Sweep Command Twisting and Path Placement in Fusion 360

Fusion 360's Sweep command has a "Twist" option. The Twist option rotates the Profile as it travels along the Path. Using the Twist option can create useful shapes that would be difficult to create with any other tool. It can also create odd but interesting shapes that are great for decorative flourishes.

Although these shapes have few applications in basic mechanical design, they are seen frequently in ornate architectural columns and facades.

Fusion 360's Sweep with Twist command can produce amazing and complex shapes like spiral columns, springs and coils with just a few clicks. However, understanding where to place the path and profiles to get the desired effect takes some understanding as well as a bit of practice.

You can radically change the result of the Sweep/Twist command just by changing the location of the Path in relation to the profile. A slight change in the location of the path can dramatically alter the result and produce effects like a double twist or springy coil. When the path is more complex than a simple straight line, the results can be very dramatic.

A collection of possible shapes using the same profile and path. Only the location of the path changes between each example.

The shape of the profile can also change the result. For instance, twisting a circle along a centered path does not produce any noticeable twist. But when the path is set at the edge of the circle, the result is a spiraling column.

Complex Facets with Move Command in Fusion 360

What if you want more complex faceting than the basic technique provides. Well there is a simple way to add complexity and visual interest to the shapes you just created. Just tilt some of the facets with the rotation feature of the MOVE command.

Start by creating a faceted gem using the techniques described in the first tutorial. Sketch a polygon and extrude it with a negative taper angle. In the examples below, we use an eight sided shape (octagon).

Now open the MOVE Command and:

• Set the MOVE OBJECT type to FACES. 
• Select the "All-In-One" option as the MOVE TYPE. 

Select one of the faces of the shape and pick a point on the face. Fusion 360 will try to snap to certain points like the middle or ends of edges or the center of the face. Each point will allow you to change the faces in different ways, but there are a few that work well.

Make Faceted Gems in Fusion 360

Faceted gem shapes look very complex, but they can be simple to create in Fusion 360 if you know a few techniques. With these tips you can create simple jewelry, forms for casting, frames for furniture and gem shaped stained glass planters.

Simple and Easy Two Step Technique

It only takes a couple of steps to create a faceted gem shape in Fusion 360.
Read the Tutorial >>>

Tilting Faces with the Move Command

You can take the gem you made with the basic technique and continue to modify it. Using a clever technique with the MOVE command, and maybe some parameters

Simplest Way to Make a Faceted Gem in Fusion 360

(1) SKETCH a POLYGON 

Start a SKETCH and under CREATE, select the POLYGON option. The Circumscribed and Inscribed options work well. Set the number of sides. Click OK when done, then click FINISH SKETCH to exit the sketch mode.

Sketch a POLYGON.

(2) EXTRUDE with NEGATIVE TAPERS

Make the TOP: Select the EXTRUDE command. Click on the polygon sketch and pull the extrusion upward to create the top part of the gem. Set the TAPER ANGLE to a negative value. Smaller values will leave a flat top on the gem, higher values will

Shell Command in Fusion 360

I started keeping some notes about commands in Fusion 360, just some neat tips and tricks I had gleaned from all the how-to videos. These tips were often scattered in videos about other subjects and I had a hard time remembering which part of which videos contained the information I wanted.
Often, I will use the tips in exercises immediately after watching the video to help me remember them better. I started taking some screenshots from the exercises and storing them in a reference file. I would print them out and make notes to help me remember. Eventually I began to type the info directly into the file.

Over time I started to develop a style of note keeping, and I combined these notes with some old illustration files to make it more professional looking (old habits die hard). These screenshots and note files were supposed to be the building blocks for some blog posts and videos, but I started feeling like the illustrations and notes were actually useful just like they were. I still intend to do the videos and tutorial blog posts, but I decided to share these illustrations first.

