Finger Joint Box for Laser Cutting Fusion 360 Tutorial

[@torymiddlebrooks]

Ugh, I do love the intersection of a good tutorial and crafting. This is excellent.

[@WhatMakeArt]

Hope your project comes out well 👍

[@RedPillSurvival]

This is great info and a great exercise but I can't see doing this more than a few times before buying the finger joint add-in for $17.50

[@WhatMakeArt]

@RedPillSurvival at least then you will appreciate the finger joint add-on that much more

[@Damien9367]

Thank you this was great! How would you go about adding in Tolerances to make the Joints tighter? Thanks again.

[@WhatMakeArt]

This video is for tolerances in CNC machining, but you can use the same techniques for laser cutting kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWmklHxugdB8qMk

[@yosofya]

Great Tutorial. Any ideas how would be the approach if i want to make a pyramid with finger joints on its sides. any help will be appreciated

[@WhatMakeArt]

You could angle the offset planes that the sides are drawn on

[@NeoQJ]

I make something like this before, but included options like finger quantity for each side and also can direct proceed to auto arrange for easy export to laser cutting.

[@WhatMakeArt]

Yes, that is a good way to do it with the option to have different amounts of fingers but it is a bit more complicated to set up. It's worth it in the long run because then you can make your box any size and it'll add the fingers. There are also some calculators online that will print out an SVG with any size box you want, but this is a simple way to mock up a box in Fusion 360.

[@SjonnieSchimmelkrans]

Very elegant

[@WhatMakeArt]

Glad it helped 📦

[@roberte8466]

fantastic video thanks for sharing! I followed your tutorial and when i go to laser cut it, the DXF file shows the Finger tabs but they are blocked by the original rectangle so it would end up just cutting a square, do you know how to get around this? thanks

[@WhatMakeArt]

Did you select the sketch or the face to export the DXF file for laser cutting in the manufacturer workspace in Fusion 360?

[@roberte8466]

hi thanks for your reply! i selected the face is that correct? :-) @@WhatMakeArt

[@jakelukas2193]

Great video. Always love to learn more. What I'm trying to do are teeth/notches that can be individualy sized for depth. We usually use the thickness of material . BUT if I want them a mm or 2 deeper (so after assembly they can be sanded smooth) it becomes a bit of an issue cause when you extrude its usually done from the outer edge. Materials are never exactly same thickness foe wood between sheets and suppliers. So would be nice to create a design that you can adjust data on overall dimensions and allow for extra depth without effecting the design . Suggestions?

[@WhatMakeArt]

You could make one more extrude operation on the teeth that has a set parameter that you can change, then set a tooth parameter based on material thickness You can also make different parameters for each side of the box so you can make a box from scraps that are different thicknesses The extrude operation could also be a formula that adds the two parameters together, that way if you change either parameter, everything updated automatically

[@jakelukas2193]

That's what I've been thinking for the teeth. Will try making teeth this way then add an extra step to extrude the surfaces of each tooth . Thank you for the suggestions. More learning :)

[@WhatMakeArt]

Good luck, let us know if you have some cool results

[@jakelukas2193]

That's what I've been thinking for the teeth. Will try making teeth this way then add an extra step to extrude the surfaces of each tooth . Thank you for the suggestions. More learning :)

[@davidlemay6402]

Thanks for the video it has helped me out

[@WhatMakeArt]

Great, happy laser cutting 👍

[@amberelferink]

I don't get why you don't use Create > Rectangular pattern. Then you just draw one notch, and repeat it over the whole side

[@WhatMakeArt]

You could do it that way, there are many ways to do parametric modeling in a Fusion 360 This method is to make even spaced tabs of any size on boxes with any dimensions

[@VeebsRK]

Not sure whats changed or if you missed verbalizing some instruction but following the instructions directly doesnt work

[@WhatMakeArt]

I may have missed something or something might have changed in fusion 360, sometimes it's frustrated when it doesn't work out

[@bramdegoede-i5s]

Is it possible that my fusion 360 version has some modified options? I try to follow the instructions very closely but stil end up with a totally messed up sketch.

[@WhatMakeArt]

Fusion 360 does update and change the UI from time to time, what exactly is messing up in your sketch?

[@gsrunion]

When cutting this does kerf need to be accounted for somehow?

