Fusion 360 Flat Patterns and Box Design

Learn how to layout box designs in Fusion 360. We’ll take a look at utilizing the sheet metal tools, so you can export the 2D pattern as a DXF file for your desired machine.
The flange tool in Fusion 360 is frequently used to create bends in materials. We'll use the flange tool and some other core features to recreate a pizza box design.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Creating a Cardboard Box in Fusion 360
1:00 - Setting up user parameters
1:39 - Creating a sheet metal component
2:48 - Setting up the cardboard/sheet metal rules
4:44 - Sketching the initial box shape
5:24 - Creating the sides with the Flange tool
10:27 - Creating a flat pattern
15:10 - Adding chamfers to the flat pattern
15:30 - Adding the remaining flanges
21:48 - Adding vent holes to the box
22:45 - Unfolding the lid of the box
24:14 - Exporting the flat pattern as DXF
TUTORIAL RESOURCES
1. This tutorial's resource page ➞ ProductDesignOnline.com/
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3. Join us on Patreon ➞ / productdesignonline
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QUESTION
Have a question about Fusion 360? Post it in the comments section of this video!
DISCLAIMER
This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps you support the channel at no extra cost to you and allows me to continue to make videos like this.
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#Fusion360 #ProductDesignOnline #pizza

[@ProductDesignOnline]

*TIMESTAMPS* 0:00 - Creating a Cardboard Box in Fusion 360 1:00 - Setting up user parameters 1:39 - Creating a sheet metal component 2:48 - Setting up the cardboard/sheet metal rules 4:44 - Sketching the initial box shape 5:24 - Creating the sides with the Flange tool 10:27 - Creating a flat pattern 15:10 - Adding chamfers to the flat pattern 15:30 - Adding the remaining flanges 21:48 - Adding vent holes to the box 22:45 - Unfolding the lid of the box 24:14 - Exporting the flat pattern as DXF

[@justiceagbodjan6432]

I had to comment because I heard you express your uncertainty on how helpful the video was. Man it was very helpful. I was contracted to design a laptop box for a company that sells laptops, and I had no clue about how to start. But after practising with your video, I have finally had it done. Thanks, Man. Very helpful. 👍👍👍👍👍

[@ProductDesignOnline]

I appreciate your comment! Glad it was helpful

[@marceloandrade5568]

Man, I've been studying Fusin360 a lot and wow! Your tutorials are crazy good! Concise, didatic and straight to the point every single time! I wish there were more people like you on the internet concerning some other topics I have interest on!

[@marceloandrade5568]

By the way, PIZZA!

[@fabuxo]

OMG. Those tutorials are amazing! Thanks!

[@philipmentel8746]

This has been very helpful!!! Thank you.

[@krashe1313]

Pizza! And Pepperoni - lots of them, and make 'em a little crispy! In a serious comment- well done. I like that you've addressed the K factor and bend radius. Coming from sheet metal in SW to corrugate in Fusion, this is a VERY useful bit of information!

[@SwissplWatches]

Pizza, Fusion, great tutorial, easy to understand! Very nice

[@fotballski]

Love this!

[@stereofreq7112]

This was very helpful, thank you!

[@alymuni]

I'm new here and just wanted to say keep up the good work. You have yourself a new sub.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi, alymuni. Thanks for watching and commenting. I appreciate your support! Cheers, Kevin :)

[@jb332699]

Pizza - Sausage Another great Fusion video! Thanks so much & keep it up!

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching, jb332699! I appreciate your support. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@montebrown8398]

Awesome! Great job!

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks, Monte! I appreciate your support. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@feluve]

Great your tutorials

[@vDC2me]

Pizza barbecue chicken. Yum.. great video. Pacing is nice and slow. Appears you prepared very well. I am looking forward to doing this with 2 - 4mm Coroplast craft boxes.

[@madddog7]

very helpful, thx !!

[@ed1vanjr]

very well made video! i was following the instructions so carefully (hitting play/pause and tagging along in fusion360) that in the middle of the video when you asked to like and comment, i unconsciously paused the video and liked.. and here i'm typing a comment.. hahahah wtf this is some jedi mindtrick

[@ProductDesignOnline]

hahaha. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the tutorial, Edivan Jr! I appreciate you taking the time to like and comment - that helps more people discover the videos! Cheers, Kevin :)

[@thomasleftwite]

It's very good tutorial to design sheet formed components for my laser cutter. Thanks.

