Designing a Lasercut Laptop Stand with Fusion 360

[@magnusandersson2929]

having taught myself fusion 360, this is a very fresh look at how designing can be done, and makes my design method look primitive. Excellent video, love your voice and presentation style.

[@adskFusion]

You can learn so much watching someone else make something in your favorite CAD! Make sure to subscribe and keep learning!

[@richardnewell506]

I have taught myself Fusion 360 as well and I've been doing lots of tut's and getting some good learning in the bank. what I'd like to know is if I can spit these components out so I can cut them on my CNC? thanks again, Richard.

[@natedj30]

I think I learned more in this 20 minutes than I did in 4 years of high school

[@BUILDwithMAULIK]

And it’s free

[@jimcatan703]

Thank you for such a clean, useful tutorial. no BS, no gimmicks; just useful information.

[@josephlaverty4303]

Thank you for including shots of the product produced from the model!

[@mihailazar2487]

where ?

[@josephlaverty4303]

@@mihailazar2487 in the last few seconds of the video

[@Iskelderon]

Thank you! This is probably the best primer on the topic I've seen so far. Most others always make things more complicated than necessary.

[@alishanmao]

just starting with laser cutting and looking for tutorials and thank you, you have the best, simplest and easy to follow tutorial that teaches not just how to make this but the most important concepts and tricks that we can use to create many more items. Thank you so much

[@jonathanconway7256]

After using F360 for two years I learned so much. Thank you

[@ronald44181000]

This video seriously highlights the abilities of Fusion 360. That being said, what we all need now for those of us beginning our first drawings in the program is a video of all of the nomenclature that you just used in the creation of this Laptop Stand. I will probably spend as much time creating a basic drawing as you've spent describing your actions.

[@torhakh]

Absolutely brilliant. Thought this process would be a real hassle. You nailed it in 20 minutes with a sprinkle of F360 top tips, couldn't really ask for anything better.

[@ChrisSchraders]

This is without doubt one of the best F360 videos I've seen. Nice work Taylor! So many good tips and tricks. I haven't use Fusion for a while so I didn't know about user-defined parameters, but they look super useful. Thanks again!

[@scientist100]

For laser cutting, I know some people don't mind it but the cutout where you subtract from a part is a useful resource to save time, however, during assembly, they don't usually fit tight, there is a kerf on the laser itself and the models won't fit tight to hold themselves together. Like I said, a lot of people won't mind using glue but in my future designs, I will add at least 0.005" overlap for the laser cutting.

[@trungcoder]

My laser fits tight, I do not need to add overlap. Please check the focal focus to ensure the light is smallest.

[@scientist100]

@@trungcoder it depends on wood but I measured this value; that's how much it burns off the material once cut. To get your number; just do square cut with defined target value and then measure the actual value and divide that by 2 to get the half for each laser cut.

[@jbgeller]

What a phenomenal tutorial. I had a little bit of trouble since the interface has changed between when this was created and now, but it's still a very clear, concise, thorough guide that holds up extremely well.

[@markmccall9027]

I know this is old, but it is gold. I'm early on my Fusion journey and embarrassed to say that I've been relying on cut and paste, and good old drag-and-drop to try and design all the symmetry.

[@marleyman101]

What a brilliant tutorial simple, but covering all the relevant items and even the setup for laser cutting.

[@SuyePhoto]

Do you not have to worry about the kerf for the connecting parts?

[@MeneerSouabi]

I use Inventor for design, and Fution 360 for CAM, but after this tutorial, my mind have changed. good work!!!

[@Markevans36301]

This took me hours to watch working along with you. I could have done it in 20 min. in Sketchup but it would not have been parametric. I really appreciate the videos.

[@patrickmaartense7772]

great workflow, gave me a fresh look. great piece of work.

[@Darkvictorious]

amazing, I'm impressed. You make everything so fast and easy.

[@philippe5394]

For me, it's an excellent tutorial that I've just reviewed. This time I tried to well assimilate the functions used. I understood the method , which allowed me to detect a bug at 6'50" of the video. The top edge of the top is referenced at 12mm from the top edge of the leg. Later a fillet is applied on this same edge. As this little edge is replaced by a fillet, this changes the position of the top. I modified the sketch of the top, and it works now just fine even when i modify the fillets.

[@mrAmd54321]

Great tutorial. Covers so much in a short space of time. Thanks and subbed!

[@sachinjoshi5509]

Great work! my confidence increased by working on u r video

[@britzwickit]

Really great tutorial, you showed me everything I wanted to learn and some more!

[@adskFusion]

Love to hear that!

[@Snagglepuss1952]

I too am self taught and have picked up a few good tips, very clear, thanks

[@thomasbr83]

You explaining is very good but is there also the same explanation for the current version of fusion?