They are intended to be a very basic framework about the Fusion commands and you are supposed to print them out and scribble your own notes on the sheets in a way that makes sense to you - a kind of DIY cheatsheet for Fusion. They should fit on a US Letter or an A4 piece of paper with a margin for a three hole punch. Collect them all and make your very own custom training manual. Or at least that's my intention.

Making these sheets useful and presentable to the public turned out to be a lot more work than I anticipated. The SHELL command is one of the simplest commands and it still took me several days to make these sheets, to turn all those scribbles into full sentences, put the images into some sort of organized sequence etc. So I'm not sure if this will become a regular feature or not.

If you find this useful, please drop me a note or a comment on the FACEBOOK page so I will know I should produce more.

I divided the notes onto different sheets because I wanted to leave room for people to take notes and make their own drawings. I wound up with several sheets and I'm afraid they became too densely packed with information for much note taking. But this is just a first draft and the format might change in the future - if enough people are interested. Let me know what changes and additions you want - more dense, less dense - more detail, less detail - larger, smaller etc.

THE SHEETS

Each blog page has it's own sheet and some notes. I will come back and add the tutorials to the individual pages, and maybe even a link to a video if I ever make it.

Basics and Introduction

What does the SHELL command do and where do you find it? What kinds of objects can you use it on and are there any complexities to the command? SHELL is a simple command that can save you a lot of time.
Read the Tutorial >>>

Selecting Faces - One, Several or All

- Coming Soon -
Read the Tutorial

Inside or Outside - Setting Shell Direction

The SHELL command lets you choose the direction of the shelling action - INSIDE or OUTSIDE. If you choose INSIDE then it puts the walls along the inside of the existing shape and maintains the existing exterior surface shape. If you choose OUTSIDE then Fusion will add a wall outside of the existing shape and the original geometry will become the hollow interior. This is useful for making casting molds or to maintain clearance when designing cases and enclosures.
Read the Tutorial >>>

Special Conditions - Single Face Objects, Adding Faces

There are a few shapes, a SPHERE or TORUS for example, that only have one face. You can only make these shapes hollow, you cannot punch a hole through them with the Shell command without adding geometry or splitting the face before shelling. FORMS made with the sculpt tools can also act like a single-face object unless you turn off Tangent Chain in the dialog box.
Read the Tutorial >>>

Tips, Tricks and Gotchas

FORMS: Thicken- v- Shell
--- Coming Soon- Shell -v- Extrude Cut - v- Combine Cut
--- Coming Soon- Why Can't I Shell This
--- Coming Soon- Modifying Shelled Bodies
--- Coming Soon- Adding Details - Before or After
--- Coming Soon- Tangent Chain

Videos About The Shell Command

Brad Tallis shows a time-saving way to make a bracket
NYC CNC shows an interesting use to create an odd shape

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Shelling Single Face Models in Fusion 360

There are a few shapes, a SPHERE or TORUS for example, that only have one face. You can only make these shapes hollow, you cannot punch a hole through them with the Shell command without adding geometry or splitting the face before shelling. FORMS made with the sculpt tools can also act like a single-face object unless you turn off Tangent Chain in the dialog box.

See all sheets on the SHELL COMMAND or take a look at

All of our Fusion 360 Tips, Tricks and Tutorials.

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Shell Command Intro in Fusion 360

What does the SHELL command do and where do you find it? What kinds of objects can you use it on and are there any complexities to the command? SHELL is a simple command that can save you a lot of time.

Download the image and print on A4 or Letter paper for a quick cheatsheet

See all sheets on the SHELL COMMAND or take a look at

All of our Fusion 360 Tips, Tricks and Tutorials.

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Forms Thicken versus Shell in Fusion 360

FORMS have special properties in Fusion 360, and there are special commands to work with Forms. Although you can use the Shell command on a Form (while in the SOLID workspace), that might not be your best option.

The FORM workspace's Modify menu has its own THICKEN command. When you use this command you can shell out the form, but both of the resulting surfaces (interior and exterior) act as separate objects in the Modify menu. You can push or pull on one without affecting the other surface (within limits.) This gives you a lot of freedom for sculpting the outside shape and interior cavity.

