How To Model A Working Mechanical Iris in Fusion

In this video we are tackling a question from Troy at heartmadewoodw...
Troy makes some amazing wood designs and was working on this design which I thought was a great opportunity for a video.
If you just want to take a look at the final model you can see it here.
a360.co/4cnkQSK
We focused on how to model and understand the mechanical motion without planning to manufacture the design.

[@realradrob]

A few years back a friend of mine brought me a 3D printed design of a mechanism like this with a lifting platform incorporated into the motion. I spent days and days in Fusion modeling everything and figuring out joints and limits and contact boundaries to get a design that was going to be machinable. I REALLY could have used a tutorial like this back when I was trying to figure it out 😂. Once I got it figured out though it was so satisfying knowing I took a huge step in my modeling abilities. I ended up machining all the pieces on my 5 axis machine and it’s still one of my favorite projects I’ve ever made. I never quite got to a design that was machinable and could completely close the iris, but I got pretty close. This design could have definitely solved my problem. Anyways, thanks for making this content, these videos show me little shortcuts that I didn’t even know existed to speed up my modeling process. So thanks for taking the time to make these videos!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Awesome thanks for sharing! that must have been fun to see that project to completion! even if it wasn't perfect in the end.

[@markscheiner3952]

Really great Fusion tutorial. Excellent pace and depth. Please keep these kind of mechanical tutorials coming. Thanks for posting

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Thanks, will do!

[@mitchimal]

Amazing work as always. Well done mate. Got a good project coming up and this will be a good starting point

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Awesome! 3rd video will be out later today.

[@hutchdw77]

I’ve been wondering about this mechanism for decades. Thanks!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Happy to help! This is like the most simple style but we can cover some of the others in future videos. That can get pretty intricate. Im 3d printing this one now.. :)

[@GeryS.]

YES! Looking forward for more interesting tutorials like this! 🤙🤙🤙

[@Djeez2]

Great design, and I learned a few Fusion tricks along the way. Thanks!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Glad I could help!

[@GGGG_3333]

I really wish to see a whole series as well 😍. I am also interested in CAD mainly for woodworking. Maybe a series on that as well 😍.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Noted! I plan on doing a few more of these :) With woodworking do you have your own setup to machine the parts? are you programming in fusion as well?

[@GGGG_3333]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign I actually started with using Aspire but recently moved to fusion. I am yet to actually start my fusion CAM journey 😅. Maybe another series on that also 🙈.

[@CraigHollabaugh]

So many little tips, thanks Matt.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Happy to help!

[@patrizioyeah7941]

Very good ❤

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Thanks 😄

[@dan5her]

Now I can build an iris for my Stargate

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Just be careful which one you jump to!

[@dan5her]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign 🤣🤣

[@nahuelise4055]

Amazing work! However i went along all the video while doing this model and only the revolt join seems to show,i have the free version,does that have something that limits what animations i can use?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

No they should all show. Do you mean after you add them you only see one or do you mean when you apply them you only see revolute? For the as-built-joint there should be a drop down to see all of them. for the Joint, there is a second tab to pick the joint type.

[@nahuelise4055]

I retried it all from the start and now it worked,the only thing that i made different is that i made the "body" a component and fixed it

[@miguelbatres1075]

Hi! It's a great tutorial! Do you have info about how to design more complex iris mechanism? I'm a mechanical engineer and I wanna know more about it but I don't find info anywhere

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

I can do more videos. there are so many variations of these things. i have at least 2 more in mind I could cover.

[@miguelbatres1075]

Ok perfect! You should! It’s an original content I believ and thanks it’s really fun design something like that