You are sometimes faced with creating a cutout in sheet metal through multiple thicknesses and bends. Normally you would Unfold command on the sheet metal body, sketch on the flat, Extrude and Refold the layout but in this case lining up the multiple sketches will be difficult if not impossible. In this short video I will show you how to use a surface to easily create a perfect cutout.
Many Fusion 360 assembly contain multiple sheet metal components and their flat patterns. In this video I will show a workflow to place all of these flat patterns into a single assembly, then use the new Fusion 360 Arrange command to position them on a single sheet in the manufacturing environment. Once arranged, applying cutting toolpaths is a quick process. I want to point out that the Arrange command is not available to users of a Fusion 360 Personal License.
Autodesk Fusion 360 does not provide a method for making conical sheet metal components but with the available tools and a little bit of surface work, the process can accomplished easily. In this short video I first create a simple sheet metal cone with its flat pattern. I then go back, in the timeline, and show you how to used the process to make a truncated cone that will produce a square edged flat pattern.
A special thanks to "TheCADWhisper", also known as "Top Daug" from the Fusion 360 forum for giving me inspiration into the methods outlined in this article.
UPDATE: Fusion 360 has added a new tool called Lofted Flange which makes the creation of a sheet metal cone very easy. In this video I go over the process of using this tool. If you desire to create an angled truncated cone, the process is also outlined in the video as it is a little different than the method outlined above.