By contrast, dropping the Form back into the solid workspace and using the SHELL command on the solid form somehow connects the interior and exterior surfaces. When you push/pull on one it also affects the other surface. If that's what you want, this might be very handy.

And if the FORM is an open surface model (not a solid) you can also use the Solid version of the Thicken command (under the create menu.) This option also creates a connection between the two surfaces and causes them to act like a single wall.

Which option is best? Well that depends on what you want to do with the resulting surfaces.

Download and print on A4 or Letter for a custom Fusion 360 manual cheatsheet.

See all sheets on the SHELL COMMAND or take a look at

All of our Fusion 360 Tips, Tricks and Tutorials.

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Mimic Springs or Gravity in Fusion 360

Use the REST option in combination with JOINTS and CONTACT SETS to mimic the effect of gravity or a spring-return action in your Fusion 360 designs. Now your cam-followers will actually follow the cam surface for the entire rotation, latches can snap back into position, and you can more accurately model the actions of your mechanisms.

WHY?
Sure, even without utilizing the REST option you can use contact sets and make one object push another object out of the way. But the moved object stays in the new location. It does not return to its original position. If a cam pushes a rod up, the rod stays up and never returns to its lower position. A latch pin can be pushed out of the slot, but it will not automatically slide into the locked position

But when the REST option is used, the object does return to its original position. The REST option basically tells Fusion to always return that object to its original resting position. The REST option works with all joint types, so you can create a self-centering joystick, a slide that returns to bottom, a spring-loaded pin or a combination.

I've always used this technique in combination with contact sets, but it does work with basic joints too. I use the contact sets to create the interaction between the objects, then create a resting position to make sure the moved object returns to the desired position when the contact set's influence ends. However, you can create a joint without contact sets, a simple pendulum for example, and the object will return to resting position when you release the mouse after moving it. (Note: This changes the way the "Capture Position" option works.)

Use the "REST" option in the "Edit Joint Limits" menu along with contact sets to apply, or at least mimic, the effect of gravity or springs in Fusion 360 models and animations.

SETTING the REST POSITION:

• Open the JOINTS folder in the object browser
• Find the Joint you want to have a Resting Position
• Start the "Edit Joint Limits" dialog by:
  a) Right-clicking and selecting from the menu
  b) or hover over the joint and select the icon to the right of the joint name.

• Select the REST check box
• When selected, an option to enter the location of the REST or "home" position appears
• The type of value changes depending on the joint type (ex: sliders use a distance, rotating joints (revolutes) use degrees
• I try to design the model so that the object's original or current position is the resting position. But you can enter any functional positive or negative value.
• Notice that you can drag the object using the triangle-flag icon that appears
• Click OK

Now, the "Rested" component will try to return to the home-position whenever the contact surface stops pushing it out of the way. The affect happens quickly, much like having a spring applied to it.

The REST option is an excellent way to model assembly joints, but it does have limits.

• Objects do not bounce.
• There is no decay, so pendulums return instantly to center instead of swinging in smaller arcs
• There is no acceleration/deceleration.
• There is no friction or speed options that I know of.
• It does not deform modeled springs or levers.

So it's definitely not a full kinematics modeler and the interaction is very simple. But overall it's a very useful technique that is worth remembering.

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Using Fusion 360 for Technical Illustration

Found another way to (mis)use Fusion 360... making quick technical sketches. Fusion is incredibly powerful and I use it to create complex structures. Most get 3d printed or sent to the CNC. But this time I just needed to illustrate a simple repair project.

The illustrations were for my How to Fix Venetian Blinds tutorial over on Instructables. Nothing needed to be 3d printed, machined or manufactured. I just needed a way to show what the existing objects looked like and illustrate some hand-done repairs..

