fusion 360 – Woody's Workshop

February 4, 2026February 4, 2026

Fusion 2026 Update Furor

The natives are restless

Autodesk has released an updated version of Fusion in January 2026 that has caused quite a few ripples.

The gist is that the new version now offers both a traditional top down methodology as well as a new bottom up based process. This is not radically new as both methods were always available but this now hits you in the face via an opening dialogue box that offers various options on how you might want to proceed. The dialogue box is not optional and cannot be blocked. This has caused some heavy criticism on the Autodesk forum.

Top down is where you give a file a top level name and all the constituent parts are built under this title as components. One file holding lots of parts.

Bottom up starts with lots of individual parts in separate files all brought together in one assembly file. Lots of files with one holding file. This way of working suits large organisations where multiple operators are all simultaneously working on a large project.

Top down was always Fusion’s ace in the hole as it bucked the trend of other packages that stuck to the more standard bottom up way of working. Top down is still an option but will be known hence forth as Hybrid working.

For hobby licencees the Hybrid way of working more efficiently supports the 10 active files limit.

Here are some good YouTube videos giving an overview of this change.

Autodesk has inferred that this is a starting point in a planned new way of working. Time will tell. It might be a bumpy ride.

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January 24, 2026January 24, 2026

Hybrid 3D brass threaded insert tool

Why didn’t I think of this before ?

I have attempted various standalone soldering iron mounts for inserting brass threaded inserts into 3D prints. None of these ended up being something that I would rush to use with all their various shortcomings.

My brief for a design was that it had to clamp hold my Lytool solder iron (this takes the Hako 900 series bits), ensures the the action on the insert was perpendicular to the workpiece, had a return spring and a depth stop. Most of the designs I had seen were standalone devices.

My outline brief matches a standard drill press action – perpendicular action, return spring and depth stop. Why not use these attributes ?

The result end up being quite simple. A soldering iron mounted on an arm that has an arbor for mounting in the drill press chuck. Here is a garishly coloured Fusion graphic image.

The arbor is a length of M8 studding held firmly in the mounting arm with a top and bottom nut. The soldering iron clamp holds an adapter sleeve to match the soldering iron profile. The clamp is tightened with a 3D printed knob which has a retained M4 nut and thread and this mates with a retained nut in the 3D printed arm.

Here is the real thing.

It clearly doesn’t have much appeal if your 3D printing is in the back bedroom and your drill press is out in the cold damp garage….

If you want the STEP files let me know.

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January 9, 2026January 9, 2026

Tap shank adapter for 4mm AF hex drivers

Useful 3D printed adapters for hand tapping 3D threads

I usually 3D print all threaded holes as a modelled thread rather than tapping drill size hole which would need full post print tapping. As the intended thread size of modelled threads reduces so the print quality of the thread can be a problem. This usually leads to a quick post print run through the thread with a manual tap.

Thread quality and strength can be improved by increasing the number of perimeter prints via the slicer software. This makes the printer add extra print lines around all external surfaces before it does the infill. This is even more important if you are going to use brass inserts for your threaded mountings as it gives the insert more plastic to melt into.

The problem with post print clean up tapping is getting the tap to start perpendicular to the already printed tapped hole. If the hole is small (say M2) the size and mass of the tap holder adds to the wobble difficulty of getting it ‘plumb’.

In the past I would mount the tap in a small toolmakers chuck as this gave an extended length to the tap for the eye to judge the ‘plumbness’. I didn’t have enough chucks with the right size collet to cover all tap shanks.

Some time ago Clough42 recommended a small electric screwdriver that had 4mm AF inserts. I found this one on Amazon. There are also many other electrical and manual screwdrivers that use the 4mm AF insert standard.

It struck me that if I could make a set of adapters to mount in the screwdriver chuck to hold the tap shank this would ease the post print tapping problem. The length of this particular screwdriver body gave a better ‘to the eye’ perpendicular check. The added ability to electrically drive the tap meant that the perpendicular setting was more easily maintained. The speed and torque of the driver would also act as a break clutch.

I debated a lathe activity but then thought why not a 3D print? I created a model in Fusion with Parametric functions for the tap AF dimension and square driving section length.

Not all taps are created equal so these two parameters can be easily adjusted using the parametric function to match your tap sizes. Print time was around 9 minutes on my Qidi X Smart. I printed the adapters in PLA+ vertically off the bed as shown and in 0.2mm layer height. I set the slicer for 6 perimeters on the print, a 6mm wide outer brim for build stability and auto support off the build plate.

The adapter boss section will accomodate up to M5 size tap shank dimensions (3.9mm AF, 8mm length). Any size greater than M5 will usually print very clean and not need post print fettling.

Here is the Fusion file for those interested.

tapping adapters Download

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July 9, 2025July 9, 2025

Eccentric Engineering Turnado freehand turning tool

Better to have it and not need it etc

I have had an Ingram (1905) mechanical clock in for service. A simple clean and set to time which went to plan (for a change). The only niggle was one of the four tapered wooden pegs that hold the dial and movement into the wall case was missing. I could have 3D printed a tasteless replacement but my conscience would not let me stoop that low. It needed to be a wooden part with similar geometry.

Quite some time ago I had ordered a pair of Diamond Tool Holders from Eccentric Engineering in Australia and at the time Gary was doing a special deal on his Turnado hand turning tool. As I was going to be paying a significant carriage cost I decided to consolidate and offset this with the Turnado kit.

On receipt of the package I played with the Turnado but had no needing projects at that time. It is well thought out and allows freehand turning either as freeform movements or movement against a template profile or with a pantograph. Here is a link to Gary’s sales video.

In the process of considering making a 3D printed version of the peg I had dimensioned and drawn a 3D model in Fusion.

Taking the 3D model and opening it in Fusion Drawing mode gave me a 1:1, 2D PDF drawing of the peg. I cut out the 2D image and stuck this to a piece of aluminium with 3M Spray Mount and then nibbled and filed the aluminium to the peg drawing profile.

The profile template was mounted on the Turnado working table and the shape profiled into a piece of 18mm dowel using the Turnado tool on its pantagraph following my profile.

Here is a posed picture of the setup showing the Turnado tool and table with my profile plate, for effect a first attempt at the peg is sitting in the chuck between centres with the original peg (LHS) and the finished peg (RHS). Not quite a total match but more than functional.

Absolute magic. A really useful asset. I just need to remember I have it ….

As Jimmy Diresta would say “Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it”

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May 22, 2025June 11, 2025

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 v4 Download

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