Fusion 360 for Woodworkers | Model a Complete Project in 30 Minutes

Learn how to model a complete project in Fusion 360. The first 1000 people to click the link will get a free trial of Skillshare's Premium Membership: skl.sh/chrissalomone02211
▸ Woodworking Plans Available Here - www.foureyesfurniture.com/plans
This video is meant to be a beginner’s guide to designing and modeling a woodworking project using Fusion 360. We'll cover everything you need to know, from creating a new project and making basic shapes, to using components and modeling details and joinery. Join me on this journey into Fusion 360, won’t you?
CHAPTERS
00:00 - Introduction
01:58 - Creating and Organizing Projects
03:11 - Understanding the Workspace
06:53 - Techniques to Create Bodies
14:11 - Using Components
16:32 - Modeling Details and Joinery
22:37 - Rendering Your 3D Model

[@termlimit]

The teapot has been a staple of Autodesk (and largely by computer graphics artists) products. Its roots go all the way back to the 1970s as the standard model to test code against, it is the picture equivalent of "Hello World" in programming or the "Benchy" in 3d printing. Hence the teapot for renders! Excellent video as always, thank you!

[@_tim]

I just assumed that older computers took longer to render so it was a friendly reminder to go boil the kettle.

[@hiennguyencong8190]

The author does like to kzbin.infoUgkxkNYRBJuiJ6EwD-tQSAlxg0eFKsnR2cgz from scratch, shaping and trimming wood from large blocks into fine finished products. As another reviewer mentioned, most projects require a lot of high-dollar equipment that most of us don’t have the room or budget for. But, knowing how to do these things, even if we won’t be able to practice the full stack project, is still great.

[@jacksongreen4060]

Hey mate, I have used CNC machines and worked with furniture programs for many years. Stepping away from the niche program my whole industry uses which is largely automated, getting into cutom designs for myself on my own hobby grade CNC means that your video is EXACTLY what I am looking for. Thanks so much for spending the time to teach new users!

[@WCFAsyncQueryable]

As an FYI, when you cut, you don't need to hide the pieces you don't want to cut. Instead, you can actually uncheck the bodies you don't want to cut by clicking on the "objects to cut" arrow. HTH

[@TimberBiscuitWoodworks]

Really nice video Shaun! While I have never used Fusion 360 to model, this was a very comprehensive dive into the program. And I will definitely give it a shot now. This series of videos are super helpful.

[@shaunb66]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching!

[@PapaFlammy69]

Great stuff! Love using Fusion :)

[@shaunb66]

Right on! It is an incredible program.

[@jamesduffin9417]

At last a Fusion360 video that is easy to follow! Good job Shawn, I am going to give Fusion360 another go because of this! Thank you so much.

[@SpencleyDesignCo]

Fantastic work on this one boys! I've always considered getting into fusion

[@JDS042]

This was incredibly useful! Really, really well done. Thank you for sharing this with us!!

[@shinobitree5711]

I watched several videos on fusion before I seen that you guys had one. This is by far the best one.

[@TracksWithDax]

This is fantastic Shaun. I waited a while to watch it until I had a solid block of time and I'm glad I did. If you guys go forward on tutorials I would love to see an advanced tutorial showing how you did thr Cece rocking chair for example (since the curves and joints make it a pretty advanced project). Thanks! Great video and I think I'm ready to tackle Fusion 360! (Btw, I'm sure by now you've heard of the "Utah teapot" 😉 I think that's why the render icon uses a teapot)

[@oldo-nicho]

Loving this series of videos. Thank you

[@michaelcrossley7349]

Very helpful! I love this stuff! This video helped me get started in Fusion 360. Jam packed with crucial basics! Thanks guys =)

[@rutabegared1]

Great video! I'm new to Fusion 360, Using the Combine function to create recesses is a great tip and has not been covered by other introductory videos.

[@lowkeypoke3510]

Exactly what I needed. Thank you!

[@Shineingrock7]

"...print it out, find your favorite magnet, and put it on your fridge so that your family will finally be proud of you for spending countless hours learning a computer program to make little pictures of the furniture you've designed." As a draftsman of four years, that hit me on an emotional level! I am so thankful that my Dad still renovates houses to this day so that I can share my drafting skills with him when we're working on projects together. I was even lucky enough to draft an addition for my grandfather's house before he passed. He was a seasoned old-school draftsman that helped design many of the World's Fair parks around the USA. I feel very much for the people that do not have the sort of friends and family that can appreciate the skill, expertise, and real-world-benefit that comes from learning these modeling programs.