In the past I would have used a graphic design software like Illustrator or Inkscape. But as I was thinking about how I could do the drawing, I realized something... I could do it quicker and easier in Fusion 360. (Especially the screw threads)

This might not seem like a big deal, but it's the first time a 3d modeling program was easier to use than a vector drawing program. It always bugged me that I could do incredibly complex things with 3d software, but the simplest drawings worked better in an artists software. I often had to redraw a 3d design in 2d to illustrate a point.

Drawing this design, complete with threads and bent metal wire, only took a few minutes. Making a section through the solid 3d object took mere seconds. Getting this quality in a drawing using Illustrator would have taken me an hour or more.

I think the drawing illustrates the concept a lot better than a photograph of the real object.

With Fusion, I could draw complex geometry like screw threads, apply materials and textures, create a perspective view and a cutaway... all in a matter of minutes. I could explore lots of different views in seconds instead of doing a separate drawing for each view. It would have taken me an hour to do a single drawing in Illustrator, a full day to do multiple drawings. With Fusion, I basically drew one object and "looked at it differently" to create several new drawings. Fusion was a huge time saver.. 

This illustration took a few minutes and has a perspective view of a screw thread and multiple material textures.

But I think a simple photograph illustrated the concept and process just as well as the drawing.

Some of the drawings really helped clarify the process and relationships. Other drawings were not significantly better than a photo of the actual object or process. But having the option to choose (or to include both) with just a few minutes extra work made the entire project simpler.

Fusion 360 will never replace Illustrator or even Inkscape for most applications. But I'm really happy that I have free access to a program that allows me to create sophisticated technical sketches so quickly. And when you combine the powers of Fusion and Illustrator you could do some very helpful drawings. So I'm really happy.

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EL-Wire plus 3d Printed Bracelet Project

Found some pics of an early jewelry experiment combining EL-Wire and 3d printing. This bangle, or maybe a bracelet, has got to be one of the simplest designs I've done with this combination of technologies, but it's still effective.

There is very little non-structural plastic in the design. That's not usually an important consideration in my jewelry making ---  in fact, I get way too elaborate with both structure and decoration.

The EL-wire loses some of linear appearance thanks to the undulating repeating pattern

But when I design something as a 3d print I tend to think more like an engineer. So the simple design is pleasing to me because it means I found a basic concept that works. I like it when the most basic form works with no extra parts or decoration needed.

Or maybe I'm just happy because I like it even without a single gear or wing or key or even an antiqued brass raven skull. Not everything has to be Steampunk.

This first-test version is a simple sine-wave-shaped 3d print. The EL-wire runs through a series of holes in the center of the wave faces. This holds the EL-wire in place with friction. And it breaks up the linear shape of EL-wire visually.

The EL-wire runs down the center of the sine wave shaped 3d-printed bracelet.

It's also textured and bright enough (bright pink plastic) to look fun and read well in daylight. It's comfortable to wear and durable. Not bad for a first test of concept.

(Also check out my EL-wire party night light project)

I know these early devstage pics aren't the best, so I'll try to find the actual objects again and grab some better images soon.

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3d Printed Door Handle Extension

Making useful and functional parts was a big reason for me getting a 3d printer. I made this door handle extension in a few minutes and thought it was such a good example of the power of 3d printing that I would share it.

I even wrote a short INSTRUCTABLE tutorial on it.

I know I post about a lot of fun 3d printed stuff ( like bikini tops or shadow casters or even jewelry ) but I also design a lot of stuff for everyday use. You know, the boring replacement knobs or obscure parts for outdated equipment. Most of the time I think it's so boring I don't bother to post about it.

After all, you can buy a new knob cheap, and who wants to spend three hours designing a replacement part for an almost dead power tool anyways? But people seem to like this project, maybe because it's a brand new object instead of a replacement part.

Check out the Instructables guide - I put all the details there. If you like this type of project then let me know and I'll post more useful (if somewhat more boring) projects with 3d printing.

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My Cup Runneth Over - 3d Printed Bra v1

Support your local makers - I'm doing my part with this 3d printed bra. Yes, that's right... a custom bikini top bra cup designed in Fusion 360 and printed on a hobby level 3d printer.