[@glencandle1772]

Just dug into this. So helpful, thank you! One correction if you don't already know: at 6:56 you said "we'll start at the very bottom of the box" but you meant *from the bottom of the inner face* (since you chose Inner Faces). NBD tho, just felt compelled to point that out ;)

[@Ran_cnc_3d]

Thank you!

[@the_inquisitive_inquisitor]

Liked. Subscribed. This is gonna help with my WAF 239 final

[@cyberkyv]

Wow... Amazing tutotial....... thank's for sharing your expeciencie....

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks, YV3DPrinter - Severino! I'm glad you enjoyed this one. Thanks for watching. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@jamessturgeon7025]

Pizza great tutorial! Few tricky spots skipped like how to determine which box goes with which arrow when putting bevel on end flanges, but able to rerun a few times to figure it out.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi, James. Thanks for your feedback! I'll keep this in mind as I record future tutorials. It is hard to always show what's going on from the best angle, but I will definitely try to remind myself to slow down a bit more in the areas that are harder to select. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@mahalwijetunge1073]

pizza. your the best fusion360 teacher !!!

[@rjlatheart]

Pizza - Great Job once again.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching, Rich! I really appreciate your continued support. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@mayurahuja817]

Amazing content.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks, Mayur!

[@AnthonyGriz]

Pizza - Thank you!!! :)

[@tjtechi4448]

Thank you very much for a great tutorial. I got a question, please how do you customize your right menu command to show flange and not hole at about 4.00 or so?

[@BrianBoniMakes]

That was really good, I don't get enough practice in sheet metal. In package design this is called a die line and you need to differentiate the lines in your drawing or DXF to distinguish between cut lines and score lines and perforations. I wouldn't have cut a full 360 on the vent holes, the lid crease is often a perforation, and some of your chamfers may need to be fillets to allow the die to be made other than these finicky details you've done well. I wish I was better off financially to support you so for now I'm going to be recommending your channel to my friends.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi, Brian. Thanks for sharing this feedback with the community and me. This is all very valuable. I have no expertise in actual manufacturing of corrugated material, other than simply laser cut prototypes. I appreciate you sharing the channel with others! Cheers, Kevin :)

[@armbigfoot570]

You saved me.

[@alexandre.studio3d]

Heey kevin. From time to time I like to watching older videos to practice some specific tools. Please do more intermediate tutorials. I can't find a better instructor.

[@liderc1589]

I've liked your videos for a while now, and I really like the intermediate videos. I think you might be free to speak a little quicker in these though because I'm watching to see what you're doing rather than trying to pause and follow along.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi, Liderc. Thanks for your feedback - this is very valuable and I will certainly keep this in mind as I create more intermediate level tutorials. I'm definitely still trying to find the right balance of how much to walk/talk through. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@DavidDavidson-tristar500]

Under the settings you can set the playback speed all the way up to 2X.

[@juanbaez2985]

@@DavidDavidson-tristar500 I do the same. works great (I do 1.5x)

[@scobob]

Thank you for the helpful tutorial. I'm wondering why you are using fixed values along with parameters? I'm sure you ommitted this for make it less confusing. This comes to mind when you were creating the lid fold flaps. You entered fixed values of 170 to prevent collision. To maintain the parametric nature, it seems it would be better practice to use a few more parameters such as matThickness = 2.2, clearance = 1, and lidFlap = (width-(matThickness*2)-clearance)/2 and use the lidFlap parameter as your offset references. Otherwise, if you change the width or length, it will break. Thanks again.

[@yasinsaglam4158]

Hi. How can I create sheet metal on already 3d scanned object? That's what I want is design skin wrap for my 3d scanned object. No need to learn scan and import just need create sheet metal on 3d object. Or can it be possible via scetch ? thanks.

[@IceCreams62]

Hi Kevin. I'm building a Workbee CNC machine. Could you do some very basic CAM tutorials (e.g. how to generate path for surface the spoiler board, how to set the initial position of the tool in F360, how to generate path in general) ? It will be very appreciate, thanks.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi, IceCreams62. I do hope to get to some CNC videos at some point. I have an X-carve that I need to fix, which I can then hopefully incorporate into the videos to make it a bit more end-to-end. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@IceCreams62]

@@ProductDesignOnline I wait for these video in the near future, thanks :-)

[@corrugatedpackaging6990]

this is awsome! well done, may ı ask can we animate how this boxfolding. thank you?

