Design Curvy Parts the Easy Way | Fusion 360 Tutorial

[@mr_voron]

I’ve been using calipers for 15 years and never thought about zero’ing the diameters of the pin to get on-center distance 😳 Nice trick

[@alexe589]

I feel dumb. Its obvious, super useful, yet I never even considered it using zero for anything other than closed positioning.

[@martinmajewski]

I must only find the zero button on my manual/analog calipers, now! 🤔

[@lililililililili8667]

was going to say the same thing I feel like a caliper wizard now

[@keithhoughton4308]

Yep, I've got a set of those calipers too. Now I can get inaccuracy to three decimal places! "Looks about 15 to me. I'll use that."

[@JoshDavis40]

Much easier to zero on the hole diameter and use the other side of the calipers to measure the hole to hole (outer edge to outer edge). Same concept but you can skip finding the screws.

[@Be_like_water]

I'd recommend adding in all fundemental features (holes included) prior to applying fillets so you can roll back all of those curvy features to make modifications to core geometry and add in new features after the fact with ease. Modeling on complex and curved surfaces causes lots of unnecessary difficulty especially on more complex parts.

[@milhooz]

Adding the holes before the fillets would probably prevent the filet tool to work properly. Worth a try but sometimes it is a bit difficult to make it work on complex geometries.

[@akaHarvesteR]

I think he chose his order of features very carefully there. Large fillets like that can be VERY ornery in fusion. Sometimes the fillet edge can hit the border of another feature (like a hole) and the operation fails there.

[@raymond_rayder]

This is class, being able to see the whole process from idea, to CAD model, through to the slicer and out of the 3D printer. Cannot tell you how long I've been waiting for someone to show the entire thing from start to finish. Nice office, too.

[@Trainwreck1123]

I love how your content is so varied. I have a huge problem with floating between interests in the shop, and your channel having a nice mix of topics is such a nice thing to look forward to every weekend.

[@Jake-zc3fk]

James, thank you so much for your F360 tutorials! Your tuts are not only useful items but your teaching/illustration style is some of the best. Please keep ‘em coming.

[@glenj.taylor2938]

I've never seen "tutorials" abbreviated to "tuts" before. Thanks for sharing that. However, my brain wants to say "tuts" aloud as "tuhts." So a "tuh-torial" just sounds off to me. The think of the word as being pronounced "too-tor-e-als" so that instantly compelled me to want to abbreviate to "toots" but I don't how well that would be recieved by others. This english language sure is something, ain't it? Sorry for the lengthy reply. 😁

[@Jake-zc3fk]

@@glenj.taylor2938 Yes, the language is something! I would normally type things out instead of using contractions, especially when it's likely a lesser known contraction. I guess I'm just getting lazy in this age of text messaging and typing with my thumbs!

[@kk-pz8gn]

being able to see the whole process from idea, to CAD model, through to the slicer and out of the printer. I've been searching for someone to show the entire thing . Thank you

[@ericsandberg3167]

F360 takes a bit of training to get proficient with it, but once you get the hang of it, you appreciate how powerful it is and what new windows of creativity it can open, aka 3D printing to analysis and CNC. KZbin content like yours and others for F360 training makes getting up to speed so much easier for new users.

[@freshmas]

That center to center measurement trick is so handy! I also use it for internal features 🤑

[@Triptweeze]

I audibly signed at the "one weird trick" part but I knew you wouldn't let me down. Oddly enough, I learned more from your other tips than your mention of the fillet tool. Calculating the distance 1:40 - 2:07 for example. TOTALLY makes sense but..for someone who is a "learn as you go" kind of engineer...well...these things don't just come to you. All that being said. Thanks for the video hopefully I can find a way this knowledge on!

[@hypnolobster]

7:10 holy crap I didn't know you could do that. I've been either drawing multiple sketches (when I didn't need to), or projecting geometry onto a new sketch.

[@larrybud]

You can also construct another offset plane and extrude from there.