Okay, so the project started as a hat. Think "fascinator" base or mesh ball-caps. I wanted to see how different types of French curves joined together when bent. I knew different curves could result in any shape from a cone to a perfect sphere, or onion domes to flattened rounded-corner cylinders. But I had never really designed something with a variable curving shape. Hats looked like a good item to test with. Little did I know.

So I started experimenting with curves and shapes and bending --- and voila, I had my first piece of 3d printed lingerie instead. It not only  turned out better than I expected, I decided a 3d printed bikini top is way more useful and fun than a hat anyways - pretty happy with this failure discovery.

Bright pink bikini bra cup printed on a 3d printer and designed in Fusion 360. It's a bit of over designing, but it sure was fun.

I've been experimenting with heat-shaping 3d printed panels recently. Sure, I can print the model pre-shaped, an all in one standalone print. I could have easily printed this object pre-bent and ready to wear. But as I discovered when printing my mini-terrarium greenhouse, it's sometimes a lot quicker to print flat objects and assemble them.

My first experiment with heat-forming 3d-prints was a simple bowl made from a flat 3d-printed sheet, which turned out okay. Good enough that I wanted to try something more complex.

The bowl shaping experiment relied on the patterns within the perforations to allow deformation when heated. The corners in the pattern are arranged so that the surface can bend in three dimensions without significantly changing the structure. That technique worked fine, so I wanted to add a second variable to better control the shape.

I know a little about traditional pattern making for clothes. I also have some experience shaping and heat-forming foam panels into costumes and props for cosplay. So I figured heat shaping PLA wouldn't be that much different.

I also wanted to use this series of tests to better understand just how curves affect the final shape. I have Fusion 360 and Meshmixer and several other programs that could take the final shape and create a cutting pattern for me.

(I had to print a couple of quick failed experiments before I remembered that I needed to use those traditional pattern making skills though. Not always the smartest cookie on the shelf.)

But the software makes most of the decisions when I use those techniques, and I really wanted to understand how to do it manually. I think when I understand pattern making better I can probably force or at least suggest settings for the programs to give me better patterns.

This is the first experiment that gave me the smoothly varying curves I was after. It was a very simple pattern, but it was also the first time I used splines (aka French curves) instead of simple arcs. The result is a lot closer to a single, flowing shape and less like the segmented domes I got when I used simple arcs and lines.

That's when I decided to declare, "This is now officially a bra." Well, half a bra... okay just one cup. But still, it's a much more body-friendly form than anything I had created before.

Also notice that the decorative-infill pattern is simple. It is NOT designed to flex and deform. That means this sheet of plastic reacts to bending in a manner very similar to that of paper or non-stretchy cloth. It's really just the way the two curves join that makes the final shape so much smoother.

If I combined the deformable-mesh technique from the bowl experiment with the spline-curve edges from this experiment, the plastic sheet should begin to behave more like cosplay-foam or stretchy cloth. Then... print it in flexible filament to actually make it comfortable to wear. That's the next phase of experiments.

And yes, there should be more experiments with 3d-printed fabric and clothing coming soon. But understanding the traditional methods of pattern making is still an essential skill. For instance, my 3d-printed chainmail is pretty flexible. But to get it to fit properly at any large scale, like a vest or corset, I will still need to create differently shaped pieces of the mail just like you would with old-fashioned cloth.

The pattern in Fusion 360. You can see the different types of curves on every edge. Sure, it's 3d, but the principles are the same as used in traditional clothing patterns.

So no matter which direction I go, I must get better at pattern making. Right now, I have my hands full just with this, but I can already tell it's going to be a fun journey.

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Slashed Tee-Shirt with a Template - First Look

Slashed tee-shirts were all the rage a few years ago, Then they fell out of favor for a while. Now, they appear to be making a comeback with much more elaborate, commercially produced forms. I made a few attempts at cool fashion tees and got frustrated because mine always looked even rougher and more home made than they were supposed to - ragged, crooked cuts with even worse weaving.
Who knew I was so bad with a pair of scissors?

