just the beginning. I can orient a 3D part to any crazy view & project that onto a 2D sketch and use that for other purposes.

 

[Former Member]

Yup, I see this a lot & I come from similar background. Its OK to use ACAD vernacular in a general sense if it helps you understand the broad picture of a new 3D program. But many important words have very different meaning or usage so relating back to prior experience can & often does become a learning hindrance. Unless you are Happy Gilmour, hitting a puck & golf ball are quite different although both involve swinging a stick haha

In ACAD, 'drawing' meant the constructed & dimensioned 2D outline of front view or floor plan or whatever. Very similar to old school drafting. You also have 'layers' which is analogous to old school sheets of vellum. Draw electrical on top of same scale floorplan, that kind of thing. Output/printing/plotting was pretty much renditions of whatever you had on your 2D screen. 3D was not part of the workflow. Well there were some attempts but they were a disaster. That's when they developed or bought other 'real' 3D apps. They milked 2D for for as long as they could, and for many flatlanders, that's all they required

In 3D, 'sketch' is roughly the same as drawing but much more powerful & sophisticated. The 2D sketching tools like line, circle, arc, spline... are very similar. Maybe a different symbol but pretty transferrable from ACAD aside from their coordinate input shortcut. But in 3D you draw on ANY plane in 3D space, on ANY surface of any part. This is what makes it so powerful. (Technically you can also sketch in 3D space but I don't want to complicate matters). The point is, once this sketch is defined, you do something with it. That was the whole point of doing it. Extrude it outward (make a 3D solid), depress it inward (a cut), revolve it about an axis (3D solid), sweep it along a helix (a thread form)... on & on. A 'drawing' in 3D usually means the hardcopy output of 3D model. This in particular makes 2D-ACAD look like a stone chisel. Here you bring in the 3D part model & with a button click make 8 projected / isometric views. Keep what you like, delete what you don't need. Need a section through that point or through that feature, no problem, 2 clicks. Dimension, auto-dimension, explode it like assembly, make tables of parts, assemblies...

Layers in 3D kind of depends on app. I've seen it used in SW confined to relatively minor drawings enhancement. But its not like ACAD where you display floorplan + electrical. 3D modelers have much more powerful ways of hiding or suppressing parts in assemblies. Assemblies mean collections of parts with defined mates. Sketches can also associate or link to one another. But this is just the beginning. I can orient a 3D part to any crazy view & project that onto a 2D sketch and use that for other purposes.

And this makes it difficult to convert from the old way of doing things.

 

[Janger]

Hi - back to this thread on Fusion 360 and getting started. There are a lot of videos on Fusion but I think what is missing is how Fusion puts all the different pieces together so it works - and how do you generally use Fusion? It is not the same as drafting or perhaps prior CAD packages we have trained on.

I have put together a bunch of slides to show some concepts and how to get started and work effectively. This is primarily aimed at the Fusion new user. They are not perfect but I think it will suffice - don't let perfect get in the way of getting to good. So I propose to help people by running a 1 - 2 hour tutorial online. I'll show some slides and demo some things in Fusion - then it's your turn to try it. So to do this effectively we need a solution to present on my machine and another solution to view on your machine. With audio required and video nice to have. If I was at work we'd just do it on MS Teams and it would be trivial. Also it would be good if other people could also share their screen and even better if we could share a screen and allow someone else to control it. It needs to be free and simple.

Options:
1. MS Teams - we would need an organization to host it. I don't think my employer would appreciate or allow this. Does someone have MS Teams at work and could host it? This would work pretty well, install is pretty easy, and it works well across multiple people, locations, on multiple machines and OS's. My first choice.
2. We tried discord once and while that worked you have to do setup and client setup stuff.
3. There is https://obsproject.com/kb/quick-start-guide open broad cast project which I think @phaxtris suggested once. setup & install complexity.
4. Could use zoom. It's free for 45 min sessions. It has some bad press about security issues.
5. Could use google meetups which seems to be good. This would be my second choice.
6. Something else?

When:
1. Time. I suggest evening 6:30PM MT. So that is 5:30 PT and 8:30 Central, 9:30PM East coast?
2. Date? Saturday Dec 23 rd at 6:30PM MT.? Wednesday Dec 27 at 6:30PM MT.? Maybe Sunday Dec 31 2PM MT?

Pre reqs.
1. Fusion 360 installed on your computer and it works.
2. Meeting Client installed on your computer and tested it works.
3. Internet speeds sufficient to attend. I think for some people if they want to attend they will have to find faster internet.

@TorontoBuilder John I think you thought you could be the TA for the session? During the breakouts you and I could help people who are stuck.

Thoughts? Maybe I should poll on the dates.

This thread is moved to here:
https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/fusion-360-getting-started-session-december-2023.9555/