[@3bikesfly]

This was the perfect video I was looking for. Thanks Shawn.

[@nathangraham6581]

Great content, Ive been trying fusion, this has helped quite a bit, Big Thanks!!!!!

[@draztiqmeshaz6226]

This is great, mang! I've been slowly getting better at this program, and every tutorial I find (combined with practice) gets me a little closer to proficient. Much thanks!

[@shaunb66]

Glad to hear that! Always learning!

[@koltonjones866]

Very well paced, this video seems like a very good starters guide to some parts.

[@brianrowland9993]

Great inspirational video with many useful tips. A LOT to digest for newcomers but great to see the potential of Fusion 360. I thought the cabinet would have provided a great opportunity to demonstrate the value of parametric modelling but probably too much for this occasion. The area that I didn't quite understand was how the various parts were dimensioned......... to create a cut list foe the workshop. Thanks for sharing!

[@robertbankhead8661]

Thanks, this is my kickstart to Fusion 360

[@surgev9951]

Great walk through video! That refrigerator scene is priceless 🤣

[@brimstonehd]

The real power in a program like Fusion is the ability to model something based on parameters and fully defined sketches. This allows you to make design changes extremely easily during or after the initial design stage. Fusion is a deep program and learning how to fully define your sketches and ensuring your extrudes are to object surfaces etc are key to being able to change one dimension and have your entire model update correctly without chasing down broken pieces. For example, something super simple: You want to change the design of the finger pulls from half circles to a square opening. Had you created a sketch, you could simply go in and modify your sketch and update the feature. Using primitives to add to pieces or cut from pieces works, but doesn’t take advantage of the real power of parametric design. Yes, you can go back in the history and edit that feature, but it doesn’t allow you to drive an entire design from a couple of parameters. Fusion really requires a complete mind shift from how you model in Sketch Up. Once you can get away from the way you model in Sketch Up, you will be so happy. Especially if you ever want to come back to a design and change one or two parameters and have the entire design magically update! Including drawings!

[@enriquep2677]

Thanks for sharing!

[@Rockmaster867]

I worked with DS CATIA in school. Is Fusion 360 similar to that?

[@martinpalousek4370]

Hey An amazing video for beginners like me , very well explained some main tools. Many thanks !

[@davidalan6701]

Thanks so much! This is what I was waiting for!

[@shaunb66]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching!

[@Robert8455]

Nice job. While I do like Sketchup I can see that Fusion has some more tricks, thanks to both of you for showing some examples. Ultimately it will come down to speed on how one can convert the design in one's head to a model and then ultimately plans, renderings etc. Cool to spend some time learning both packages.

[@harriblomqvist7697]

Super helpfull, thank you!

[@tq2655]

Fantastic, more of this please

[@elliotstokes6134]

Great video! Gonna save this one

[@AndersJazz]

Thank you. Now im into it.

[@WilliamRamonTexeira]

That was BEYOND helpful! Thank you so much for the lesson! I use Fusion 360 for my 3D printer, but I'm still learning my ways around this program.

[@shaunb66]

Right on! I still learn something new almost every time I use it!

[@ericsimpson4045]

Thanks for going beyond just explaining what you are doing and explaining your process and the logic behind it

[@shaunb66]

Thanks for watching!

[@mrharlemike28]

Loved the video! Exactly what I needed to know to get started on a 3D software program. Love the comedy and the 'Inception' reference. 😅

[@atlas2003]

Nice! I'm gonna try thanks to you

[@mysticswordsman]

This was great, I hope you can make more stuff using fusion. Maybe you could get into Nesting, Cut Lists, and Annotation Drawings.

[@kesterbelgrove818]

Thanks for the intro.

[@valluc95]

Thank you!!

[@yasinkolgu]

Thank you!

[@davidbender5998]

great content, very helpful

[@generessler6282]

This incredibly well done. Articulate. No excess words. Astute humor: "Dream within a dream..." Ha! Wonderful. Wish I could thumbs up 1000x.

[@les264]

I’ve been wanting to get started with fusion 360, so I found this very useful!

[@shaunb66]

Awesome to hear!

