Fusion 360 for modellers

[onetenor]

If you log onto Aeromodeller forum you can see what the guys are doing on there including a working /moving engine

[Ian Jones]

This is all good stuff, now I've got my 3d printer setup in it's new location I'll be catching with it all.

[Ian Jones]

Posted by BobW on 12/03/2017 17:24:13:

Well I've got step 2 finished. That took a bit more time than I thought and for some reason I can't edit my original post to add it there!!!! If you're reading this Ian, any thoughts?

Bob,

Sorry I missed this one, you probably know by now that posts are only editable for a short period, 15 mins I think.

 

I'm finally getting around to closely following your tutorials but I can only get guide3 to open, the others return:

"Sorry, the file you have requested does not exist.

Make sure that you have the correct URL and that the file existed."

 

Edited By Ian Jones on 20/05/2017 13:54:48

[BobW]

hi Ian

What I was wanting was to have the first post with all the guides on it and add to it as and when I completed them but it doesn't seem to work like that. When I realised I'd made a couple of simple mistakes and corrected them and resaved the file the link then goes dead. So you need to look for my last post about the guides, currently on the end of page 1, and all the guides are there. What I should have done is have a link to a folder on Google Drive and I could have done what I was wanting. Hope this helps

Bob

[Ian Jones]

Posted by BobW on 20/05/2017 15:19:33:

hi Ian

What I was wanting was to have the first post with all the guides on it and add to it as and when I completed them but it doesn't seem to work like that. When I realised I'd made a couple of simple mistakes and corrected them and resaved the file the link then goes dead. So you need to look for my last post about the guides, currently on the end of page 1, and all the guides are there. What I should have done is have a link to a folder on Google Drive and I could have done what I was wanting. Hope this helps

Bob

Hi Bob, Sorry I missed this post and thank you, I'll have a look at page 1.

[Graham R]

This thread has gone quiet for a while. just wondering how you all are getting on with fusion and 3d printing?

[Nev]

Hi. Wonder if anybody can help.

I’m trying to design a spinner whilst learning Fusion 360 at the same time (thanks for the early lessons BobW very useful). It’s a basic straight sided cone shape which I created by lofting between 2 circles to form the cone then lofted a smaller cone on the inside to hollow it out. I had to fill in the base again but that’s done and this is where I’m at.

I want the top part of the cone to be a thin walled shell which will fit over the base but to get it seamless I need to create a step in the base, hopefully the sketch will explain.

For the life of me I cannot find a way to create the step. I tried lofting a small section again but it doesn’t work. I’m not even sure what you call the operation to be able to look it up. All I can think to do is to slice up my cone into various ring sections, get them the correct diameter and then try and assemble them together again. But that seems like an awful lot of work for what is supposed to be 3D CAD software.

There must be an easier way.

Thanks. Nev

[Andy Meade]

If it was Solidworks, I'd create a revolved cut within the top cone to accept step. Not sure if you have that function though?

As with most solid modelling, there is more than one way to skin a cat. The other option that pops to mind would be to mate the two together, and with the feature in one part, perform a boolean cut to create the mating feature.

[Trevor Rushton]

Nev

I have been using Fusion for nearly a year now and am beginning to get the hang of it. I suggest that to get a better spinner shape its better to use the modify/revolve tool.

Start a fresh sketch and select the relevant plane.

Draw a vertical line the radius of the spinner and from the same point a horizontal line representing the desired length. Now draw the outer shape of the spinner using a spline curve to join the two end points. You will have to play with it to get the shape you want,

When satisfied with the profile use the modify /revolve tool to create a new body (important) use "full" and you will get a solid spinner shape.

Now select the bottom of the spinner and use the create tool to set up an offset plane say 15mm from the base i.e. to get the two parts of the spinner. With that offset plane visible now use the modify /split body tool; click on the spinner, then use the offset plane as the cutting tool, the plane will go red as it slices your spinner into two parts.

Now use assemble/new component to create a component for first one part of the spinner and then do it again to create the second one. If you right click and select move you can now pull the two components apart. You still have two solids so to hollow the out go to modify/shell, select the component and wall thickness say 2mm or whatever you want. Make sure that you select the circular face of the component and away you go.

Do the same again for the bottom part of the spinner and hollow that out. To create a joint I would then start a new sketch on the top face of the bottom part of the spinner and create a new circle of diameter 4mm smaller than the top part. Extrude this by say .75mm (you might need to experiment here to get a decent fit) between the two parts. Obviously the extruded bit will not have exactly the same profile as the top bit of the spinner but if you create a screw fixing (like a commercial unit) it should click into place.

I hope that is helpful - if you need some screen shots let me know.

Trevor

[Nev]

Thanks, that gave me something to think about and look up. In the end I found I could do it by drawing the shoulder and then extruding with a taper.

In hindsight it might have been easier to do the whole thing with the revolve tool, I might do the final version like that for practice.

Thanks again. Nev.

[Nev]

Trevor.

Thanks for the detailed explanation, I will defiantly give that a try.

Nev.

[BobW]

Just back on here. Definitely the revolve tool is the way to go. The tank on my Mill 1.3 was designed the same way.

[Trevor Rushton]

The spinner question got me experimenting as to how to get the bottom part of the spinner to fit inside the top part; I suggested a small ridge with the idea that you could screw the parts together like the commercial spinners with two screws. However, Nev was trying to create more of a lip.

The answer is to extrude a cylinder on top of the bottom part of the spinner (it will project beyond the face of the top part of the spinner - and then adopt the procedure that I suggested for using an offset plane to slice the body into two parts, but instead of using the plane to select the cut line a second time, select the top part of the spinner as a body and use that to cut the lip. If you make the residual part a component you can then dispose of it quite easily.

