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Kerf, explained
The laser removes a sliver of material on every cut. Here is how to measure it on your machine and design joints that account for it.
Posts
Guides and notes, newest first.
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As-built joints on the piston linkage
The parts are already in place, so tell Fusion how they move. Revolute and slider as-built joints, a sub-assembly you can copy, and limits so the motion stays real.
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Adding joints by hand, the clamp example
Fusion's toggle clamp sample, assembled from six parts with revolute, cylindrical, ball and rigid joints, then given motion limits so the handle stops where a real one would.
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CAD practice: a modular desk organizer
Modelling a tray and a phone stand in the style of Ugmonk's Gather system. Sketch, extrude, cut, project, and a lot of fillets.
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Finger-joint boxes with MakerCase and Fusion
Let MakerCase generate the box, then bring the DXF into Fusion, extrude the panels and snap them together with Align. You end up with a box you can modify in 3D and still cut flat.
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Finite state machines
States, transitions, triggers, guards, actions. How to describe an interactive system before you build it, with a turnstile, a video game character and a tap-access door.
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Half-lap intersecting slices
Two flat profiles, a slot in each, and they slide together into a 3D form. The fastest way to get a solid-looking object out of sheet material.
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Modelling from sketches, the rocker arm
Fusion's Model from Sketch sample, step by step. Two-sided extrude to an object, symmetric extrude from the mid-plane, projecting a circle onto a face, mirroring a feature, and a fillet.
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A parametric photo frame
Five user parameters drive a 3D-printable frame. Change the width and height and the frame rebuilds for a 4×6, an 8×10 or a 200 mm square without touching the sketch.
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3D-printed gears for 1" pegboard
Any gear you add to a pegboard has to mesh with the ones already there and land on a 1" hole. Here is the arithmetic, the Spur Gear add-in settings, and a motion link to prove it.
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A parametric piping bag tip
A 3D-printable icing nozzle where the number of teeth, the wall thickness and the diameter are all parameters. Loft, thicken, emboss, circular pattern, pipe.
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Rotational slicing in Fusion
Draw one section, revolve two discs, pattern the section around an axis and cut every slot with one Combine. A vase, a lampshade or a sculpture from a single sheet.
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Slicing and lamination
Split any solid into layers the thickness of your sheet, arrange them on the material and cut. Bigger than a 3D printer can manage, and every layer is one flat outline.
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Sweep, revolve and extrude
Extrude pushes a profile in a straight line. Sweep drags it along a path. Revolve spins it around an axis. An organic bench and Fusion's trumpet sample show all three.
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Traffic light state machine on Arduino
Six LEDs, two buttons, four states, no delay(). A two-direction traffic light where a timer or a button press moves the system on, and the code is one switch statement.