[@2013CarGuy]

Really excellent video, thank you.

[@shaunb66]

Thanks for watching!

[@bigbobbyjohnson1]

Great video thanks

[@tobiasrice]

Great video! Thank you for taking the time to create this. Also, is there a way to create a cut list from the design?

[@joshbrucksch]

Thanks for the intro! Really enjoyed the SketchUp video. Haven't ever used Fusion 360....yet.

[@shaunb66]

Give it a try! Thanks for watching!

[@tyler829]

Great video

[@forget2bhuman993]

damn, im convinced 😅

[@OnkelPipi]

Great video and I love your humor 😂 Thanks

[@michaelveloso]

Thank for the intro to Fusion, I know how to use Maya, but want to plan an outdoor kitchen and Fusin is the new buzz. BTW, the teapost is a standard 3d reference model, one of the first to use bézier curves to model it. ;)

[@mkelay43]

So good i hope you continue other parts videos. Explain more

[@GamerDad1987]

When using things like the box tool that are not built from a sketch, you can right click on that element in the timeline and edit the feature to make changes.

[@onemaninaboat]

Using fusion without parametric modelling is like buying a supercar and never taking it out of the fitst gear. The primary reason why i personally use it for furniture modelling is this very capability. Plus the fact it is free for hobbyists which is awesome if you ask me.

[@armengregorian2038]

Nice inception insertion.

[@shaunb66]

Haha, glad you liked that one.

[@aaronharris5275]

Great thanks for this. I have noticed that most of the other Fusion 360 video guides are for small enginery type drawings so nice to see it being used for furniture and larger objects. I find the zooming in an out not as fast as on AutoCad 2d and quite cluttered unless the grid is turned off. But I'm just learning 3d drawing. Can you do some more videos or are you more Sketchup biased?

[@markdesolate]

quicktip for all beginners; keep your sketches clean, constrained, fully defined and simple. As Chris mentioned you CAN add fillet radius to your sketch, but there is a feature for it so better use it!

[@nfwolfpryde]

Offsets are great, but when building furniture I've used some of the parametric functions to set dimensions for my stock. Like, putting in that my stock thickness is 19mm for plywood. That way, I can just change that one variable and that dimension changes throughout my model. It's super powerful!

[@nfwolfpryde]

Additionally, when you set your parameters for stock thickness as an example, you can start building dados/rabbits with formulas. Like setting the dado depth as .5*stock thickness, and then the dado depth automatically changes if my stock thickness changes or I find a different plywood vendor.

[@PixelSham]

@@nfwolfpryde Great tips, Thanks!

[@shaunb66]

Yes! This is exactly the stuff I want to get better at. So wildly useful. Thanks for watching!

[@manavaggarwal6344]

Chris we want a complete 2021 shop tour.

[@skiblink]

Great video! Do you have a video of you building this cabinet?

[@yuvalsapir]

The reason the render button uses a tea pot is the Utah Teapot (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_teapot ) a very common 3d model used for testing renderers in the early days of computer graphics.

[@ardemus]

It's one of those things that I'm so familiar with it wouldn't even occur to me that someone wouldn't know about the teapot. Note that the closing parenthesis broke your link.

[@yuvalsapir]

@@ardemus fixed! Thanks!

[@stevenschmelling5597]

Awesome video Shaun!! I still remember the video you made doing this prior to teaming up with Chris. It appears you have learned a lot since then. Your process seems to flow much better now. I like how you are sketching the big picture first, and then breaking it into pieces. If I remember correctly you were much more into drawing the individual pieces first before, and then combining them. And I think getting a better handle on the parametric features, and how to utilize them, will only help you get better and faster. For instance you could eventually set up a dresser so that you could just tell it how many drawers and how tall you wanted it (or the drawers) and it would calculate the rest based on what you have set up.

[@shaunb66]

Yeah, totally! Slowly getting better at it, I learn something new almost every time I use it.

[@TracksWithDax]

Hot dang!! The parametric stuff goes THAT deep? So could you for example say, instead of 6 drawers I want 3, and then it'll reduce the number of drawers and resize the drawer fronts and everything? Either way the parametric stuff seems wild

[@user-wr1hb3yq9h]

Ezzat Darwich from Egypt I admire your work

[@RuffKutmedia]

Well done Shaun, if you were to make a detailed paid course I would sign up for sure!