[@jlnrdeep]

Kudos for explaining in simpler terms how to smooth rough prints, also the clearence option for metric holes in fusion is amazing, i didn't knew you could do that, just impressive how knowing to properly use the tools can make 3D modelling so fast.

[@TrustJesus100]

Awesome...Ive been himming and hawwing for months now, I might just have to break down and order the Bambu carbon, the parts are beautiful. Youre the first guy who has actually added the printer screen to the video, love it. Thank you.

[@joell439]

Thanks James. These practical tutorials are perfectly edited and are such a joy to watch and learn from. I always pick up at least one trick I didn’t know, and every time that new trick is another game changer for me in my designs. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@compspace]

That looks really nice James. Just one tip from me, you can switch your 3d mouse into a 2d mouse for sketches, I find it a lot easier to look straight on a sketch. I use one of the two custom buttons to switch from 3d to 2d.

[@Clough42]

Oh, that's cool. That would make things easier.

[@MrBigMalT]

As a relative noobie to fusion 360, this is gold dust! Thank you 😊. Ive just designed my own, by using your excellent info... similar idea, but with a horizontal mounting bar, as its going into the edge of a 1" thick desktop.

[@Shraedar]

I've been using fusion for about a year now, and I always learn something new every time I watch someone else use it. I have never used the hole tool for making screw holes. I can't imagine how many hours I've wasted by manually countersinking holes and making chamfers in them.

[@joshq00]

as a novice, it's really cool watching some of these things that probably seem so simple to you. i didn't even know about the point option, much less the m6 pre-cuts for hole. thanks for the tips you didn't know you were providing in this video!

[@Rob_65]

Nice tutorial. I love these short ~ 15 min. tutorials. Even with my almost 20 years of CAD experience with different packages, there are always some of this little things that I pick up while watching them 👍 Putting the holes in before applying the fillets is one option but having too much geometry may interfere with putting on more complex fillets. Putting the holes in before applying the large fillet on the top would most likely have limited the size of the fillet.

[@MrTomparvin]

This was fantastic, some great tip and tricks here

[@stephenjohnson6841]

Another great video James. I really appreciate how you walk through and explain all the steps. Thanks again!

[@CJ-ty8sv]

Yes, Fillet function is your friend when you want smooth flowing transitions between faces like that. Granted I'm sure you know this James but in case not, and for others who don't, you can do that same center to center trick without the bolts by using the ID blades of the calipers in the holes themselves, ID measure the hole, Zero calipers, then just measure outer edge to outer edge between the two holes with the ID blades. Also what a lot people don't know is that this direct measurement trick only works correctly by itself if the two features are the same side (Same ID or OD depending on which way you do it). With that said, there is a pretty simple way to still do it when they aren't the same diameter. Simply measure each diameter, extrapolate the radius of each and then add the two radiuses together and zero the calipers at that number, then you can measure the center to center just as you would. Example, say that you have two round features, one 6mm and the other, say a 10mm. just add the radius of each (obviously 3 and 5 for this example) and open the calipers to that size and then zero them and measure just as you would

[@Rob_65]

Yes, using the ID blades is possble, but I think that in this case that is not the easiest way to get the calipers in and handle them at the same time. On large flat parts I mostly prefer the bolt measurement because of this.

[@tonyabdalla]

Really enjoyed your tutorial of the design process for this part in Fusion 360! Would love to see some more!!

[@pyrhockz]

I’ve been using fusion for years and only know I’m learning about the Hole feature ! (And also the trick with the calipers!!) Crazy content, thank you !

[@Skuxxoffroad]

Couple awesome little tips I just learned! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@DustyWall]

I, a FreeCAD user, almost shed tears watching all those fillets actually work.

[@locorocohui]

this was so informative. and perfect timing considering i've just designed a headphone hanger with much more rudimentary skills lol. upping the gameeeee

[@totallynotserious]

So many good nuggets of information in here about fusion 360 workflow. Thank you!

