Fusion 360 Form Mastery Part 43 - Boat Hull Design Tips with Fusion Forms

[@russellmiller2564]

Dude, I feel so special. Thanks for that quick turnaround!! You absolutely have the best forms modeling content I have found

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Glad to help! It is an interesting topic. Forms can be very tricky but it can be done.

[@888888887iam]

Every time, I have questions to f360 - I watch your videos, and it help.TY!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Glad to help

[@ivanemarkovic]

As always just an excellent video, with some lovely turns of phrase... approach to the subject always refreshing and enlightening. Thank you.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

My pleasure! Thanks Ivan!

[@Ewout761]

Thanks a lot! I was trying to model the old German flagship Bismarck and I had absolutely no idea on how to make the hull. Thanks again!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Great to hear!

[@fredrikbergquist5734]

Wonderfully educational video! I am designing a boat that will be built out of plywood strips so I would use the second method. But then I would like to have the smooth flow alongside the boat but vertically I need chines because the strips of the plywood would fit together along the length. It will be a sailboat so the hull will be made of 8 to 10 longitudal strips. They can only bend in one direction at a given point but they can be slightly turned like 90 degrees on the entire length of the boat. How would you suggest that it should be modelled?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Hmm, I think for that level you would like need an additional tool to let you look at a "flat pattern" of the shape to better plan your boards. Since I don't design hulls personally (just answered the question of how to do it), you might be better going to an actual dedicated hull building software. There are loads on the market that are free for cheap for non-professional use, but I don't have experience with any of them. www.boatdesign.net/software/ In that list looks like Carlson Design might be a good option and looks like its Shareware.

[@makontul]

What's the trick to bring curved edge to a straight line @23:24 ?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Scale. So if you are trying to make a line straight you will want to scale in a single direction. For example pulling the scale widget in just the x direction. once you start pulling it to scale you can manually enter 0 in the dialog as it will be highlighted automatically.

[@skyreth839]

it is awesome! but how do you add the back of the boat after making the hull?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

It depend on the boat. If it has a typical transom I would probably add it as a surface and ttrim/stitch them together. If the back end is smooth you can carry on with the form in the back.

[@samshaw8653]

Awesome video! Was wondering if you have a video with your set up/ settings. You move very fluidly throughout the video and was looking to upgrade perhaps to a space mouse. Thanks in advance!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Hey Sam, I don't use a spacemouse anymore. It tends to be disorienting to people watching(i am told). so I just use the standard install of Fusion. No customization. Just a keyboard and a mouse. I also tend to avoid shortcut keys except in Forms design. Alt+1 and Alt+3 to go between smooth and box display. and CTRL+4 and CTRL+6 for hiding and showing edges.

[@degreeless_engineering]

When I perform weld vertices, it doesn't come to a nice point. It's lopsided (pulls to one side). My drawing dimensions differ from yours, but the overall shape is the same. The two sides are symmetrical (I measured). Initially, I thought it was due to the hull V not being deep enough but even after those adjustments, it still does the same thing. Great video!

[@degreeless_engineering]

I think I figured it out. If this occurs, change weld mode from "vertex to vertex" to "vertex to midpoint", then select both vertices at the same time by left-clicking and dragging a box over both vertices. Once you release the mouse it'll snap into shape. That's what worked for me.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

thanks for sharing! Did your design have symmetry on it when it was having this issue? There is also the repair option in utilities that can weld verts/gaps up to a set amount that can sometimes find little things like that.

[@degreeless_engineering]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign It did have symmetry! I restarted the design several times and still had the same outcome. I wonder if it's related to a F360 update or something. I'll give the repair option a try! Thanks for the quick response!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

@@degreeless_engineering Of course. if that happens again you can send me the f3d file if you want me to have a look. [e-mail]

[@joshuachukwu7144]

How do you always get both sides of the plane to adjust, because when I try to do it, it doesn't just work.... I set the lengths symmetrically like you did but still I have to select the middle line to make adjustments occur on both sides.... I don't have the vocab for this but I think you get my point... please I need a tip this thing is stressing me out

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Interesting. Do you have symmetry applied ? If you don't see the green line in the middle then you don't have symmetry applied(sometimes Fusion will remove this if you try to merge or change something that violates it. When using multiple selections on both sides of a design, things like Scale will go to/from the pivot point which would be in the middle by default unless you reposition it after the selection.

[@dascet]

Thanks for the video it was a great help! I was just wondering if there was a way to adjust the thickness of the hull for 3d printing or would it be fine to print it with 0 thickness? (I want to try 3d print a working boat). Thanks!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Sure, you can thicken it in the forms environment which will give you control of the inside and outside, but its hard to change/undo. IF you go that route i would suggest first copy/paste the form body so you have a surface version as well. You can also thicken it with the surface tools after you convert. depending on your curvature that might cause you more problems. A third option is to patch the top, stitch it together and it will be a solid, Then when 3d printing you just let the slicer make it thin wall with infill. say 10%. This might be tricky for buoyancy though unless you cut down into the hull for a weight to make sure it doesn't capsize. I don't think you can send a surface to the slicer to print and have it print for you BUT some slicers have mesh repair and might be able to do something with it. My suggestion is to get it as a solid in whatever thickness you want(or thicker so you can use infill).

[@4windsurfing]

how would you design a surf board?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

I have never designed a surf board before but i suppose it comes down to what you need the cross sections to look like. I know there is a certain amount of hand shaping that is done but i you have an idea on what sections look like through the board that is a good place to start.

[@Stonesniffer505]

trying to do the same but for what ever reason it just doesnt work at all

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Which part are you getting stuck at? If this is your first attempt at Forms i would start earlier in the series or check out our absolute beginners course on www.LearnEverythingAboutDesign.com first.

[@SET_EV_Guru]

Any experience with custom toroidal boat propellers in fusion360?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

If you check out the video i just posted its how to model a toroidal prop with forms :)

[@denko7088]

Thousands of people from around the globe are watching and appreciating your work. However, in some countries, individuals can't afford these boats. Why aren't you choosing to teach them to fish, instead of simply handing them the fish? By this, I mean, why aren't you creating a step-by-step video tutorial on how to build a boat that is cost-effective and simple enough for anyone to make? We need this type of empowerment and skill development.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Interesting Denko. I am not a boat designer and made this video to help people understand how to apply Forms to boat design after some questions I got on "can you use forms to design a boat". I would argue that the videos are not providing fish but how to build a fishing rod :) In general teaching a start to finish process on designing anything is very long. I try to offer up advanced workflows and tools, but its up to the end user to design what they want. While I understand what you are saying I am not sure a CAD tutorial is a solution to your statement. If someone can't afford a boat, how would they take the CAD files and manufacture that boat?

[@hazynpeterson4083]

not a developable surface . compound curvatures are no good for small to medium metal boats. bigger? then your welding panels together

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Literally in the first 30s I said i wasn't a boat designer :) Just answering questions from people on how to model certain things in Fusion forms. I generally point people to other software that is intended for this type of work but if someone wants to model a hull and 3d print it for say an RC boat then this is a perfectly viable workflow..

[@hazynpeterson4083]

not the best way