[@CodeReign]

Thanks, friend. That was some good shit

[@simonanon2830]

Great vid, I’ve used Fusion a fair bit but you had some great tips I’m looking forward to trying out (eg I didn’t know about using a body as a ‘tool’). After you’ve had time to relax 🙂 I’d love to see a video of how you ‘break down’ the model to inform the actual build process eg do you generate a drawing? Do you flatten the components to lay out efficiently on sheet stock etc. etc. thanks again

[@shaunb66]

Thanks Simon! It is a program where you learn something new almost every time you use it.

[@claytor920]

User parameters allow you to set shared values and change things programatically (parametric modelling). That way all shared lengths/thicknesses/offsets can be set in one place and consistent. It really speeds up your workflow and allows for better brainstorming and designing if you want to leverage fusion 360.

[@joseville]

Great tutorial! What about hinges, slides, locks, etc (i.e. the mechanical or furniture hardware)?

[@thebrelon]

Nice vid! I slowly learn to use fusion and I learnt a few tricks in this video which will speed up my workflow: thanks! Can't wait for part 2 now, to be even with SketchUp.... 🤣🤣

[@shaunb66]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@oscarzanette]

Hi, Thanks for the clear explanation. Do you create any kind cut list? Or any kind of printed measurement? I have a pretty good understanding of Fusion, but then I find myself with a nice picture, but not very useful when I need to set my stop block... Thanks again!

[@ClearCreekWoodDesigns]

the fillet and chamfer function are worth the price of admission alone in fusion 360. it was the first 3d modeling software I learned, then switched to sketchup. this video gave me the impetus to go back. great video

[@shaunb66]

I agree! Chris and I always talk about how different the procedure is to create a round over in the two programs.

[@ClearCreekWoodDesigns]

@@shaunb66 I still can't ever get it to work in SketchUp. In fact I have trouble getting any curves to work well. I know it can be done but the tools are super finicky

[@drewbriggs3313]

great stuff Sean! The combine trick to cut out dados and things was new to me! Glad I watched this and will go try out the new stuff I know now. We need more of these :)

[@jbe6697]

I just started sketchup after using Fusion360 for 2 years now. Some things are so much easier and you can somehow do the same things with less tools. The thing I don’t like the whole groups and Collection thing in sketchup. It’s all so messed up. I love the organization in fusion 360. The huge advantage of sketchup is definitely the 3D warehouse.

[@shaunb66]

Both programs definitely have their strengths!

[@templerea5262]

I hope this video becomes the first thing people find when they search for “how to use fusion 360”

[@shaunb66]

That would be great! Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[@joshgray3360]

I've used Sketchup for a while and always wanted to switch to Fusion 360 because it's a stronger modeler, but I was seriously lost. This video is perfect for me!

[@shaunb66]

Glad to hear it!

[@bradymcphail9690]

This is awesome! I have a traumatic brain injury & I am having a hard time learning Fusion 360. This should be easy for me to learn, but I’m really having trouble learning Fusion 360. Frustrated!

[@georgelza]

Pushing luck here, any chance you have something showing how to take a design to a cut list ? Thats especially when it becomes clear if you've create the components correctly.

[@andypetrow4228]

Not enough people are talking about that masterclass Inception bit 👏

[@CorentinHarbelot]

I use Rhinoceros, awesome software, give it a try.

[@silverXnoise]

Lol. I came to this video specifically because I could not find a Skillshare course for Fusion 360 for woodworking. The furniture design course appeared under a search for Fusion 360, but was actually using some browser based CAD app. So here I am, and having been subscribed to your channel for quite some time and being a fan of your work, I was thrilled to see you provide precisely what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing your skills!

[@NicksStuff]

You should show how to create technical drawings from your 3D model to actually cut your pieces

[@UGotTheFunk]

In terms of the techniques and tool sets used to create the more tedious parts of the model, such as the miters and datos, Fusion sees to be more efficient to use than Sketchup.

[@p44v9n]

re why the icon is a teapot (24:07) - I assume it's a teapot because of the "Utah Teapot" which has been used as a reference object when rendering in 3d graphics programs since 1975(!)

[@inrptn]

Does this program support using a gamepad and / or touchscreen to control the camera?

[@erichaskell]

Does each program, Sketch and Fusion have tutorial programs and how do they compare?

