Book Image

Improving CAD Designs with Autodesk Fusion 360

By : Kevin Michael Land
Book Image

Improving CAD Designs with Autodesk Fusion 360

By: Kevin Michael Land

Overview of this book

Autodesk Fusion 360 has become an indispensable tool for designers, tinkerers, and engineers worldwide thanks to its versatility that allows for large-scale assemblies and smaller, quick 3D prints. If you’ve faced challenges with learning Fusion 360, this book will help you overcome them and build the confidence to design your own projects, explaining step-by-step instructions and the purpose of each tool. In this book, you’ll dive into the design workspace and learn sketching fundamentals such as setting up a component, recognizing when a sketch is fully constrained, and parametrically flexing models. Through trial and error, you’ll work on multiple easy-to-build projects to create simple, useful items that can be quickly 3D printed for use around the house and then advance to much bigger projects that require joint connectivity and large assemblies. By the end of this book, you’ll be able to sketch fully parametric designs, translate them into 3D models, and create your own unique designs.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
1
Part 1: Simple, Fun Projects for Around the Home
7
Part 2: Bicycle Water Bottle Holder Project
13
Part 3: FORM Modeling Techniques
17
Part 4: Working with 2D and 3D Scanned Images

Taking measurements with calipers

Now that we have a general idea of what we want to accomplish, it’s time to take some measurements. If you already have calipers, then you are one step ahead of those of us who had to use a tape measure to get decent dimensions. For those who don’t have calipers, you can get some cheap ones at any art store or online.

What are calipers?

Calipers are tools that measure the size of an object, typically of mechanical parts, with higher accuracy than tape measurement tools. There are two different versions of calipers – a digital one and a manual version (see Figure 6.8). I would suggest getting a digital one but if you’re on a budget, a simple, manual two-dollar one will work just fine. I would also recommend getting a metric version since having a round number, rather than a number and a fraction, can make your life easier when taking measurements.

Figure 6.8 – A manual caliper

Figure 6.8 – A manual caliper

Calipers...