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Fusion 360 doesn't currently support a way to animate the unfolding/folding process. You would have to export the model to another program.

[@SpencerRaybourne]

two quick questions. Can the sheet metal patterns be animated? and can you attach a sheet metal element that is supposed to have give, ie an HVAC connector that is flexible so that it can fit into different size spaces?

[@ProductDesignOnline]

You can use Fusion 360's Animation Workspace for general animations, though you will be limited on what you can animate. You cannot animate the model actually bending (at least not at this time). You can utilize "User Parameters" to make the part adaptable to difference sizes.

[@matcharlier]

Neapolitan Pizza from Maestro Vito Iacopelli :)

[@pooheadlou]

Pizza!! 🤗

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for your continued support, pooheadlou! Cheers, Kevin :)

[@dupliner]

At 00:54 where or what key you press/click to pop-up the parameter setup window? thank you.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Shortcut letter "S" to open the Design Shortcuts box, where you can then search for any feature :)

[@valerianpereira007]

Hi just wanted to know if there's any video which can help me design an aircraft and then later have it printed on paper for papercraft

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Not at the moment, but that's a great topic :)

[@fotballski]

Pizza Box

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching, Daniel :)

[@Infrared73]

Pizza - pepperoni FYI: The resource link in the description is missing the /18 on the end. It links to your homepage and not the resource page.

[@SebaQuiros]

PIZZA :D Napolitana

[@glencandle1772]

Are there box manufacturers that will actually use this kind of file to make custom boxes for you (i.e. shippers, packaging for retail products, etc), or is this just a clever way of teaching how to work in sheet metal?

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Most box/packaging manufacturers will require a DXF file with cut and bend lines marked differently. In my experience is, some also have in-house proprietary software that lays things out and they just want a 3D step file. I've seen some that require Adobe Illustrator files. Using the sheet metal tools is a great way to do it because you can lay out your flat pattern and export as a DXF.

[@glencandle1772]

@@ProductDesignOnline That's cool, thanks for the explanation. Will definitely be dinning into this more now. Cheers!

[@jerrylambert9209]

I have a 3dmodel created but I am having struggles converting it into a sheetmeatl item so it can be unfolded and laser cut

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Is the component a sheet metal component?

[@jerrylambert9209]

@@ProductDesignOnline no it wasnt created as a sheet metal model, the back is bent at an angle and I dont understand how the flange command works in sheet metal well enough to do it in sheetmetal model

[@jerrylambert9209]

@@ProductDesignOnline i could send you the 3d model,?

[@jerrylambert9209]

@@ProductDesignOnline would you want the 3d model? It has a angled end that is bent with a radius to 90 degrees

[@LapsusAntepedis]

I don't know why I didn't think of using the sheet metal mode for anything other than sheet metal. This might be obvious to everyone else, but I think this is really clever, actually.

[@LapsusAntepedis]

Oh uh, also, Bacon, Pepperoni, and mushroom Pizza.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi, LapsusAntepedis. Thanks for watching! As, IceCreams62 pointed out, maybe they should rename it to something such as "Sheet material". I think the word "metal" turns away a lot of people that don't have any intentions of working with metal. Glad this opened your eyes to some new possibilities. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@DerekSpeareDSD]

Pizza, double cheese!

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching, DerekSpeare! Cheers, Kevin :)

[@gretchenalder4328]

Hi, Kevin! I have a problem, if you still check these comments...when I did the second foldout, it gave me the first foldout (no top/sides) and then showed the 3D box on its front end. I can usually figure out what I did wrong when I'm following your videos, but I'm stumped on this one...any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your videos, they've really helped me learn this software! (Pizza, sausage, onion, and feta cheese)

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi Gretchen. I still read them all (or try to anyway). Happy to help but something like this is harder without seeing the file. Could you share your Fusion 360 file in the PDO community space? community.productdesignonline.com

[@shipcake12]

why flat pattern not drawing DXF pocket deep (not cut) in file. how to resolve it

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Sorry, I'm not understanding your question. Are you working on this box design or another design? Can you elaborate?