If anyone is interested I will create some screen shots - I am not suggesting its the right way to do it, but it worked for me.

Bob I like the fuel tank - did you use abs for that?

[Trevor Rushton]

Agh! sorry everyone the method explained above does not work quite as expected in that it seems to be the outer face of the body that cuts and not the inner face. It looked okay until I pulled the two parts apart.

[Nev]

Hi Trevor.

I redrew the base using the revolve tool, basically sketching the exact profile I wanted, including the wall thickness and step, then revolve by 360 deg. job done. Then I added the prop cut outs.

For the top part of the cone I am going to let the printer do the work by spirallising a single layer shell, so all I need to draw is a solid cone (I will see if it’s strong enough when it’s done) but that’s why I wanted the thin step.

My only idea to secure both halves is a small nylon screw through the joint, which I may try and refine if it looks like it’s going to work. Hopefully get something printed at the weekend.

It may not be the best design for a spinner but had the idea so wanted to give it a try.

Nev.

[John Stainforth]

I think the decision to buy a 3D printer for aeromodelling probably depends on what you want to do. For a whole plane it may be worthwhile, but for odd parts here and there I can't see that it adds up. For small parts, such as fairings, etc, it makes more sense to upload the necessary files from your 3D drafting package to one of the online 3D printing companies. Then you have access (at a price) to vastly superior 3D parts made on top-end, state-of-the-art machines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is what I have done for the 1/5th scale Supermarine S6b that I am building. The 3D parts (from Shapeways in New York) look great and are very tough, but I hasten to add that the plane has not yet flown and it will be interesting to see how these parts, and their paint finish, stand up to the rigours of model flying and glow fuel.

My main hesitation in buying a 3D printer now is that the technology is advancing so fast that almost anything one buys is bound to be obsolete the moment it has been bought! The technology is improving whilst the price is coming down.

[BobW]

Hi Trevor, sorry for the delay in replying. The Mills 1.3 tank was printed in translucent PLA. I'm not sure how ABS fairs but PLA, even at 100% fill, isn't water tight (or fuel tight). PLA doesn't seem to be affected by diesel fuel (glow fuel does affect it) so I rinsed the inside out with Plastic weld solvent, poured in in, swilled it round and poured it out and left to dry and it's now fuel tight.

[Andy Meade]

Posted by John Stainforth on 24/01/2018 23:29:27:

My main hesitation in buying a 3D printer now is that the technology is advancing so fast that almost anything one buys is bound to be obsolete the moment it has been bought! The technology is improving whilst the price is coming down.

I don't think this is true - my printer is 4 years old now, and still as good as a new £400 printer. The trick is not to buy cheap, I think. Also remember that these are extremely simplistic machines - the only advances I've seen in recent times is in the extruder heads, and these are bolt on items so upgrades take all of 10 minutes. As long as the stepper motors were high enough resolution to start off with, you should be good for a fair few years

[MaL]

Posted by Andy Meade on 25/01/2018 08:45:38:

Also remember that these are extremely simplistic machines - the only advances I've seen in recent times is in the extruder heads, and these are bolt on items so upgrades take all of 10 minutes. As long as the stepper motors were high enough resolution to start off with, you should be good for a fair few years

And in the electronics... the current trend is to employ 32bit processors in better designed main boards to increase the machine capabilities and manage heat dissipation, also better, newer, stepper drives to increase reliability, resolution and reduce the noise from the motors... it is debatable if any of this is really needed for the average end user, but technology moves on (even if you don't need it)

I'm not sure waiting for the next revolution in technology is a wise thing these days, you will spend your life forever waiting. Go for it - it's very fulfilling designing and then printing something that serves a purpose.

I guess most people who play with a 3d printer would agree that you can get through plenty of 'marks' before arriving at the final version so perhaps getting something printed at a professional printers could be quite expensive in the long run.

[Nev]

Hi.

My printer is a the cheap end of the spectrum. At just over £100 it’s less than I have paid for colour printers in the past, which have long since gone to the scrap heap. You shouldn’t necessarily look at these thing as a life long purchase. Having said that I am very impressed as to what it can do and as mentioned, spare and upgraded parts are readily available even for the cheap end printers.

I’m not using it to produce commercial parts (if that were the case I would buy as good as I could afford) It’s just for my own amusement and maybe make a few parts for my models. But mainly I bought it to find out how they work and what they can do. Then of course we need to learn how to use the 3D Design packages, which is where we came in I think. All good fun.

Have a go, it is very rewarding, even if it’s just presenting your 10 year old with a replacement Maccano piece he has just broken (they use plastic parts these days !)

Nev.

[Ian Jones]

Good points Nev. Getting to grips with a cheaper model can be a valuable step towards getting what is wanted at a later date. That's another thing if a current printer satisfies what is wanted then future changes in the technology might not be too important.

[Nev]

Ok this might be a tricky one. I’m trying to recreate this cowl.

After struggling to get my rails connected, I have managed to loft the basic shape and although it doesn’t look much, I’m happy with the profile.

Now the complicated bit, how do I now form the teardrop blisters. I appreciate you can’t give detailed instructions but would be grateful for any pointers. At least it might get me on a YouTube hunt.

Thanks Nev.

[BobW]

Hi Nev. This is as near as I could find for this. There doesn't seem to be a simple method of sketching straight onto a curved surface but if you follow this you tube vid and replace his text for a blister shape sketched as he shows I think you might have a starting point for the blisters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK3YqXD8jGY

[Nev]

Thanks BobW.

I’ll give that a proper look later but if I can get a plane in the right place it should work. I’ll have a practice on some simple shapes.

On a cylinder I would only need to draw it once and then use pattern to place the second, can I do that with my shape.

Thanks Nev.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]