But I'm willing to try again. This time I made a 3d printed cutting-template to help me cut clean, straight lines for easier weaving and crisper shapes.

The cloth fits between two slotted plates. The plates lock together and hold the cloth in place while it's cut with a craft blade. 

The template itself is a simple idea, but I'm using Fusion 360's parametric functions to make the template easily customizable.

Now, with just a few clicks I can change the size and thickness of the cutting plates,and the size and spacing of the cut lines. I can also apply any shape to the slots.

Don't know how often I will personally use it, But I know some folks who are going through their custom-tee phase that might enjoy having these.

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Mecha-style stand for Bose speaker Challenge

Just got accepted for the Bose Speaker Challenge over on Instructables.

The project was designed and rendered in Fusion 360. The challenge was to design two panels (on opposing sides) for Bose's Educational Speaker Kit for students

As  you can see, I decided to go with a Mecha look.

The kit comes with translucent panels. And the back panel has LEDs that can be controlled via a phone app. I tried to get the render to show the glowing effect. It worked somewhat, but I still need to learn a lot about rendering emissive and translucent materials.

The lonely speaker-mecha wanders the desert looking for student interaction.

I wanted a design that would appeal to young kids. The Bose Build Speaker Cube kit is designed to teach about sound, electromagnetism, programming and assembly. That sounded like it's for younger students, so I also wanted to make sure it was very sturdy and very stable. I designed a very wide base and made all the parts super thick. It should hold up to classroom use for several years.

I also wanted to make sure teachers could print it easily, so I made it a single piece per side. Each side can be printed flat with a minimum of supports. The shapes should print easily without anyone having to tweak the printer settings. Teachers have plenty to do besides getting a delicate design to print correctly on the school printer. And students should get an easy success on their first try.

I tried to balance the level of detail with an engaging look. There are a lot of strong basic shapes, but not much surface detail. The strong visual massing and classic mecha shapes should trick the eye into thinking there is more detail than is really there.

The mighty mecha is at rest now, but could suddenly stand up and walk away in a cloud of dust and wall of sound.

Hopefully, the wide base will make it stable for kids to play with. The speaker weighs close to two pounds, so I wanted to make sure it didn't get top-heavy and topple over.

I learned a lot in this design project. Even though I know the basics of Fusion 360 I found myself getting bogged down in the sheer number of objects. I might have made a mistake keeping every object separate until the last minute. That made the object list cumbersome to navigate. But I learned to manage them on-the-fly from the design canvas much better than before.

And keeping them all apart till the final build also gave me a lot more freedom to make design decisions all along the process. Of course that freedom (power?) also meant I could get distracted making (too many?) minor changes for hours at a time.

I'm waiting to see what kids and teachers think of it, but overall, I'm happy with the result - both from a CAD standpoint and as a usable design for young students.

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New Tutorial Published on Instructables

Just published a tutorial on how to design chain-mail. Well, actually it's more about using parameter-driven design in Fusion 360 to create an easy-to-change base design for 3d printable chain mail. But that's a mouthful.

It's also my first attempt at a video tutorial in years - like since it was actually on "video tape," not digital. It was trickier than I remembered, but digital editing is a lot more forgiving than editing on a tape deck.

So check it out and let me know what you think of the tutorial - especially the video. I know it's kind of a specialized subject, but if you have any interest in modern 3d design and printing, the video might have some useful tips and tricks.










I was honestly really impressed with how useful parameters are for doing design iterations. Setting everything up for the first time can be time-consuming. But so is designing any object from scratch. The payoff, and it's a huge payoff, is that once you have the parameters set, you can make hundreds of design changes really quickly and with almost no effort.

Small tweaks that could have taken hours now take seconds. So if you are hesitating on taking the plunge into the new world of "parameter driven design" - well I strongly encourage you to jump right in. The rewards are tremendous for anyone who does complex design work.

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