Fusion 360 Sheet Metal for Beginners

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Grab the demo files here: bit.ly/F360SheetMetal

[@davidalan6701]

This was really helpful, but is there a way to do the process in reverse? In other words, can you start from the flat pattern and apply folds to get the 3D model? I ask because one of the things I do a lot is design cardboard countertop displays in illustrator. If I already have the flat illustrator design (exported to DXF) is there a way to just apply the design to a flat "cardboard" model and just fold the models on the lines to achieve the 3D model display for making 3D mockups?

[@ProductDesignOnline]

@@davidalan6701 I never saw this earlier... But in case anyone else has the same question. Yes, you can do this in reverse. You would draw straight lines across your flat part and use the "Bend" tool to bend it at the selected lines. Note that it's required to start with a Sheet Metal component tho 😎

[@sierraecho884]

Never though I would live in a time where I can see all the CAD design stuff explained on KZbin for free. My CATIA and Solidworks courses did cost multiple thousands for only a couple of days.

[@MrROY278]

press brake operator here first let me say great video verry informational. 5052 or t0 and most steel /ss are good for hobby needs . t6 6061,t3 2024and 7000 aluminum will bring only pain and have different setbacks based on the radius used. t3 will brake or tear by small radius .160r [inside] and lower ,you can heat and use backup if u really want a small radius but it might still brake.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks for the tips!!

[@Xploit66]

Your videos are always awesome. The only thing I wish you did more was show the actual physical product more often when possible. I primarily learned fusion360 for 3d printing from your many tutorials, I recently got into the bending side and had to learn it myself so it’s nice to see you might be getting into tutorials for that as well.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Hi Travis. Thanks, this is wondeful feedback and I appreciate it. I'm always looking at ways to incorporate more b-roll and explanation of the process outside of Fusion 360. It's a tricky balance, as some folks only want the F360 part, while others want to see the end-to-end process.

[@Xploit66]

@@ProductDesignOnline that definitely makes sense! It would just be kind of neat to be able to see how the design process digitally equates to real life. Draft angles for molding for example being able to see how that physically happens can be helpful to some. Just my two cents, as I said though your tutorials are excellent. Definitely the best on KZbin In my opinion.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

@@Xploit66 Thanks! I really appreciate that. I will certainly continue to look at different ways I can incorporate more info like this. Again, I really appreciate you providing your feedback! :)

[@mohammedfawaaz693]

Dude , I'm seriously not kidding, last I was looking sheet metal tutorial video from pdo n morning bam you posted the video.......thank sooooo much kevin

[@ProductDesignOnline]

haha! Glad to hear that was good timing :)

[@laurv8370]

Outstanding. Loved the "branding" of the gloves 😅

[@Namoona3DLabs]

Thank you so much for making this video. I will try out this sheetmetal option in Fusion 360

[@ProductDesignOnline]

It's a lot of fun! And important to know that it can be used for cardboard box design and other related stuff :)

[@lostmanamiga38]

Just found out that people are using this tool for leather crafting patterns. My mind is blown!! This is old news, but I just did think about it in this wasy

[@AlessioSangalli]

So cool you have made this video. It's really, really helpful

[@smarzony]

As always your videos are awesome and have great educational value. Thank you

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thank you! I also have a newer sheet metal video with a different project example - kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZiulmaAfLN8e8k

[@eve_squared]

The best feeling in the world is when you make something and when you're making it you're like "I bet that's gonna need an extra millimeter for clearance" then when you make the part and you go to use it the thing you designed it around just slips in snugly. Edit: This is more common for 3d printing due to the plastic extruding adding about .2 mm to the original dimensions it is something to think about when designing 3d printed parts. Make sure to print test pieces first or give enough clearance if it's not that important to you.

[@rnel2557]

Great presentation - thank you

[@BenDover-bt1my]

Is there an easy way to add bend slots to make different thickness materials easy to bend by hand? Excellent tutorial by the way.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks, Carlos! Not really an easy way with Fusion 360's sheet metal tools. The best approach (currently) is to insert a DXF or SVG with the slot cutout shapes used to bend by hand. (Assuming you're referring to a 'wave' or similar pattern like this - sendcutsend.com/hand-bend-laser-cut-metal/

[@BenDover-bt1my]

@@ProductDesignOnline Thats precisely what I'd like to do, just haven't found an easy way to do it. Thanks.

[@anthonyhernandez9308]

I love all your videos! I was curious if you could please make a video on how to make C Channel in Fusion? Please and thank you!

[@TheCroatianPimp]

excellent video as usual!

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks, Angelo!! I'm still planning to start posting more CAM content. Will reach out again in the coming months so we can collab :D

[@johnlafferty5032]

Such clear and detail tutorials. Thank you.

[@thomasputko1080]

Excellent Vid. Well done guys.

[@NeoQJ]

Very helpful video, thanks for your works👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@sonnybrahmi3136]

Really Superb. thanks

[@D3nn1s]

That was a great tutorial with a recent version of fusion, thank you so much! Very well made and covered everything i think ill need to draw my toolbox were currently designing in uni :)

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Thanks, Dennis! Best of luck as you finish school :)

[@D3nn1s]

@@ProductDesignOnline thanks :)

[@l3VGV]

Very nice, high information density!

[@rinokentie8653]

Thanks, very interesting.

[@mayurahuja817]

Amazing content.

[@crazydavy88]

Now lets say you were making a jerry can platform, How would you go about modeling the jerry an?

[@JesseHires]

Can the bent sheet metal object be easily exported for 3d printing? Use case is part will ultimatly be manufactured in sheet metal, but prototyping is less time consuming and/or less expensive on a 3d printer.

