topic Re: Creating joints between reference planes in Fusion Design, Validate & Document Forum

Creating joints between reference planes

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 17:12:49 GMT

Hi Guys

New to Fusion 360 here so would appreciate your help in this. I come from a Solidworks background and I understand Fusion has a different way of dealing with joints (mates in SW) and assemblies. I can easily create mates between reference planes of different parts in SW and was wondering if there is a way to do that in Fusion. I tried creating joint origins but that did not work out well. I am really interested into seeing how that could be done ( a screencast of the workflow would be much appreciated).

Thanks

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 21:56:15 GMT

Hi,

do you mean reference faces or planes? Between two faces is easy; just right click and select between faces. Not sure if this works with planes ( ara a construction help in Fusion ), would have to check...

Regards, Peter

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 23:10:36 GMT

Hello

Thank you for the reply. I am referring to reference planes. For example, in Solidworks assembly, we can mate the reference planes ( originating from the different parts' individual co-ordinate systems). But nothing as such seems to exist in Fusion 360.

-Thanks

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

TrippyLighting — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 00:46:48 GMT

No, reference planes cannot be selected for joining,

It would make much more sense for you to share your design so we can suggest a better strategy. If you keep using Fusion 360 like SW then you'll have a very unpleasant experience.

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

lichtzeichenanlage — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 06:39:12 GMT

Open question, open answer:

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

jasonhomrighaus — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 16:20:29 GMT

When you say mate the planes do you mean you are trying to create a flexible or some other sort of joint, or are you trying to align the planes so that both parts are in the same reference plane

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 07:44:39 GMT

Hello everyone

Thank you for your inputs. I was actually trying to work on a simple bearing assembly in Fusion to figure out how it deals with assemblies. Below is a picture of what it all looks like. The inner ring is grounded.

So the first thing I was trying to do is to mate the ball with the curved surface of the inner ring. In Solidworks what I would generally do is apply a 'coincident' mate between two reference planes (originating from the respective coordinate systems of the inner ring and ball) and then apply a 'tangential' mate between the curved surface of the ball wit that of the inner ring. Here in Fusion, I tried creating joint origins on the surfaces but obviously I am doing something wrong. Since, as has been mentioned here by others, Fusion's workflow is quite different, I was wondering what would be the smartest way of achieving what I described in 360. I am also attaching the f3d file here for reference.

Regards

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

jeff_strater — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 19:23:38 GMT

Here is how I would approach this:

Note, this was a pretty quick-and-dirty attempt, and if I took the time to get some measurements and parameters, could probably have done a more exact job. But, this gives you an idea how to use Joints and Joint Origins to assemble stuff. It is a different approach, I'll grant you, but I've found that once I get used to it, there is little I cannot do with a joint.

Jeff

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 20:10:26 GMT

Thanks a lot Jeff. Appreciate the help.

Now, not to sound like a skeptic, ( or a Solidworks fanboy :D, Fusion is great! ) , But, having to measure exact distances just to ensure perfect matches, isnt that increasing the number of steps? As opposed to the implementation of a coincident and tangential mate in SW where no distances need to be measured and the match is automatically ensured?

Regards

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

jasonhomrighaus — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 20:49:12 GMT

Here you go, just use the joints and point to point. Even threw in a Motion link so it looks correct while rotating

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

speedfreakgarage — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 00:27:36 GMT

@TrippyLighting What a terrible tone-deaf answer. There is a reason SW is considered superior to Fusion. Something so simple as constraints to construction planes should be a Day 1 basic feature. Working with complex parts and assemblies in Fusion is such a pain because of "joints" instead of constraints, but i can't afford Solidworks, so i'm trapped with Fusion. You guys need to get your act together and give us better constraint features.

Background: I use SW at work every day, and then Fusion at home once a week or so.

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

jasonhomrighaus — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 00:33:41 GMT

From everything I understand, the joints in fusion are much more intuitive than reference planes.

reference planes may be awesome when you model every part in its exact orientation. But for pure design I routinely build assemblies and then cast off mastered parts from these design models. As such coordinate systems can get complex. Additionally there are many times where I use the same assembly in a wide variety of orientations and locations.

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

TrippyLighting — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 00:41:18 GMT

@speedfreakgarage wrote:

@TrippyLighting What a terrible tone-deaf answer. There is a reason SW is considered superior to Fusion. Someuuthing so simple as constraints to construction planes should be a Day 1 basic feature. Working with complex parts and assemblies in Fusion is such a pain because of "joints" instead of constraints, but i can't afford Solidworks, so i'm trapped with Fusion. You guys need to get your act together and give us better constraint features.

Background: I use SW at work every day, and then Fusion at home once a week or so.

My answer is based on over 30 years of professional CAD use in machine design. I started using SolidWorks in 1998. In my industry SW has a market penetration of 98%. While I do 95% of my concept work in Fusion these days, I still work with SW occasionally and I am very familiar with SolidWorks.

Also, as an Autodesk Expert Elite, I am not an Autodesk employee. I just help out here on the forum 😉

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

speedfreakgarage — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 01:04:51 GMT

The fact that something so simple as mating a part to two reference planes, being impossible, is a joke. I had to create two new bodies from those construction planes. Then use body2 to cut body1 to get the intermediate angle. Then i had to "planar joint" my part to body1, then measure and readjust the angle to match plane2 properly, and then Pin it so it doesn't slide around. What a joke. Thirty+ minutes of Googling and useless forum answers, for what is a simple click-click-click in Solidworks. If i wasn't already way behind schedule, i'd simplify and share the file as an example of why Constraints are important features, but i've already lost way too much time on this nonsense.

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

jasonhomrighaus — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 02:55:54 GMT

Meanwhile the rest of us who took the time to learn the software can create the same connection in 3 clicks.

Sounds like a you problem.

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

speedfreakgarage — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 03:06:59 GMT

Incorrect. I have been using Fusion pretty much since it first released way back in the day. What i'm doing is not possible with these "joints" without a lot of trouble.

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

g-andresen — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 09:22:00 GMT

Hi,

Unfortunately, it is not possible to give advice on specific solutions without inspecting the files.
Purely verbal explanations are not suitable.

günther

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

TrippyLighting — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 13:59:17 GMT

@speedfreakgarage wrote:

Incorrect. I have been using Fusion pretty much since it first released way back in the day.

You could still learn something by coming to the forum and asking for feedback.

@speedfreakgarage wrote:

What i'm doing is not possible with these "joints" without a lot of trouble.

That might well be the case! There are cases where I wish I had a simple geometric mate available.

However, 90%+ of the day-to-day joint/assembly situations I came across are easier to solve with the Joints in Fusion.

It is also possible that a simpler workaround exists for what you designed. Having a second set of eyes look at a specific problem often helps.

A much better alternative to a rant in an existing thread is to start a new one, explain the problem in detail, share a model and perhaps even a screencast and ... hope for the best 😉

Re: Creating joints between reference planes

jasonhomrighaus — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 14:58:54 GMT

Trippy,

Since our friend seems inclined to complain rather than share, I am curious to understand what he is referring to in this situation.

what is a possible scenario where being able to constrain to a reference plane is advantageous over the use of a joint.

I have only worked with fusion in my career and have more than 8 years with the package and I can’t recall having encountered a situation where I was unable to use a joint or a rigid group etc to constrain components.

jason