I’m John, the 10-Minute Tutor! I have a passion for all things STEM, and while I’m not a teacher in daily life, it’s something I love to do!
Here you’ll find lessons, tutorials and more, all relating to science, technology, engineering and mathematics condensed into short videos that are all 10 minutes or less!
My background is in Electrical Engineering, with a minor emphasis in mathematics during college. I also spent several years as a math and science tutor.
when I go to create a drawing of a sheet metal part, there is no "representation" option to choose "Flat Pattern." Any thoughts on how to get that to show up? Or another way to show bend lines?
WARNING ! ! ! Just like to point it out if you haven't noticed. it does not save that projection you made as a DXF. Fusion actually saves the "sketch face". You can just make a sketch on that face, without a projection or lines/geometry and get a DXF. It makes the "sketch face" or blue shade area into a DXF. you will be upset if you have counter bores or counter sinks and try to save a projection thinking that is what you'll get. I know.
You say it results in problems, but don't show or state what those problems are. What if your item is a simple flat piece with a few holes (no bends) do you still need to go through all this? What happens if you draw something up and don't create an item as a "sheet metal part" how does this impact the export. So many unanswered questions.
Definitely understand where you’re coming from. The purpose of the video was to be quick and provide a reliable method that works regardless of other factors (like the title says). Going through all of the possibilities would be a good idea for another video (or two) but would have made this one too long
Aside from this being the exact Fusion 360 video I needed, what camera and mic do you use for your setup? The sound and video are crystal clear! Excellent quality!
Glad you found it helpful! While my setup has definitely progressed (however, not many videos over the last couple years) I think this was shot with a Sony A6000 and a Meike 35mm F1.7 lens (cheap on amazon). Audio was probably recorded with a Tonor TC-777, also cheap on Amazon. Remember, it doesn’t take crazy equipment to start recording! I still use the A6000 but have a Sigma 16mm F1.4 lens, and use a Rode Podmic with a Scarlett Solo. Honestly, I still prefer the 35mm quality, but it has to be realllllllly far away for shots like this video, and there’s no autofocus.
What difference would it make if, after pressing create flat pattern, you press the export DXF button next to finish flat pattern? That's what I usually do and so far there hasn't been any scale failure, but maybe there is a risk of that?
So once you do this, you would send to the manufacturer the PDF plus the DXF file with just the outline of the part, or just the PDF is enoguh ? Thanks for the video :)
This is definitely the best way. I happen to be running into scaling problems. It's converting the file into metric even though my document settings are in inches. Might be good to ad this fix to this video. For the sake of clarity... my comments are not criticisms, just my experience. It's hard not to love Fusion for cost vs power but sometimes I hate it. Going to reach out to Fusion team. Thanks!
but, that's not an isometric view. By definition, that terrible angle is the only angle allowed. Is is it possible to make isometric views from any side?
To get even better result turn enviroment lighting all the way down until you get all bodies to turn black. Then if you start rendering only the light from the "artificial" light you created will be rendered. This way I get much better shadows and details.
Good tip. That's basically what product photographers will do when setting up a scene. Set the camera so with just environment light the picture is black, and then start adding in lights.
Glad you like it!! One thing I also found in Fusion 360 is to get more better shadows artificial light must be as far away as possible. I put it like 100m away from the room. Than you will get very dark image that you correct with exposure under scene setting. What this effect creates is straight light beam coming at your object like you get from real sun and you get very realistic shadows. Try it out!
I can't get my light sources to do anything. When I turn down environmental lighting I get nothing. I created a box and added the Bulb appearance to the surface and aimed that surface at my model. Increased emissivity. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.
I've been trying to find a well explained video about sheet metal drawings for awhile! I'm glad I found yours! Thanks for the video! Keep up the good work!
Just a couple of tips for you from someone who regularly does Sheet Metal parts design. (1) All breakpresses (benders/folders) bend upwards so ALWAYS show the view that shows the bends as upwards otherwise it's easy for the guy doing the bending to screw up. Not so much of an issue with a simple symmetric part like yours but really important on parts that look symmetric but are NOT, therefore a great habit to get into. (2) I generally get the laser guys to etch (with the laser) the bend lines as a secondary proof to the PDF's to show them they are bending in the right place. (3) For parts where there are different bend directions, say 2 in one direction and 1 in the other, I show always them with the greater number up (2 up and 1 down in this case). Right at this moment I'm doing a 6 x bend radius that approximates an R50mm bend so the back-stop of the breakpress becomes useless to measure each bend distance. With the laser etched lines they just do it by eye. I normally go one step further and etch the bend directions and bend angles (if not 90deg) as well. I show the bend lines but have "Show Bend Extents" permanently turned off as they are just a distraction and a potential for errors for the bending person. The more fool proof you make the job the less mistakes are likely to be made. Hope this helps. Good video by the way. As an ex-SolidWorks (including sheet metal) guy I came here for A360 sheet metal drawing help so thanks.
I appreciate the feedback, that’s all really great advice! I’ve had etchings done for bend lines before, but I’ve also had places accidentally not get power settings right and burn through instead. There are time trade offs to consider based on the project as well, but I really didn’t want to dive too far in for a basic video like this. Maybe I’ll make one implementing that advice, as it’s all really good! Thanks for watching, glad you found it helpful!
