Creating and Using Drilling Templates in Autodesk Fusion 360

Designers use may standard components in their designs each day and often they have to be mounted into an assembly.  This requires the drilling of mounting holes that match the standard component.  Most designers would place the standard component into the assembly and then create the required holes, for bolting or component clearance, directly from the component.  In my video I propose the use of a saved drilling template which can be used to create all the necessary holes for the standard component mounting WITHOUT the standard component.  This method has a few advantages.

• Speed - Placing a template in position and then simply placing holes according to template is a lot faster than trying to place a standard component in place in order to determine hole centers
• Accuracy - A drilling template cuts down on possible hole placement errors.  Not only will the drilling centers be located in the drilling template but hole sizes can be specified also.
• Easy of Placement - It is a lot easier to locate a drilling template, as a sketch, than the actual standard component in the assembly using joints
• Create the Final Part without the Standard Component - If you wish, you can place a drilling template on a part to locate all mounting holes without every having to create an assembly model.

One warning about using this method, it has two "quirks" that you must be aware of to use it effectively.  They are easy to understand and workaround and I illustrate them in the video.

Procedure and Considerations When Using "Insert a Manufactured Part" Command in Autodesk Fusion 360

The ability to select and insert thousands of parts and assemblies of numerous companies from around the world is a real time saved in Autodesk Fusion 360.  I have created a video outlining the process and also included some tips to create a functional model for your design.  

 

Top Down Design in Autodesk Fusion 360

I first want to be sure that everyone understands what I mean by "Top Down Design".  When you have an assembly, containing one or more components, and you need to design a new component that needs to match another component, in some fashion, that is top down design.  For example, if I need to design a plate that will bolt to the top of the blue component of my assembly, I do not want to have to measure the hole spacing for the tapped holes, I want to design in directly on top of the component and graphically pick up the hole centers.  

In my last article I showed you two methods of creating an assembly by either using "Linked" or "Contained" components.  In this article I want to show you how to design this top plate in both environments.  With either method, the top plate will be "adaptive" which means if the hole locations, in the blue component, move the tapped holes in the top plate will automatically update their position to match.  Of course at any time you can break this "adaptive" link and the hole locations in the top plate will become static. 

 My first video will be of the top down design of the top plate in a "Contained" assembly.  If you did not read the previous article, this is an assembly which contains all of the components internally.

My second video will be of the top down design of the same plate in a "Linked" assembly.  If you did not read the previous article, this is an assembly which contains components that are only linked, as separate component files, to the assembly.

If you watched both methods you have probably noticed that creation of a top down design component is easiest in a "Contained" assembly but if the link needs to be broken, the process is a lot harder than in a "Linked" assembly. 

You also have the ability to created a top down designed "Contained"  component in a "Linked" assembly and visa versa if you would like but don't get yourself too confused.  

Creating Assemblies with Linked or Internal Components

There are two basic methods of creating an assembly.  You can model each component separately and then use the "Insert into Current Design" command to create your assembly with "linked" components or you can create your "contained" components directly in the assembly file.  I want to compare each method and allow you to make your own decision.  In order to refer to each method quickly, I will refer to the one method as "Linked" and the other "Contained". 

 Linked

In this method you create all components separately as individual files and then using the data panel "Insert into Current Design", or you can left-click drag, the component into the assembly.

Using this method creates a link to the external file which has two distinct advantages.  First, the component can be used in an number of assemblies simply by repeating the above steps.  Second, if the component is changed, it will semi-automatically update in all the assemblies that it has been linked to.  This process occurs after the changes to the component have been saved and the assembly, in which it is linked is opened.  The reason I say semi-automatic is because you must click the "Out of Date" icon in the assembly.

 

The link to the component file can always be broken by either right-clicking on the component in the timeline or the browser and selecting "Break Link" from the context menu.  This does not alter the component or assembly placement, only breaks the update link to the master component.

Contained

Using this method all the components are created inside the assembly.  The assembly is normally the active component but if one of the included components needs to be edited, it is first assign the active status by left clicking on the small circle at the end of the component or assembly name in the browser .   Once it is active, a dot appears in the circle as indicated by the red arrow.

This action directs all editing functions to the active component and the timeline will change to reflect all the past editing done to the component.

If the component needs to be shared with another assembly, it can easily be copied in the original assembly and then using the "Paste New" command be placed into a new assembly.   It is very important to remember that this is only a copy and WILL NOT update when the original component is edited.

Now you know the two methods of adding components to an assembly, which one is right for your design.  Some will say keeping all components in separate files and linking them to the assembly is too much work but others will say this is the most efficient way to use components in multiple designs.  I want to say I am biased because of my many years of working with Autodesk Inventor which is based on the linked components method.

By the way, top down design is easily done using either method, especially since the new "Insert Derive" command has been introduced.  I will try and cover this topic in a future article.  Both methods work as well with associated drawings so that should not be a determining factor.   So the choice is yours or maybe you will decide to use a little of both methods in your next assembly, this has some unique advantages also and both methods work well together, just keep them straight!

Modifying Plastic Bottle to Hold Exact Measure

I had a problem presented to me to determine the volume of liquid an existing bottle held and then modify the bottle, using Fusion 360, so it would hold an exact US Imperial Quart of liquid.  The plastic bottle model given to me to start with was a dumb solid body, no features or parameters.  I decided to use Fusion 360 to determine the existing volume the bottle would currently hold but to also use it to modify the bottle to hold the required volume.

In my video I used a variety of processes in Fusion 360 including:

• Parameters
• Solids manipulation using Combine, Split Body, Body Remove and others
• Workplane creation
• Move/Copy command
• and others  

Please take a look and see how Fusion 360 can make the re-design of a product easy.

Autodesk Fusion 360 New Derive and Insert Derive Command

I would like to introduce you to the powerful design possibilities the new Fusion "Drive" and "Insert Derive" commands give you.  I have created a video to show you some applications for this command along with the proper use and configuration of the command dialog boxes.  I want to emphasis that there are a lot more applications for these commands than I could show in the video.  When considering the possibilities think about how, the ability to share a complete sketch, model bodies, model components, parameters, assemblies or sheet metal flats into a new or existing design and what you share will be "linked" to the original, will enhance your design possibilities. 

Using Named Views in Fusion 360 Drawings

Named views, in your Autodesk Fusion 360 models, can be used for many purposes.  One of these is to define a special view, that will be needed in the 2D drawing, to created required documentation dimensions.  In my short video, I show how to create a named view and then use it to establish a special view in the 2D drawing.  This view will be used to place true length dimensions on selected edges.