Category: Fusion 360

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3Dconnexion Spacemouse has better Fusion 360 integration

I had a mailer this morning from 3Dconnexion to say that their Spacemouse has now got better integration with Fusion 360.

One of my long standing frustrations when using Fusion 360 is that there did not seem to be a short cut or macro to provide the equivalent of using your right hand mouse to click on ‘Home view’.   This is desirable when you have flipped and spun your model and just want a single action to reset the view to your starting position.

It appears that the 3Dconnexion Spacemouse now provides this and it can be associated with one of the two buttons on the device.   You have to go to Settings/Buttons/Views and then select ‘ISO1 View’

Note that you have to set up the use of the two Spacemouse buttons for each Fusion module i.e. once in the Modelling module and once in Manufacturing module.

Attached below is a write up of the process.

SpaceMouse-Home-view-with-Fusion-360

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Try again after update completes Fusion 360 Error Message

I have had issues when opening Fusion 360 files downloaded from third party fellow users.   I never really got to the bottom of this.   Sometimes they would send me an assembly file and I could open the separate items in the structure but not the overall structure itself.

Things then got worse after a visit to France when I created some straight single item models on the machine out there.  On return to the UK I could not open these files getting a message “Try again when update completes”.   What updates ??  Both the Fusion install in UK and France were running the same version of Fusion so what was the problem ?

I happened upon a thread in the Fusion forum that suggested uninstalling Fusion and re-loading from scratch.   This solved the problem.   The files all now open on all machines.

Be warned – trying to find a simple click to download button on the Fusion site without going through lots of marketing click boxes is not simple.   I was expecting to just log into the Fusion site with my account details and find a hassle free download.   It doesn’t seem that simple.   I got there in the end though and all is running well.

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Fusion 360 Electrical Personal Library tip

Custom Library in Fusion 360 Electrical module

PCB layout created in Fusion 360 Electrical module
PCB layout created in Fusion 360 Electrical module

My knowledge in the use of the Fusion 360 Electrical module improves by the day as I use it more.  Not having used a PCB design package before I don’t have anything to compare it to so I can’t be objective in any comments.

One thing that does frustrate me is the Library of parts.   Everything is wonderful if the part I want use is available already created but if it isn’t readily to hand then a work around is needed.   First call is to use a similar package part and edit the Value.  Second option is to use Mouser’s Library Loader which seems to work well …. providing they have the part available.  Last resort is to try to create a new part.   I have done this a few times but not enough to make it an automatic process and hence frustration still reigns.

The other issue with using Libraries is that I am slowly building up a physical stock of my preferred parts.   It becomes frustrating when beginning a new design using my preferred parts, trying to remember which available standard library I had selected them from.  I recently stumbled upon the EXPLIB command line macro.   This allows you to create a unique new library of just the parts used in a particular design.  So now I can easily find the part I used in Design X to be able to use it in my new Design Y. 

Progress indeed.

Onwards and upwards.

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Jerky Mouse Effects with 3D Connexion SpaceMouse and CadMouse used together

Quite some time ago I posted about the fact that I had bought a package deal of the wireless 3D Connexion SpaceMouse and CadMouse devices.   Since then I have come to cherish the SpaceMouse and would be lost without it.   It makes modelling in Fusion 360 an amazing experience.

3DConnexions Space Mouse

Since using this combination I had been experiencing an irritation with the CadMouse lagging and twitchy/jerky in its action.   This is not always present every time I use the combination of these two devices but you could guarantee it would raise its head when I was in a rush to finish a design.   There has never been a similar issue with the SpaceMouse.   I had searched the forums and tried adjusting various graphic parameters but to no consistent result.

The two devices when bought as a package share the same USB wireless dongle.   Clearly the pair would be timesharing this data link so I thought this might be a data bandwidth issue.  I transferred the dongle to a high speed USB port (the ones with the blue insert).   I can’t say this helped or at least there did not seem to be a correlated improvement with this move.

Of late I have switched the CadMouse off completely and reverted to my Logitech M705 wireless mouse with its associated USB dongle.   Fingers crossed this seems to have solved the problem.  The Logitech behaves well and is responsive to my mouse movements and there is no impact on the SpaceMouse when working on its own into its USB dongle.

Time will tell.

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Kant Clamp and Engineering Drawings in Fusion 360

Bondie Hacks is a YouTube site that I have on my YouTube listing and a recent video featured Quinn building a Kant clamp from a kit.   Needing some lockdown distraction I decided that I would attempt to build a clamp from scratch.   Searching on Google revealed a plethora of drawings and from these I distilled a plan of action.

I created a Fusion 360 assembly for my hybrid version. The clamp was made with 3mm steel side plates and the other fittings from various diameters of silver steel.   From the Fusion drawings I created two CAM programs to profile the side plates and the other fittings were all straightforward lathe work with the exception of the gripping blocks.  I made these in aluminium which I ran freehand on my manual mill.   If the clamp is to be used for welding then it is traditional to make the clamps and the screw from copper.

I opted to fasten the side plates with screws and washers but the pillars could have been peened in place.   This would have made replacement of the gripping jaws difficult however so screws seemed like a better option. 

The result turned out very well and I was pleased that I had made the effort.

Stylised Fusion 360 model of my Kant clamp
Stylised Fusion 360 model of my Kant clamp

I have produced engineering drawings on Fusion previously but all were a bit ad hoc.   Fusion is capable of automating the process of creating drawings for each component but I had never got to grips with it.   Having created the clamp I decided it was a good excuse to dig deeper into the drawing process.

There are various YouTube videos on creating Fusion engineering drawings but the one that helped the most was by Bryce at Autodesk.   The key to the automation process is creating Templates.   This is really worth watching if you are debating moving up a level with the quality of your engineering drawings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av7rFL-opVo&ab_channel=AutodeskFusion360

The video goes into detail on how to create a customised set of drawing sheet blanks with customised title blocks.   Having watched this a couple of times the mists began to clear. 

The result of my labours is the complete drawing set for my Kant clamp in the following pdf file.   Feel free to download and build your own.

Kant Clamp Structure Drawing v9

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