[@MidnightMaker]

Yeah! Thanks guys. Hopefully I’ll get farther on this than the SketchUp tutorial...

[@shaunb66]

Haha, give it a try!

[@ccwoodwerks]

Weird question Shaun, but where did you get your ring?

[@JohnVanderbeck]

Funny thing is I already use Fusion 360 for modelling designs for 3d printing, yet I never even thought to use it for my woodworking as well!

[@FamilyMentors]

Nice intro. If you update, consider highlighting your cursor.

[@georgelza]

like the concepts you explaining, but a bit more detail around the how's... ie, I can create sketch, extrude into new body easy...,but then, how you take that from a body to a component that you then duplicate... aka more detail about the steps you explaining please. I'm moving over from Sketchup to Fusion360, loving the power. Busy designing a dining room side table for a friend that I will be doing. PS: when I look at material, no wood is shown ???.

[@hectorvaldez239]

at 11:16, how do you delete the little segment that gets the dado?

[@EneveeseDS]

I have used sketchup for 8 years to design furniture, house, spaces and commercial areas and I have never had a problem, and I used other 3d design programs and they are not so intuitive and user friendly, I believe without fear of being wrong that sketchup is the best by far.

[@JamieHofman]

Agreed. And it's FREE!

[@atariks1475]

Theres allways the question, what you want from the program. It's a question of the job behind it. For many things sketchup is more than enough, for others not. I'm a mechanical engineer and need a "little bit" more power behind the program and learned CATIA and SolidWorks at the university. At home Im using fusion 360. Mostly because the license for CATIA is not in relation to my private usage but I miss the power and flexibility of it. To say that one program is the "best by far" is a little bit too general. There are different programs for different jobs.

[@EneveeseDS]

@@atariks1475ok, read again and you will see that we are talking about furniture design, engineering is another topic, your needs are different.

[@wolf9545]

@@JamieHofman Just so you know, fusion 360 is free for hobbyist / diy. There are a few things that you can't do but that really only affects people that use cnc machines or are in small factories. But if you are happy with SketchUp, then it's fine.

[@JaredB001]

Just select the component operation option when you do the any operation like extrude. Skip the bodies step entirely as you're making it harder on yourself.

[@gregasman4201]

Cool video though it would have been great to see how plans with dimensions could be made. I use sketchup for wood and fusion for 3d printing and illustrator for shaper cnc but have never crossed the line between them since sketchup, and to some extent illustrator, are easier for me to create parts lists. Any thoughts on good videos or articles to view on how to use fusion for everything?

[@gregasman4201]

Sometimes KZbin (Google) is amazing... as soon as I posted my question, this video came up which shows how to create plans. Both this video and this one on plans (granted the guy is a bit annoying) combined have given me a weekend challenge! kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipzEfp2Lh5yaqKM

[@BoraHorzaGobuchul]

I second that. I've found that making usable plans from SketchUp is harder than it should be (hard to make them neat, requires using another standalone program, which for some reasons lags terribly on all my windows machines (though works much better on my MacBook). All in all, it is a lot harder than it should be. I do hope that fusion has something better to offer here.

[@jacklynhopkins2464]

quick question and i really hope you reply back. Are you using macbook for this demonstration? the fusion 360 i downloaded yesterday has slight variations from what you are showing.

[@tfwoodcraft]

Does anyone have a fast way to trace an image? for example, if I wanted to import a line drawing of a logo and turn it into a 3d model for CNC. I know you can use the line and free-draw tool on top of the image but that method has been pretty hard for me to get accurate results and it takes me forever. Thanks!

[@bobz143]

Is the spin top still spinning?

[@sezendiken4580]

How do wood table slides work?

[@John_Mack]

Hey, I know why its a teapot!!!! Way back when Autodesk was first making rendering software, their test render piece was a ----- Teapot ------ so they kept it as a icon. This was in the 80's.

[@jeffrudolph1802]

I was following along and then couldn't follow when you started to extrude. I finally realized the problem was I set my view to start based on the color of your axes. For some reason your Z axis is green and mine is blue, so I was working on in the top of view for my sketch not the front view. When I figured out my mistake and stated in the front view w/ my blue z-axis and red y-axis, everything fell into place. From what I read z is blue based on the world coordinated system. Why would it appear green in the video? That said, very helpful getting started w/ Fusion 360 video.

[@snoopysador]

i have a question how you make a cut list from f360?