[@michaelrosenlof1084]

Thank you James, for another outstanding video. Your instructional style is excellent-Thank you✅👍

[@navoJ]

Already knew to do smooth edges but i learned everything else shortcuts dimensions fixing error while smooting Thanks

[@markdodwell1226]

Great video. Try selecting G2 for the fillet type and you should get even smoother looking curves.

[@bsimmons00]

For overhangs, chamfers are a better way to go to avoid needing support. However, it didn't come out that bad and it's not really a visible portion.

[@MrRctintin]

Thanks, I love your F360 videos, they really help me understand it better.

[@Diehard754]

Excellent video, thank you.

[@owen7081]

Great Video, made one as well but using double sided tape and centered the bracket.

[@ChriFux]

that bambulab mouse design is soo good. just printed it too ❤

[@crazycaseyscustoms]

Thanks for the tangent chain tip! 👍🏼

[@immedinafrank]

Thanks for this video, I'm a beginner designing things, best.

[@snifflesfpv7321]

Tipp for exporting into the slicer: Bambu slicer does handle obj files so you can use that to not get problems with the stl making your print less round than you designed it.

[@Zardwark]

I'm just adding my voice of support for the 3D tutorials. I wouldn't like to see the channel evolve into a 3D but showing how these and other small parts are done is very handy to us beginners who consider a washer a challenge 😞

[@mattmeyer6471]

working on a project that i could not figure out how to put some radiuses in to thanks for the insight.

[@LordBBK]

Use the adaptive layer height to get the next level of curve smoothness. That also helps on the overhang side too. Did you also have the same type of overhang artifacts with the X1C too?

[@astorMorisson]

You can now use the adaptive layer height to help with the overhang

[@yathani]

Wow i love these videos .. I learned a lot! Thank you and keep them coming please 😊

[@lorenworthington8739]

Nice video. Given my prototypes aren’t always too perfect, I’ve learned not to take the time to put all of the chamfers and fillets into it because I have to often back them out in order to make substantive changes to the body. So I usually print the first prototype with some, very perpendicular corners, etc..

[@jimsvideos7201]

Beyer Dynamics, nice.

[@lancefields3310]

Thank you for this! Love this content!

[@RNMSC]

Thanks for the reminder that Google Home can't see any of the lights in my den... Had a firewall that needed to be reinstalled a couple of weeks ago, and all the IoT devices in the IoT VLAN got new IP addresses. Switching as much of that out to Zigbee plugs and bulbs but haven't made the new devices available to Google yet. Nice job on the Headset hanger . I went with a much simpler design a couple of years ago, it's still working OK, but always curious how others are designing and implementing them.

[@SUPPORTYOURSELF]

Insanely helpful video, thank you Cough42! How do you move the model to the various faces? It doesn't appear to be clicking and dragging with the mouse. Thank you!

[@magdi-00]

one should never say in a video the key words "key Google OR Alexa or Hi Siri" -- it will always trigger them... beside that -- love the content :)

[@berfranper]

I really need one of those joysticks for cad design

[@GuidoHendriks1990]

If I know some part of the model is going to be hard to print because of an overhang, I try to combine chamfers and filets. Still gives a smooth result but takes away the eyeballing as it will never exceed the angle of the chamfer.

[@Duraltia]

Personally, I'd have added a Screw Hole or two for installing a M3x40/50mm Flat Head Screw coming in from the back going almost all the way to the front acting as a reinforcing Rebar because of the Layer Line's orientation making the part practically indestructible.

[@bernardtarver]

For a headphones holder?

[@alp763]

You should start exporting files in STEP format for printing. It gives way better quality on curved surfaces. Even the round holes will be truly round.

[@SUPPORTYOURSELF]

How does this affect the editability of the original 'blocky' dimensions/sketch/model? I notice in some of my models after I apply the fillet, they become more difficult to edit. I'd love to hear your 2 cents on this, if my question makes sense. Thanks!

[@jsh281]

What is that other curved object on your desktop? Do you have a tutorial for a complex object like that?