[@brucehamren9089]

This was an excellent tutorial!

[@jeffkeen6943]

You do the best tutorials Taylor - and no mistakes on this one... :-)

[@cnckitsplus1]

Nice Job. Adjusting the material thickness is very helpful especially for plexiglass. It typically runs less than .25 and the entire drawing would have to be updated. This workflow is awesome! Thanks

[@calvin4374]

I enjoy the flat pack design stuff. I am new to making parts that interlock. I sometimes I forget to use parametric until the part is fully modeled. I like that that you include the parametric as a critical step in the videos. Also, the tips and tricks you prove. Great videos!

[@RoseKindred]

Is there any compensation needed to allow for the kerf created by the laser to ensure the stand is secure and stable?

[@JustinEltoft]

WOW. Just wow. What a great tutorial.

[@airman6937]

I love the features in fusion360 but the company I intern for, and my school use solid works. And I’ve grown so fond of solid works that it’s all natural at this point.

[@adskFusion]

This might be the case today, but that'll change as Fusion adoption accelerates. I left school having learned ProE, but never used it in industry.

[@pendientedeq]

Hey, this is great! your videos have been really helpful, thanks a million

[@CoolshrimpModz]

Thank! Learned a bunch from this video.

[@best49erfan]

I just started learning F360. Awesome video. I really like this software. It is so easy to make a sketch and make it into a real 3d object and then do the CAM!

[@ticmaticic]

Nice sketching ! One question tho,what does Activate on 4:15 does ? I didn't fully understand it.

[@MrEngineer_]

I am going to do it with rectangular hole in legs so that i can grab it and take it around my room.... your tutorials are engaging to watch...helped a lot...thanks!!

[@PawelAjs]

Nice project :) thanks for explaining

[@mattw8155]

I think this is the best video I've seen for a basic getting started with Fusion 360. Thanks.

[@null090909]

No kerf?

[@nowayandnohowx]

Great tutorial, but tell me what the "activate" action does, what's the difference between activated and inactivated?

[@DrSkunk]

How would you compensate for the laser kerf?

[@stephanbaumegger1505]

Hi, is there still a possibility to select all edges at once, like at 4:01 in the current Fusion version?

[@levelupwithlouie]

Great tutorial. This tutorial is convincing me to use Fusion over Blender. Thank you for measuring this quantum state.

[@MannheimBR]

What a terrific tutorial! Thanks so much for your clear descriptions. The tip about setting constraints is a very good one and something that really helps when thinking about the design process. I'm still a little unclear about the "color change" on the lines when the feature is constrained, but I will research this and figure it out. Looking forward to seeing more of your instructionals!

[@DAPPERE_DODO_9564]

4:48 if i try to do joint i can’t select anything. The component becomes invisible. What can i do about that?

[@dorandan100]

Thanks for your excellent work on this vid. As a beginner I had to repeat it an embarrassing number of times to get my model to match. Problems included sketch colors not activated by default in my install (buried in preferences), so they wouldn't turn black when fully constrained. Dimensioning existing features or changing existing dimensions is often problematic, in that the dimension line I seek is often not selectable for reasons I'm still trying to decipher. One design element I might suggest changing is the selection of lines & angles you chose to fully constrain your initial leg sketch. I made all of those changeable parameters in my design, but found changing the tilt degree (fixed 22 degrees in your design) really messed up the design due to the fixed back height (155 mm?) in your initial constrained sketch. If you constrained the leg sketch front lip dimensions and left the back height as the unfixed, moveable dimension, lowering the tilt angle would produce a more consistent look as it moved. Thanks again for the fine tutorial. Dan D.

[@cbyrd4423]

Great Video ! Learned something new again ! Thanks Chris

[@iaincampbell4422]

As a 3D printing aficionado I was a little surprised you didn't offset adjoining faces for tolerance figure perhaps laser cut wood is more forgiving? Anyways nice workflow enjoyed that (if anyone is tempted to do similar with an FDM printer rather than laser cutting I'd try offseting the adjoining sdgss by circa 0.1mm each side (to create about 0.2mm tolerance) but will depend upon how dialed in your printer is.

[@JustinEltoft]

@4:00 I can't seem to get this to work with the latest fusion360. Something must have changed

[@sayhan351]

What color did you use to make it look like wood?

[@mickhourigan1180]

Got a question Taylor, at around the 13:45 mark, where you are creating the braces, I'm following your steps for learning, and for some reason I can't seem to get the overlap parts to select for extrusion. Not sure what I'm doing/have done wrong. Any tricky parts here you make look easy I should know about?

[@andrewrobb633]

Excellent. More tutorials like this please.

[@EdwinFairchild]

what is a good free or open source piece of software to use for laser cut?