[@WhatMakeArt]

Yes you need to account for kerf with the laser cutter bit Fusion 360 can do that automatically if you set up a laser cutter tool with the correct kerf settings Here is a video showing how to automatically have kerf adjustments kzbin.info/www/bejne/bHupeYCMbKZsirc

[@gsrunion]

@@WhatMakeArt thanks for the link.

[@gsrunion]

Interesting. As I have a machine with proprietary control software, I didn't expect my laser endeavors would take me to the manufacturing workspace.

[@rbetts75]

I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. I drew a sketch for the bottom. Next I drew three random sized rectangles that are all coincident with the edge. I placed the midline construction lines between all of the rectangles. I shift selected all the construction lines and made them equal. I then shift selected all the horizontal width of each of the three rectangles. When i hit the equal constraint, it went crazy. The rectangles became all different sizes and some up and some down.

[@WhatMakeArt]

Probably missing one more equal constraint, sometimes need to click individually

[@emilellis]

@@WhatMakeArt I'm having the exact same issue and not able to correct it. I am selecting the first line, shift select each of the other 2 with the same result as above.

[@WhatMakeArt]

I will try to reproduce the issue and devise a solution

[@bughunt8076]

same here, something is missing.

[@WhatMakeArt]

Click two lines to make equal at a time. Select the equal tool, then click the shorter line, then click the longer line, this will make the longer line equal to the shorter line. Then repeat for the third line

[@maxndjiki-nya]

for some reason when I mirror the lines the boxes on the other side dont show up

[@WhatMakeArt]

Did you click everything in the mirror?

[@Leo-dj2ze]

alright. maybe in my version it only supports choosing the line type first...

[@WhatMakeArt]

Are you referring to construction lines versus sketch lines?

[@Leo-dj2ze]

@@WhatMakeArt construction lines. And i've checked the issue by applying all selection filters. Thanks ! Your tutorial is much better than school. lol

[@juliegilbreath9805]

When I create a new side to the box the edges do not align, is there a setting that I am missing?

[@WhatMakeArt]

Did you use the mirror or project from the previous side?

[@juliegilbreath9805]

I have tried using project. The error occurs at 5:20, the edge of my side is off by the material thickness. @@WhatMakeArt

[@ericinarcata]

Maybe someone can help. Following the tutorial after I make my constructions line equal. I try to do the same with the rectangle length and they always go wonky - like they don't evenly space in the tutorial but go all over the place. Help.

[@WhatMakeArt]

Do you have all lines constrained perpendicular before the equal constraint? Is it referenced to the origin. Generally click the shorter of two segments first when using equal constraint in fusion 360

[@ericinarcata]

Not sure what I did but got it to work. I think I need to do your tutorial a few times. Been using Adobe Illustrator for 25 years so this is a new world for me. @@WhatMakeArt

[@IronMan-yg4qw]

theres a few laser box tab making online apps that do all this an more!

[@WhatMakeArt]

Yes, those are really great 👍

[@pretenda]

For sure, however I really appreciate these videos because it teaches you so much more than just doing finger jointed boxes. Thanks for all the videos! Keep them up!

[@VengD]

There are... But this teaches a great start, for doing it yourself... For more "complex" stuff... Like adding dividers and whatnot inside the box. And still having the option for parameters.

[@pdwinc.1077]

How would you save that or export as to cut on a laser

[@WhatMakeArt]

Here is a video showing how to export a dxf with kerf adjustment for laser cutting from fusion 360 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bHupeYCMbKZsirc

[@infocus-media]

One problem here, for all free users of Fusion, you cannot export this to a DXF for laser cutting!!! You will need the paid version,

[@WhatMakeArt]

Did you install the dxf post process addon for fusion 360? kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXPYZ6mia6ekpdU Should work in free version

[@infocus-media]

@@WhatMakeArt Man, you just did it, I love it, you better add something to this video and tell people about it.

[@WhatMakeArt]

@infocus-media happy laser cutting ✂️👍

[@Leo-dj2ze]

why i cannot select the lines

[@WhatMakeArt]

Check your selection filters in the top right

[@Leo-dj2ze]

@@WhatMakeArt thankssssssss. i dont know why fusion doesnt turn that on as default

[@SilverStef00]

why components ?

[@WhatMakeArt]

So things can be moved around easier, and the design history is then contained within that component. It also helps with using lay flat commands and making joints. If everything is a body within a component then you can't make joints between the different bodies.