[@mdk6502]

Do not ever say "Hey, Google" in a video. Thousands of people are currently turning lights off.

[@sto2779]

can you show to make make curvy parts like this on the CNC mill? thanks.

[@freddyrosenberg9288]

How long is the rope you used to tie yourself to the computer to get that good at Fusion?

[@LUN5HTIME]

how do you move the camera so smoothly?????

[@Stubones999]

How about a "how to do dovetail joints on Fusion 360" for us beginners?

[@myhirschgarten1]

What is the brand of yours nice chair? Thanks!

[@kmkessler]

Getting it right the first time is something that never happens to me. The issue I see is the downward force of gravity is working on the weakest part of the print, the layer lines. Ideally the layers should be perpendicular to the piece of furniture instead of parallel to it. If it doesn't break, though, strong enough is good enough.

[@sierraecho884]

When using fillets go from large to small.

[@leighbellouny3904]

I loved the device names

[@sheariley1910]

You just turned on every smart light in my home! Maybe don't say that in your videos.

[@belatoth3763]

My gf broke the left fork of my headphone. I decided to make it 3D printed from PC. However it needs a minimal flexibility the earpad part to be connected. Do you think PC would be the proper material?

[@curteaton]

As an Engineer I love G1 fillets. But they are not elegant, they are functional. Elegant requires G2 or preferably G3 curvatures.

[@JBLewis]

My Google Mini decided that James wanted to turn *off* all of the lights in my house at about 1:00

[@Vel0cir]

Could have swept the shelf with an arc for an even curvier part too

[@dognoseranger]

WAIT ... hole tool?? It'll make holes for you?

[@dognoseranger]

Granted, I've been stumbling through learning f360 but how I didn't see/click that icon yet is beyond me. Thanks for the illumination.

[@brocktechnology]

I was hoping for complex compound curves, put filets on everything kinda is obvious.

[@bufordtjustice4362]

Have you tried orca slicer? It is a fork of bambu but better. I was able to dial my x1 accuracy to .002ths using the horizontal expansion and hole expansion offsets.

[@RandornCanis]

The guests were not a fan of every smart light turning on in the middle of the night.

[@RabidBadger_]

To get rid of that roughness on the overhang replace the big fillet with a 45 degree chamfer and then smooth the transitions with fillets. Looks almost identical but without the roughness-inducing overhang angle.

[@exactpause9218]

WOah that is a great trick!

[@sgnoogle]

This is great! I had to ask ChatGPT to help me understanding it, but now everything is clear!

[@Vlingvling10]

I love chamfers for sidelining supports while getting great print quality. Fillets are great but fall short on larger diameters just before and through midarc. Like you said, round out chamfered edges with fillets and you get a decent compromise on the overhang where gravity works against printing.

[@davidobrien3901]

Don't say "Hey Google" when your in mixed company! I mean Siri or Google people. Because it works, and my device isn't set up for the lights, She's Mad!

[@silverwaffles]

Mine turned on my lizards light and heater in the middle of their night. They weren't happy.

[@robertshunter]

My first thought was, "It's really late for a Halloween prank".

[@mattims]

Lol yep turned all my house lights on 🤣

[@Beef4Dinner22]

Mine turned on all the lights in my house, at least all the smart ones. It was a bit of a shock to my eyes since it is late and I already had all the lights off.

[@cooperised]

I can't escape the feeling that voice control is dumb, and will be one of those things we look back on and laugh at. I have it disabled everywhere (and I have a lot of smart home tech). So I find it pretty funny when creators engage in this kind of trolling!

[@AdamsLab]

Important note: *ALWAYS* add fillets and chamfers *AFTER* all your sketching, extrusion, etc.. Fillets and chamfers should always be the last thing you add to your model. Otherwise Fusion gets angry and can throw errors if you try to change your model and there are fillets/chamfers in the middle of the timeline.

