Strategy for some simple cuts

[codefoster]

I'm struggling with the basics here. I would like to cut some grooves out of the following body to look like the Sketchup drawing. You might recognize this as a GoPro mount. I wonder if you could tell me what strategy you would take with it. I tried to...

1. create a construction plane
2. project the body to the plane
3. draw the correct sized rectangles
4. push/pull the rectangles through the body

But I struggled on a couple of fronts. I couldn't get the bottom part of the body (the curved part) to project. I then tried drawing my rectangles without the construction plane and I had a hard time getting them to line up with the bottom edge of the body. I know it's a super simple operation and I thought I was on top of it, but it's bettering me so far. I wonder if some of you tell me in detail what your strategy would be if that would help. Thanks.

[innovatenate · Accepted solution]

The rounded edge at the bottom will not project a line. However, the side faces should project a line segment with an endpoints at the right spots. You can use these endpoints to create a line to represent the "edge" of the rounded face.

.

Is there any reason that you have to align the sketch profile with that rounded face? You may consider skipping that step. Since you're cutting through the solid, why not just let the sketch rectangles be longer than the rounded face? 

Thanks,

[brucehuang]

Hi, 

There's a special command named "Project Sihlouette" which can help you project the bottom part of the body. You just need to select a proper sketch plane, then trigger the command and select the body you want to generate the silhouette. I shared a similar model what I made, see http://a360.co/1xPep52. 

Hope this helps. 

Bruce Huang (Fusion Development)

[codefoster]

Great. Thanks. I'll give that a try.

Yeah, I thought about extending the tooling rectangles a little beyond, but then was having a hard time measuring the exact cut depth (11/16"). So I was lining the rectangles up directly with the edge just so I knew the cut depth was right. But something you said made me think that it would be better to create a dimension not on the tooling rectangle, but rather from the top of the tooling rectangle to the bottom of the body. That sounds like it will work, and I'll give it a try.

I love the concept of the dimensioning, but there's something about it (so far at least) that is much harder than using the tape measure tool in Sketchup. I realize the advantage of having a real and dynamic description of the dimensions as constraints that continue to affect the sketch as you work with it. Perhaps after a while I'll get used to it and then say "the learning curve was steep but it was worth it". For now, I'm just a little frustrated at the learning curve. It seems like a much better workflow, yet I really like how productive I was in Sketchup only a few minutes (or maybe hours) into use.

I want to make sure I chat a lot in the forums right now, because I still have that valuable beginner's perspective. I can see clearly what's hard. Once I learn it, it won't seem hard anymore.

Thanks for your help.

[codefoster]

The link you provided isn't working for me.

[brucehuang]

The link is generated by the "Share Public Link" command in the context menu of Data Panel. I'm not sure why this is not working for you. Do you logged in the Fusion 360? If not, try again after you've logged in. But anyway, I attached the exported f3d file.

[JonSchaeffer]

Looks like a GoPro mount

[dunderhead]

The link doesn't work because there's an invisble space character at the end of the URL. Go to the URL bar and delete it.

[codefoster]

Thanks.