HOW TO Quickly Notch / Cope Weldable Tube or Pipe Joints in Fusion 360!

Today are we talking about how to Notch / Cope Tube or Pipe in Fusion 360. Whether you are trying to build tube assemblies that you just need to model or you are wanting to Notch / Cope Pieces of tube for a personal project this is an easy way to be able to model what you need to send to your Local tube laser, 4th Axis Water jet.. Etc.
This is a quick tutorial about Notching / Coping Tube in Fusion 360 and it won't be useful to you unless you know the basics of the program to start with. If you find this useful and want to also learn to how to 3D sketch Multiple bends on different planes in Fusion 360, Hit that like button or leave a comment below.
This process will allow you to have a normalized Notch / Cope that is easily weldable right off the machine after prep with even consistent Material Thickness all the way around. You can also model these features and download templates so you can Notch by hand if you aren't planning on taking this to a company to cut it for you. I can also do a video on that in the future if that sounds useful. This modeling technique is an ideal way to ensure a really good solid weld on a normalized Tube Cope.
Fusion 360 Is on its way to the top in my opinion when it comes to Cad, Cam, rendering, Sheet metal drawings.. and a million other useful features that are invaluable in todays world. If you are a maker that enjoys learning and using your hands I hope that you'll follow along with my regular posts and we can all learn together. Modeling and being able to draw formed tube is extremely useful in Welding and fabrication and it will make things so much faster in the long run. Tig Welding Tube is a lot of fun and it really makes it so much more enjoyable when you have a really nice fit up.
I will be Heading out to a buddies shop next weekend and we will be possibly going over some tube and pipe stuff when it comes to his Tube plasma. He may be able to answer some questions for us and add even more to this F360 adventure. By no means do I know even a small portion of what F360 offers but I sure do enjoy trying to figure it out and pass on whatever I learn.
Easily 3D model and Notch / Cope Tube after watching this video.. Super quick and to the point. Whether just practicing welding tube or building a racecar Chassis from scratch.. You have to start somewhere!
Please comment below if you need any questions answered!
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[@hourglassingenuity103]

Thank you all so much for the support! Means the world to me. Have a great day!

[@corbandallas8644]

Holy mother of GAWD, I literally downloaded Fusion 360 last night! This is huge tip. Thanks a ton. Stay up!

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@ryanclark7167]

Perfect timing... man I’m loving your fusion tips PLEASE keep them coming!!

[@hourglassingenuity103]

So happy you find them helpful! Thank you for stopping in and watching!

[@jaysonbutcher1178]

Thanks! 😊 Great video! 👍

[@limelightperformance]

I’m so grateful I found you man! Keep it up 👍🏻

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Thank you so much!

[@wardhum6611]

Awesome video. Thank you very much.

[@danielmoore9997]

Awesome video mate! Loving these tips and tricks. 👏🏼

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Thank you! I really appreciate you watching these videos! HAve a great day. More to come!

[@codys_fab]

I have got to get on some of that! Never used it, but definitely learned something here today! Thanks Brad!

[@hourglassingenuity103]

No problem! Thank you for watching!

[@Welddotcom]

Good stuff, as always Brad! Love the software videos.

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Thank you for watching! 🙌🏻 I appreciate it. I think they are probably a little boring but at least you can learn something! 🤓

[@ChrisWojnarski]

Awesome video 🔥🔥🔥

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Thanks for watching! I appreciate it very much!

[@JDM1nside]

Keep up fusion 360 videos, they are much better than other ones because you are actually manufacturing parts.

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Thanks for the feedback! I’m definitely trying to target the fab community with them and not just someone drawing in fusion. Real life application! Have a great day.

[@dhanwatiesukhai2524]

This is an awesome demonstration, I’m an old school guy who has no computer for this type of fabrication. So unfortunate that I also have a computer literacy. Hopefully I can see you doing one of this video with adjustable squares and ruler. I’m Andrew from NYC. Never the less I appreciate your time for making this video. At least I must say that I have learned the basics.

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Hi Andrew! Thank you so much for watching! I do appreciate it very much. We will have plenty of other stuff to post along the way! Appreciate you joining. Have a great day.

[@turbocobra]

Very helpful, thanks for sharing

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Absolutely! Thanks for watching. 🙌🏻

[@justinhough5697]

Excellent video - totally learned something today! Did you make a video of actually fabricating these tubes?

[@thinkithink648]

so good

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Thanks for watching!

[@FlyAV8R]

Adapted your technique for use in Solidworks by using the Split Line, Offset Surface then Thickened Cut (in place of the push pull functionality of Fusion 360). Seems to work way better than the standard technique of using a ruled surface (at least in my use case). Thanks so much for the great video!

[@hourglassingenuity103]

That’s incredible! I’ve never drawn in solid works before so I’m really happy you were able to make it work! Thank you very much for letting me know. Have a wonderful day!

[@drewcadd1836]

As a amateur solidworks user, this video and this comment has been very helpful. Cheers lads.