[@MegaChickenPunch]

true

[@Synssins]

Long time listener, first time caller. I'm self taught in F360. Spring of 2020 was when I first picked it up, and I'm always learning new things. This one video had me swearing out loud over how simple you did some of the things I go through significant effort to complete. Extrude from surface/object from a single sketch? No thank you. I'll just create a new sketch on that surface and copy/paste the edges into the new sketch. Holes? Edit the original sketch and draw a circle. Then extrude through it. Doing things the stupid way all this time, and you just blew my mind. I love your videos, your voice is great for voiceover work, your knowledge is next level, and your sense of humor is akin to mine. If I wasn't already subscribed, I'd subscribe again.

[@GGGG_3333]

Yo mate, I did that double sub just for you 😂 And the great content as well 😁

[@l.l.coolray]

I agree, ive been going the long way around to produce easy things, now I've learned a few tricks here it will save me hours and clean up my confusing time line. Lol. Do more of these pls.👍😎🇬🇧

[@jameskilpatrick7790]

I really appreciate all of the CAD content. I don't use Fusion, because of the rapacious pricing, but the great thing about all parametric CAD packages is that, if you can use one, you can use any of them with minimal effort. I can translate your design process and intent into the package I use with no problem, and I've learned a ton in the process. Thanks!

[@aszher]

F360's personal use license is free for 3 years and has full features with a 10 document limit (you can have infinite documents, just 10 active at the same time). I like it becuase it's very easy to use, but I've been wanting to jump to another CAD software because fusion isn't available on Linux and it's the only program keeping me on a Windows machine. Which CAD are you using or would recommend?

[@olegafanasiev604]

Mind that you just need to reapply after 3 years to confirm you still match the criteria, your designs won't vanish.

[@berlinberlin4246]

​@@aszhera good Linux CAD Programm is also a thing what I'm looking for

[@arcrad]

​@@aszherI like FreeCAD. A bit rough around the edges but does everything I need it to do.

[@jameskilpatrick7790]

@@aszher For Linux, FreeCAD is probably the best package going. It's an open source project under continuous development. FreeCAD has a great deal of functionality, but from what I've seen, the interface will take a little getting used to, coming from commercial Windows software. There are a lot of good KZbin tutorials and pretty good documentation to help the process along.

[@TobiasHoffmannWup]

Get rid of that seam, when ther is no need for it by disabeling (Z hob) "retract when layer change" in Printer settings under Extruder. You'll only have seams that make sense from there on.. switching between models for example Cheers and thank you for the spot on tutorial!

[@MrZANE42]

Please, Please Don't say the complete Hey Google .... In your videos. You just turned on all lights in my house!

[@sblack48]

Very nice CAD tutorial. out of curiosity, what is that DBX box bolted under your desk?

[@XcaroTenes]

I wondered that too ;). It’s a DBX 286s Microphone Pre-amp Processor. Part of the “secret” to James’s excellently produced sound.

[@MikkoRantalainen]

@@XcaroTenes It's worth noticing that DBX 286s is an analog only device so you need separate digital audio interface in addition to that. That said, DBX 286s is the best one available right now for the job it can do.

[@sblack48]

@@XcaroTenes don’t tell him that I’m listening to that beautiful quality audio through ipad speakers smaller than my thumb nail. 😜

[@XcaroTenes]

@@MikkoRantalainenYup, noted. It's sweet sweet analog in the OG sense, in the same spirit as tubes. A nice piece of prosumer gear, it handles both unbalanced and balanced input/output. I'm curious what microphone(s) he uses and the rest of the audio chain looks like.

[@XcaroTenes]

@@sblack48 Haha, same here. Totally in keeping with the adage "measure with micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with axe" :). Start with the best audio (and video) you can and let the downstream use degrade as needed...