[@Graham_Wideman]

Sure, just select the body and Save to Mesh as you would normally do for a solid model in F360. However, a sheet metal design is attractive for parts that have a shape that when 3D printed often require a large amount of support structure -- so you may want to consider that aspect before getting too excited!

[@marcpouliot1]

Excellent!! But how did you actually bend the sheet to make the box? By hand ? Pliers or.? :)

[@ProductDesignOnline]

A cheap Sheet metal break :)

[@TheIntensiveCarUnit]

I just attempted to re-create what you did. There is something with the latest software, or maybe what I am doing, is not allowing me to use the SVG file to move point-to-point and I cannot move the SVG file after it is placed. Do you have any ideas on why that might be. I have spent the last hour trying to figure out what is preventing the move and or change....

[@mada310]

Great tutorial! Clear and concise. Just curious.. if this is paid by send cut send why did you not order it pre bent?

[@ProductDesignOnline]

I could've, but I had got a new (cheap) sheet metal break at the time and wanted to test it :)

[@larrybud]

Is there a way to take a 3d sketch and turn it into sheet metal body which can then be unfolded?

[@CheewaphanYoungkrungkao]

So,How can i use flat pattern model to CNC. manufacture?

[@gabrielamadeus]

@9:04 why didn't F360 generate bend reliefs on the bottom/back two corners?

[@davidp5823]

Whats a good metal fabricator similar to the one mentioned but based in Ireland/UK/Europe?

[@user-qb9gr3rg7o]

does the personal free "hobby" version has this feature? thx

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Yes! All of the Sheet Metal tools are included with the free Personal Use (Hobby) license. 😄

[@IronMan-yg4qw]

can you adapt this to fold cardboard /thick paper?

[@charlesbrewer6552]

I love the detailed glove box to start with. Did you model all of that or is there a way to import a photo of the graphics, or something?

[@ProductDesignOnline]

I modeled a simple cube and then placed images on the side. I normally wouldn't do that...it was more for the tutorial to help folks visualize :)

[@christopherconkright1317]

Do they only send you the sheet metal parts? What if you want 1/4 steel parts? First I saw you can have parts shipped to you since i am new to this

[@AlessioSangalli]

Well, do you plan to bend 1/4" parts?

[@christopherconkright1317]

@@AlessioSangalli no lol I mean will they cut and send 1/4 parts I am not sure what size it will be. I figure 1/4 was the highest it would be. I am building a belt grinder. I figured I need 7 parts cut. The motor is about 2 pounds. It will rotate side ways. I can buy the plans and send to get cut but I feel like I can do it will less parts. Can the program do stress breaks? 1/8 steel would be cheaper but how do I know it’s strong enough.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

They go up to half inch thick in some materials, such as mild steel. Most of their materials have many thicknesses to choose from. You can choose your material and then it will show the available thicknesses (without having to upload your design) - sendcutsend.com/materials/

[@AlessioSangalli]

@@christopherconkright1317 what i mean is that - if you don't plan to bend, there is really not much use for the sheet metal environment in Fusion360.

[@pacothia2399]

13:52, how to click and drag under sketch mode?

[@BlackSmokeDMax]

What is the case where you would want to do more design work on the flat pattern? Meaning, what would you do there that you wouldn't want to do on the unfold?

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Logos, additional bend lines or reference marks for manufacturing, etc. Id say it's not as common as cross-flange features with unfold.

[@BlackSmokeDMax]

@@ProductDesignOnline thanks!

[@ab_customz_llc]

May be a dumb question, but where did you get the imaginary box of gloves from? Downloaded it or something?

[@ProductDesignOnline]

I created a simple extruded rectangle and added some reference images (Canvas) directly in Fusion :)

[@ab_customz_llc]

That’s pretty slick. Thanks!

[@whitetiger4602]

How did u down load the glove box ?

[@maximthemagnificent]

OOC, can the laser-cut service mark the bend lines as well? Be very useful.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

When you upload to Send Cut Send it will interpret the dash lines as bend lines and you can then input the degree at which they need to be bent :)

[@maximthemagnificent]

Not sure I was clear in my original question (sorry!), so to clarify, I was wondering about them simply marking the bend lines when cutting, not bending them for you.

[@IronMan-yg4qw]

where did you get this made/laser cut?

[@halfcenturytruck]

the demo file link no longer works(for me, anyway)

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Fusion had an outage/issue with shared links yesterday. It appears to be fixed now. Short link: a360.co/3ffaxoo Full link: productdesignonline1.autodesk360.com/g/shares/SH56a43QTfd62c1cd968be5474ea36a4d28d Both of those should work. Nonetheless, I truly appreciate you bringing this to my attention! Always like to fix dead links so folks can get the files :)

[@Arrow-999]

Hello can anyone please tell how to switch my fusion 360 education version to free personal version as I have completed my graduation and cannot reapply for education version. Also what features will I lose by converting it from student to personal version?

[@AlessioSangalli]

Don't! The education version is so much better

[@Arrow-999]

@@AlessioSangalli yes but I have to swtich as I am no longer a student and fusion says me to renew my account as academic year has ended. What should I do?

[@ProductDesignOnline]

@@Arrow-999 You will have to first get the Education license removed from your account to get the Personal Use one enabled. To do that, the only way is to contact support - knowledge.autodesk.com/contact-support/account-management/subscription-and-contract-management

[@ezboog1083]

flange

[@dghtr79_36]

can't express how poorly this is implemented compared to SW... 10 years ago SW had sheet metal conversion done the right way, you could use solid, pick a face, and then use edges to create your flanges, everything would follow your solid model, Fusion has all this totally backwards, and the solid you start off of is nearly 100% useless, really really poor effort from AD :(

[@ProductDesignOnline]

I feel ya... and the 'Sheet Metal' environment has gotten little to no updates in the last 2 years. Hoping this gets some 'love' in '23.