[@kaidesign01]

Yo!!! thanks so much. so much easier than my botched method

[@hourglassingenuity103]

I’m glad it helped! Thank you!

[@kaidesign01]

@@hourglassingenuity103 you guys make the tig holders too? or is that a different hourglass on insta?

[@hourglassingenuity103]

@@kaidesign01 yep. That’s me!

[@billyjack669]

Thanks for this. How do you create bevels for end chamfers? What about pieces of pipe cut with mitered chamfers?

[@philipwoodall3066]

Thank you so much for this. Very helpful. Don't know if this is your area of expertise but what I need is CAM advice on how to generate a tool path to machine an angled notch on a CNC miller . I thought this would be straightforward but does not seem so easy. ?

[@hourglassingenuity103]

I run cnc machines and do all the programming but without the model and and the machine and tool information I can’t be any help. Tons of videos on here to assist in being able to cam complex features. Thanks for the kind words! Glad it helped. 🙌🏻

[@FPSJoshwaa]

Awesome stuff Brad! Didnt even think to use the split face tool, have always used the combine tool, and used the piece of un-notched tube as the tool body and use the cut function. This method, can most cnc tube notcher companies work with the step file of these types of tubes notched this way??

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Thank you for watching! That way works too! The split face tool for me just gives me nice normalized and even material thickness notches and it’s easiest for my work flow. Yes, I have sent many .STP files with tube notched exactly this way to laser and plasma and they were able to work with it without any issues! Have a great day!

[@JustVoss]

Great video and tip! Does the negative extrude help to give that even material thickness vs just deleting the separated body?

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Hey thanks! I know they are boring but they are good fillers and educational. Selecting the inside of the tube rather than the outside normalizes the coped profile when using the split face command. There are so many ways to cope in fusion and each one has a slightly different end result. Exactly though, since a laser would stay stationary and the 4th axis would rotate negatively extruding the cope almost gives it the same profile it would have if it was cut on a 4th axis laser. 🙌🏻

[@diggles70]

Great video! I'm currently designing a tube chassis and have not been able to figure out a way to export my drawing so that a CNC machine can bend and notch the tubes. Are you aware of a way I can achieve this?

[@cbdzcbdz]

Great video. Next step is how to use F360 to make bend charts similar to what is possible in BendTech. It is great to be able to model something, but if the data from that model can't be outputting to usable data, then the model is useless.

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Yep, typically it’s then transferred over to bend tech and then we go from there.. I’ll see what I can’t throw together 🙌🏻 thanks for the comment!

[@cbdzcbdz]

@@hourglassingenuity103 Were you ever able to create a process that would do something similar to Ben Tech in Fusion 360? It would be especially helpful when working with out-of-plane tube sections.

[@kevinnewman2352]

Is there a fast way to apply the ideal cope if you have to modify a bunch of tube that has a basic cope that’s not ideal for weld?

[@thejagc3736]

Is it possible to weld the notched tube in fusion itself? I mean in the actual design

[@joell439]

👍😎👍

[@andyhoney7030]

Really interesting, thanks very much. I’d not heard of fusion but have just done a quick search on it & see there’s a free version for hobbyists use. Have you used it Brad? If so does it work well? Is it an easy program to get to grips with? Many thanks

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Hi Andy! The free version is the same version that I pay for.. you can use it for a year and renew it when you’re trial is up. I only pay because I use it at my day job everyday. It’s a wonderful program. It works so good! It’s very easy to pick up on and I will be offering frequent tips and there is so many videos showing great tips. If you have any other questions please reply. 🙌🏻

[@andyhoney7030]

@@hourglassingenuity103 Brad thanks very much for the info. I'll download the free version & see how I get on. I'll look out for you tips & tricks

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Fantastic! Have a wonderful weekend. 🙌🏻 happy time help anytime, let me know.

[@texasmike80]

If you create the smallest break in the tube/pipe, then you can flatten it out (as seen here kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqjagWWehpprbKs) and print it giving you a paper template to utilize in the shop. I'm more versatile with Solidworks but knew you could do it here as well. Preciate the knowledge though.

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Yep! I just want to make these simple to follow with one step at a time. Thank you very much for watching. I haven’t seen that video but have already made a video on flat patterns, just haven’t posted it yet. Solid works is great! Just out of my budget.. thanks for watching!

[@NobleCarpetCleaners]

how does this translate to the welding table?

[@hourglassingenuity103]

Elaborate please

[@NobleCarpetCleaners]

After you draw this up, do the joints get made into a template/pattern for use on the bench?

[@hourglassingenuity103]

I would send these off.. have them coped on a laser, formed on a cnc tube bender.. and then they would click together like legos!

[@markdavis7645]

@@hourglassingenuity103 ahhh.. so completely useless for someone in their own garage.. Gotcha lol

[@del00ze]

Incorrect. Only works for 90 degree joint. The cope face will have too much material left on the od of the tube at the heel of the joint and will not fit correctly.