[@802Garage]

This is quite a coincidence. I just designed my own headphones hanger for the exact same reasons approximately two weeks ago. My initial design idea was extremely similar to yours, including screw placement. I instead went with a boxier design where both screws go through the back behind the headphones at a slight downward angle, and I left a hole in the front of the hanger to pass a screwdriver through for the bottom screw. My headphones have a fairly large pad, so I made the front wall fairly tall to hold the plastic part in. My design is symmetrical, and I had wanted more curvature like yours, but some thin areas of the print made filleting hard. I still got some rounding on all the edges of course. The interesting and challenging part of my design is that my headphones are flat one the front of the band and have a curve like a banana on the back side. So I wanted the back of my holder to be flat and the front to match the curvature of the band. I wasn't sure how to accomplish this, so I actually dabbled with 3D sketching in Fusion 360 for the first time. There were definitely some interesting challenges with it. I learned a lot. Ended up using the surface modeling features of Fusion a lot where I would create a shape completely from sketch lines in 3D including curved lines and then patch them until there were no holes. I then had to use the stitch command to make it into a solid object like usual. I learned some nifty tricks from your vid I def could have used too. Thanks!

[@robertshunter]

I wonder if KZbin shows a big drop-off of viewers beyond a specific point in the video. 😂

[@KayRoepke]

Strong Godfather vibes +1

[@doyouflytoo]

Smooth curves are exactly what I need to work on in fusion 360. Perfect timing for me. Thanks love the videos and how you show the CAD to the parts you make.

[@nismocapri1]

Slick! That tip about zeroing the cap screw head then measuring to get the centers is gold!

[@niilojoukanen106]

This video taught me so much like doing multiple extrusions from the same sketch, extruding from an object and using a calliper :D

[@br88dy]

Thank you! I’ve been wanting to see your method and also which mice you like to use when in Fusion360. I learned a few things from your concise tutorial even tho I’ve been using it for 2 years.

[@Z-add]

Its a space mouse

[@brewbuilds]

this was an awesome video, very basic, but showed a lot of valuable info. the caliper zeroing trick was slick. thanks for sharing!👊

[@ouchman4212]

Thank you for mentioning the shortcut keys for each step

[@2oqp577]

Looking at the office wall, I now have an heighten sense that Clough42 wrote and played his own bass line. 🙂

[@robertsternlieb5532]

you make it look so easy. thank you!

[@herrerajairo]

WHAT A NICE TUTO! I´m a beginer in fusion and 3D stuffs, your video was so clear and simple that inrpiring me to move on. I was a little demotivated, must confess. Thank you!

[@mattadata2]

You can 'save' a little bit of resolution in your prints by not going to a .STL file. Fusion can go directly to .3MF for Bambu Studio. File -> 3D Print. Select object. Choose format of .3MF, and tell it to automatically open in Bambu Studio. No intermediate file needed.

[@ianlangley987]

Very good video, I have learnt a little more as I have just started with Fusion 360 and my Bambu printer. I bought it to print deck fittings for my 1/10 scale model of a Venice water taxi and so far the drawing/design and printing is going well but always keen to learn more. Cheers Ian, New Zealand

[@RobertCowanDIY]

Beyerdynamics, nice. I had a pair of those for my office.

[@flippy9133]

PC is kinda overkill for part like this, I think PLA or PETG would be more than adequate :D nice design tho I learned lot

[@Turbo442]

Someone was rocking a set of vintage Harbor Freight calipers in the video. Unlike the newer calipers Harbor Freight sells, these were not assembled in a sandbox.

[@suivzmoi]

7:35 personally i would have eliminated the vertical bar and two bolts and instead gone with the just the arch and one tunnel directly underneath it for one single long bolt. this allows the bolt to take the load bearing function away from the plastic. this would allow me to use PLA which would otherwise be load creeping over the months, because i would want to use the Bambu AMS for multi color in black and for the lip either electric blue or wood to match the Kobalt drawer. all black is going to be troublesome to see in the dim lighting. some double sided tape between the arch and the drawer should easily handle any concern about the arch torqueing around later because its only mounted with one bolt.

[@KaloyanDobrev]

Could you share how you keep your PC dry and ready to go at the same time. No unpacking, drying, loading... or is it through the magic of video editing:)