[@maxpenfold8699]

Great Video

[@richardsugarsmith]

This is awesome thanks, would really love it if you could update it sometime to the new Fusion layout to show my students.

[@s541263]

How to place these components in one plane for CAM development? Automatically or manual. I mean i'd like to put them down in one plywood sheet stock, choose tools, make toolpath etc

[@jackflash6377]

Great video for a newbie such as myself. Question.. Why not use the CAM of Fusion360 to generate the G-code to send to the laser?

[@RatherFlyRC]

Great video.... how do u install a laser cutting machine on fusion 360? Thank you

[@macsurfer1]

Hi Taylor Great Tutorial. I am only a beginner, so good to see your thought processes and how easy it is to create some fairly complicated joints. (Well for me anyway). Please keep your informative videos coming! Big Thumbs UP!

[@yadusolparterre]

6:00 you didn''t say why you projected. What is this feature?

[@momohadd]

Is this tutorial being done on a Mac or PC?

[@j4nch]

I'm curious, how do you manage kerf? Because on some joint both pieces are subject to kerf, and sometime only one of the two pieces(when the other is perpendicular and has its thickness that doesn't change).

[@erikhuaynateg9681]

What king of wood have you used? how do you get nominal dimensions and don't have problems with the tolerances of the laser cut machine?

[@Keitsch77]

Awesome! Thank you so much for this!

[@adskFusion]

Spread the good word!

[@reedwindmiller7490]

I'm wondering is there a way to offset the legs from a fixed center point? That way when you change legwidth both move an equal distance from that fixed center point.

[@tonylorentzen]

What would your approach be to get a good snug fit with laser cut materials like wood since the cutters take away a bit of material - typically between 0.1mm to 0.25mm. I know you mention wood glue, but what if that's not an option. Would there be an easy way to make small 2-3mm long and 0.2mm tall 2-point arcs where the parts are touching, maybe?

[@aftereight991]

This tutorial is awsome show me so much usefull tipp about the simple sketching:)

[@wilburgoltermann3239]

I tried using the doggone filet F360 add in to prepare this project for cutting on a CNC. I could not get the add in to work when selecting an entire body, but was finally able to get it to work when selecting vertical inside edges singly. Any ideas why this is so?

[@storyboarddave5860]

Lots of great info. Thanks

[@Deitchtam]

I'm only able to export a .dxf from the sketch itself. How are you exporting the sides after the combine operation to cut on a laser cutter?

[@battalion18]

awesome tutorial, very easy to follow!

[@SkyfishArt]

Very nice and easy to follow tutorial. I completed it without problems. Although I don't understand what the projection was for and what it did, and it left some strange patterns in my version, but they don't show up in the final sketches to be lazered so I guess i'm ok.

[@adskFusion]

+Christina Lewis Hi Christina, the Projection allows you to reference geometry that isn't in the plane you're sketching on. Hope that clears it up!

[@kevinroskam9090]

Great video Taylor! Keep them coming. Can this be converted to a CNC Machine rather than a Laser Cutter?

[@colemanbecker1392]

Is there a way to design for dovetails in a project?

[@RichardBronosky]

At 5:58 you added a duplicate dimension of 8mm. How could you use a constraint to make the 2 dimensions always be equal?

[@EricBrennan]

Two very easy ways. First way: Add the first dimension. Then add an equal constraint to what would be the 8mm line on the opposite side. Second: Add the first dimension. Then start adding the second dimension, but instead of typing the "8mm" again, just click the first dimension and hit enter.

[@MeneerSouabi]

my leaser cutter needs Red and Black colour to ingrave or cut, how can I get this done?

[@androjesus]

Is there a way to un-mirror and keep the mirrored component?, I want to start a design like this one but after all the similar features are added I want for example add a fan on one side and electrical components on the other side, so both components will become different, how can I do this?. Thank you in advance, I am only 3 days using a CAD Software.

[@finnbourne-arton3421]

u saved my GCSE project

[@adskFusion]

Love hearing that!

[@GroovBird]

Excellent video for what I'm trying to accomplish. Question though: do I need to remake those DXF sketches when the parameters change?

[@farfadet46]

Big thanks for this video !

[@_cytosine]

Great Tutorial! It seems like a good first project for beginners.

[@adskFusion]

Thanks! We agree!

[@nemloc]

After getting this model done, what's the common practice to get it to the laser cutter? Save as DXF, import, and print? or is there another layout tool to get it into properly sized full sheets?

[@MannheimBR]

Hi Nemloc, did you ever get a good answer to your question? I too, have been looking for a good workflow from Fusion to the Laser. Which drawing program have you used to import those DXF files and then print to the Laser?

