Category: Fusion 360

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Custom Threads in Fusion

Finally managed to sort this out

The Christmas period tends to be a lazy period to sit and wander round the web in front of the log burner instead of getting grubby in the workshop. This is greatly assisted with a glass of something and a large slice of Christmas cake accompanied by a similarly large slice of Wensleydale cheese. (It’s a Yorkshire thing. Try the combination. You might get hooked).

In the course of one of these surfing indulgencies I came across a custom thread creator for Fusion. I am indebted to Matt Beech for this creation. See his GitHub page here.

https://matthewmcneill.github.io/FusionThreadsGenerator/

He has already created XML files for BSW, BSF, ME, BSB profiles. You simply copy the XMLs into the Fusion folder on your machine. This will be found on your machine in the following path : –

C:\Users\*your user name*\Autodesk\webdeploy\Production\<version ID>\Fusion\Server\Fusion\Configuration\ThreadData

Matt’s GitHub page also mentioned ThreadKeeper which is a handy Fusion plugin that protects your custom XML files as they sometimes get deleted when Fusion updates. This little app can be installed from the Fusion App Store and will appear on the Utilities tab in Fusion.

https://apps.autodesk.com/FUSION/en/Detail/Index?id=1725038115223093226&appLang=en&os=Win64

You need to preserve your custom XML files in the ThreadKeeper folder.

Hope that helps someone. Now back to the woodburner, cake and cheese.

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Upgrading to Windows 11

Fusion will not be supporting Windows 10 installations

After a great deal of thought I bit the bullet and have migrated to Windows 11. This has come about simply because Autodesk will not be supporting any issues with Fusion while running in Win10 and the spec of the machine being used is more critical.

I hate doing an ‘upgrade’ onto an existing machine where you are never clear what baggage is already there and what its impact might be. My existing machine was not hardware compatible and so instead I went for a clean new machine. After some searching I opted for the Geekom GT2 mini PC which has a decent spec and lots of USB ports.

https://www.geekom.co.uk/geekom-gt2-mega-mini-pc

Note the GT2 has embedded Intel graphics rather than a conventional video card that you would fit to a standard PC. How much this impacts I will have to see although Fusion seems to load and work faster and is more responsive using my 3DConnexion Spacemouse.

The pain of a completely new machine is transferring all your old loved apps and trying to remember where the ISOs are and the associated licence codes. I am not the most disciplined in this respect. There is however a panacea to this in the form of LapLinks PCMover Pro. You simply connect the new and old machine together on the same network and leave them in peace for an hour or so and hey presto all your stuff gets transferred. It is not 100% perfect but it does save a lot of frustration and heartache.

Another issue with Win11 is the pressure to use Office 365 which does not appeal. I prefer the old school Windows Office and you can get the 2021 version quite cheaply on EBay.

The final concern with Win11 is all the baggage you get with it that you don’t want/need. There is a nice little app that solves this called quite appropriately CrapFixer. This is well worth checking out.

So most of the upgrade has gone to plan and has been less stressful than expected. There are still one or two apps that are not loading but I’m working on them.

Time will tell ….

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Fusion Electronics Library Notes and Crib Sheet

An attempt to clear the confusion in my head

After spending many hours going round in circles trying to create new custom library parts in Fusion Electronics (FE) I gave in and posted a plea for help on the FE forum. I received some helpful replies but not sufficiently uplifting to put me at ease with the process.

As ever my nerdy side stepped up and armed with this new knowledge I set about learning the process step by step in a way that I could understand it and more importantly repeat it successfully.

The result of this is a 30 page document that can be downloaded from the link below. This contains the library process, a help crib sheet for using FE and the copies of the original support replies I received from the FE forum.

It may not be perfect and it is a work in progress so feel free to give me feedback on errors and content changes. Remember it is based on Fusion Electronics as of May 2025 with build version 2602.0.71. As I learn more I will update the contents and re-post.

I hope it helps someone, somewhere, sleep better. The length of the waffle will almost certainly guarantee the latter.

Fusion Electronics Library Guide and Crib Sheet v4Download

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I had a ChatGPT experience

In deep shock and still coming to terms with it.

I am currently working on a timing synchroniser for the local church clock. Being of that generation I had come up with a CMOS based phase detector with monostable timers etc. This logic looks at the relative timing of the clock strike activation and a DCF timecode reference clock. I prototyped the circuitry, proved it and made a PCB for it in Fusion. It works very well and the resulting output slows or speeds up the clock by adding or removing lead shot to the weight tray on the clock pendulum.

I got my ear bent for being so old school and not using an Arduino or similar but I was reluctant to stray from known and proven simple logic with RC time constants. In the end I caved in and out of curiosity thought it might be a good project to get my feet wet with ChatGPT.

It took a little while to find my way round the ChatGPT site and to get to the software support section. Once there I entered in simple language what I was trying to achieve. ‘It’ replied with its understanding of my needs and I agreed this was correct. I then asked for some code for an Arduino UNO.

Out popped 44 lines of Arduino code …. which worked. Oh my goodness, what a revelation. Think I need to have a cup of tea and biscuit to recover. Like Fusion and 3D printing, this is going to completely change my workflow and project practices.

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Fusion Sheet Metal model export as PDF

Not quite so obvious export route

The Sheet Metal module in Fusion allows you to create a 3D model of a folded sheet metal part and then ‘flatten’ the model to provide a net shape with fold lines. It is quite easy to use and impressive in the results you can achieve. The model can be adjusted for different metal types and their properties. The resulting flat net can then be exported as a DXF to send off to a laser or water cutting sub contractor.

The Fusion Sheet Metal module only allows the flat net data to be exported as a DXF file. This is not surprising as this is the most common data file request from sub contractors. That having been said I recently had a request for a PDF file which at first glance is not an export option in the Sheet Metal module. One solution was to use a web based DXF to PDF converter but this could be potentially unreliable in the conversion result.

A less obvious solution is once you have created the unfolded (flat) net, open the Drawing module in Fusion and use the From Design option.

This will load the unfolded net into a Fusion Drawing with the ability to be exported in PDF format. This is quite a useful export route to take as you can dimension and annotate the drawing in more detail than would be possible in the standard DXF format export from the Sheet Metal module.

The use of this Drawing module export route is going to be fairly rare but it is a useful option to know about and have up your sleeve.

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