[@jamesbarratt593]

If I was going to make a box I think I would draw it out and then fold the edges to form the box and ouilla. So to see it designed on screen as the box and then you can view it in flat mode, could you also design it flat and then see it in the folded mode? A lot of stuff to remember. I think building the wall of China might be easier. Ha ha. No seriously loads of options. So many in fact that I wonder in amazement at the program thinking it must have taken teams of designers and programmers literally millions of hours to produce.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi, James. One interesting thing about Fusion 360 is that they were able to build it really fast (in comparison) because they reused a lot of code from other Autodesk products. For example, the mesh tools in Fusion 360 were inherited from Autodesk Meshmixer. In regards to the flat mode. You can alter and create objects in the "unfold" mode, which will all translate back to 3D. The key thing is that you first need to create a Sheet metal component (this concept doesn't work with regular) and you will need to create at least once piece or flange to have unfolded. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@RudisBrase]

PIZZA🎉

[@IceCreams62]

F360 should rename it to "Sheet Material" PIZZA 4 formaggi !!!!

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi, IceCreams62. This is a great point, as there is a lot of non-sheet metal value out of the tools. I think you should post this on the Forum (Idea Station). Thanks for watching! Cheers, Kevin :)

[@IceCreams62]

@@ProductDesignOnline Done :-)

[@swedishlockpicker]

Pizza, capricciosa

[@BKMakes]

ha ha, pizza! Plain ol' Pepperoni

[@masama5945]

"PIZZA BARBACOU!"

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching and commenting, electric gamer. What types of projects are you using Fusion 360 for? Cheers, Kevin :)

[@leeelms]

pizza, ham & mushroom

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching, Lee! That's also a favorite of mine. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@quangtruongnguyen7660]

Pizza!

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching, QuangTruong Nguyen! I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@JoaquinRevello]

pizza!

[@reviewer9040]

Pizza! PPR

[@jamesbarratt593]

My fusion has crashed at least 20 times over 2 days of 8 hours each day. Very annoying. Also the thinking about it symbol whirring away loads after commands. Reminds me in fact of using windows. Im on a Mac and don't want to be reminded of windows thanks.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi James. Very strange. I'm on Mac and have not had any issues lately. I would suggest a post to the Forum to see if anyone else is having issues - forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360/ct-p/1234 Cheers, Kevin :)

[@MicheleHjorleifsson]

pizza, pepperoni

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching, Mike! I appreciate your support. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@superalpha]

Dominos pan, double pepperoni pizza

[@ProductDesignOnline]

mmmm :)

[@JustinG85]

Pizza Pepperoni and Mushroom

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching, Justin! I appreciate you! Cheers, Kevin :)

[@Wbmfishman1]

Peperoni Pizza

[@stagecoachmechanic]

Pizza - tikka chicken

[@Pushpam1995]

PIZZA

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching and commenting, Pushpam! Cheers, Kevin :)

[@alejandrolj]

"PIZZA"

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching and commenting, Alejandro. What types of projects are you using Fusion 360 for? Cheers, Kevin :)

[@alejandrolj]

Product Design Online Thanks for replying me, I’m so glad

[@ProductDesignOnline]

@@alejandrolj I do my best to reply to everyone... don't hesitate to comment on my tutorials if you run into any roadblocks. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@ChristophLehner]

Pizza provinciale

[@Kevin-rn3ke]

Pizza

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching, Kevin! Great name, btw. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@duncanx99]

Confused the heck out of me...

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi, duncan amos. I would love to hear what parts confused you so I can improve the future tutorials. Please let me know. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@duncanx99]

@@ProductDesignOnline I will watch the video again, when I get a chance, and let you know. I suspect that a major part of my problem may have been due to unfamiliarity with the sheet metal design space and pizza boxes (I've never ordered take-away pizza), so I never quite understood where things were heading...

[@ProductDesignOnline]

@@duncanx99 Thanks for the clarification. That does make sense. I'm always open to feedback as I try to make the tutorials understandable to as many people as possible. Cheers, Kevin :)

[@briegower5116]

pizza

[@winfarms]

Pizza meat lovers

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching, winfarms! Cheers, Kevin :)

[@ferdinandm.r.545]

Spynapple Pizza

[@irememiralioglu7153]

Love this!!

[@kellycoe1787]

Pizza

[@jesselin9906]

pizza

[@tersherpa]

Pizza meat lovers

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for watching, Tersh! Cheers, Kevin :)

[@tersherpa]

Product Design Online it was a great video, my mind started racing as to how to make foldable 3D prints. Thank you.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

@@tersherpa Now you got my mind ticking... I never thought about utilizing this for printing projects. I've mainly used it for laser cutting prototypes. Keep me posted if you print anything foldable! Cheers, Kevin :)

[@sharitambasco9780]

Pizza

[@ethanbruss26]

Pizza