[@ryanshaw3931]

nemlon and john stance, use coral draw as a layout program to laser cut your DXF files

[@billyguildford]

Great tutorial, thank you very much!

[@ytonny]

fun tutorial! i only dont understand when i do a window selection for the fillet (3:59) it also selects the faces, is there a easy way to only select the edges ?

[@klm8156]

Under the "select" drop down you can mouse over "selection priority" to isolate specific features. You can also get more specific in the "selection filters" option.

[@boneymaxfield]

@@klm8156 Thank you!

[@RichM1967]

I want to lay all the parts out on one flat plane so that I can arrange and cut them all at the same time. I've followed some tutorials and they don't seem to work for this design. How do we use the built in CAM functions so I can generate GCode with Fusion360? Any help here?

[@andhemills]

Excellent. The main question for me is whether there's a better way for dealing with a large number of pieces. I have a project that may consist of 300+ pieces, so imagining this could take 300+ minutes (5 hours). Hope I don't make a mistake! The parametrics are particularly helpful. I was doing some parameters using the first angle then set other = d1. But, I like it for the material thickness. I have 2 cases. 1) I don't know the actual (or best) thickness to use of the material; it comes in different thicknesses and it's flexible, so I'm not sure if I need to design it slightly thinner to make everything fit tighter and 2) I have an outer layer of plastic that I want to test with 2 different thicknesses, and I'll have a lot to adjust (to make molds for thermoforming) if the thickness of that outer material changes; or I would have a different interior dimension to fit the smaller outside, which is more likely to avoid making a second mold.)

[@adskFusion]

Hey Andy, glad this video helped. Per your scenario, I think you can overcome and downstream edit requirements if you make the parameters related to what you want to drive the design...such as the thickness in your case.

[@GESTEVESMARTINS]

Hello . Great job ! I would take out a doubt , how do I generate a DXF scaled to a prototype before cutting the final piece ? tks

[@TinyBasementWorkshop]

Hey, thanks for your tutorial! That helped a LOT! One more thing, that I could use some help with: how do you cut out all pieces in one pass on the cnc? When I want to set up the CAM process, fusion always wants to create the "assembled" laptop stand out of one solid piece - just the way it is shown in the CAD part. Did I make my problem clear :D ??

[@christophervargasschebesta3752]

Hello very nice proyect!, can you tell how i can put a joint with the exterior distance of lenght like a parameter? I see that the distance you use is the interior distance like lenght

[@RyanScottForReal]

So useful thanks.

[@pinchers101]

After you complete the extrudes on each component they appear in the wood finish without you changing the physical material, how did you do this?

[@adskFusion]

Taylor probably applied a physical material to the entire component/design, which will cause that behavior. Try for yourself! Or feel free to edit the default physical material as described here by Taylor himself: forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-design-validate/change-default-material/td-p/5797157

[@adskFusion]

Let us know if that helps!

[@pinchers101]

@@adskFusion Got it thanks.

[@hamzaqadoumi955]

Hi Taylor! Great video. Not just this one, but all of them! Quick questions. How do you do about the clearance? Did you add any or was the result okay after production?

[@foliwe]

nice tutorial. i wish to know how was it possible for the top to inherit the legwidth parameters. When you changed the legwidth , the top also adjust . i was expecting only the legwidth distance to change and not the top.

[@Bubblegoose]

At around 7:00 he sets the edges of the top to be 8mm from the outside face of the legs. So when the distance between the legs changes, the top still stays 8mm from the outside face.

[@tigertechcomua]

Awesome video tut! Is there a way to make some nest operation like in RhinoNest, when you can get all your parts placed over sheets of plywood, so you dont't have to spent some more time placing them by your hands?

[@hbrow05]

G'day mate, I am pretty new to all this, I was wondering if you could help me out? I have made an odd geometric design that I want to cut out on the CNC but my problem is I dont know how to nest all the faces onto one plane? I have tried a nesting script but it comes up with errors. I also thought of just converting it to a drawing and then recreating the face shapes in the CNC program but when I convert it to a drawing all the measurements are off because of the whole perspective thing... Any advice??

[@flaviomartinsdospassos9429]

How do I join several parts without touching the sides, i.e. they are separated so that they become a part only in Fusion 360 ?

[@Hawaiiangunrack]

How are the edges finished? Is the dark color a stain or a "burned in" result from the laser cutting?

[@austindewitt9440]

Depends on what you use to cut this with. If you have a CNC machine then no, if you have a laser then yes. The amount of burnt edge will depend on the material, material thickness, and how well you select the cutting speed and power level.

[@ymm424]

would you have the final templates/layers/slices available to share? Again, I don't have Fusion

[@FridayNightRacer]

The waterjet/laser/plasma CAM operation in Fusion can take into account the laser kerf.