Construction Command Failure

[fsonnichsen]

I am a beginner going thru some tutorials. I am trying to use the sketch:construction feature but I cannot seem to get it to work. My understanding is that you can place a construction line on the sketch and it will form an "anchor point". When I use the Sketch Palette to create the construction nothing seems to happen. I cannot find documentation for it either. I am attaching the file and a screencast.

Thanks

Fritz

2.0.9305 Windows 10 (18363)

[jeff_strater]

no, that understanding is incorrect.  There is no such thing as an "anchor point" in Fusion sketch.  All the Construction command does is to modify a curve to have a "construction" attribute and to be drawn using a dash pattern.  That attribute then blocks that curve from being used in Profiles or Paths by commands like Extrude or Sweep.  The command in the palette allows you to toggle the state of a curve, it does not create any geometry.

[jeff_strater]

here is a screencast showing how the construction command works:

[fsonnichsen]

OK--I guess the key is you call it a curve. I note that if I select a "line" item fist, then the "construct" seems to work. So I guess that is the way to do it.

  Is there any documentation for this product? I bought a couple of books but I would like to see some vendor doc for it.  Thus when I search in the help screen for various items nothing pertinent appears. And I cannot find a command reference manual etc. It would help if I had these so I don't overuse the forum.

Thanks!

Fritz

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@jeff_strater There is no such thing as an "anchor point" in Fusion sketch. 

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What is the Origin?

[g-andresen]

Hi,

Describing in words unfortunately has the disadvantage that it can lead to misunderstandings.
I therefore propose to create a screencast to complement this process. This would make it easier to assess the situation.

günther

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@fsonnichsen wrote:

I am a beginner going thru some tutorials.

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What is the link to the Tutorial in question?

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@fsonnichsen wrote:

OK--I guess the key is you call it a curve. I note that if I select a "line" item

so I don't overuse the forum.

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In mathematics a line is a curve.

It is not possible to overuse the forum.

[fsonnichsen]

Thanks all. A few answering comments. The book I am using is:

   "Autodesk Fusion 360 Basics Tutorial: May 2020"

It has a lot of good basic stuff there but it does not deliberate much on the commands used and it omits some required steps.  I will continue with it but I have ordered another as well.

  Technically a line is the geodesic defined by a metric between 2 points, but the button here uses the curved pattern that pops up as a "line" (with "lines and arcs" in the context help). I think for the problem at hand the author of the book could have just added "don't forget to click line".

  Regarding Gunther's comments I agree-CAD is one of the more difficult things to describe-it is like working on an engine-words don't completely work--nor does a youtube. At least for me I need both. I have checked youtube on several Fusion items. 

   I have a couple difficulties with videos however--The talk is too fast. 46 years of science and  engineering has also led to some hearing issues here. And the main thing is that unlike a book there is no index so I can keep flipping back to them.

     That said I was interested in whether Fusion ever wrote up a command reference--pretty standard for even freeware these days. I also cant seem to find a useful beginners tutorial by the vendor.  I tried "Getting started for absolute beginners" and it was more or less a "here is what we can do" expose but not useful. I see a couple others I will try but I still think a command reference is imperative for something complex like this. At any rate I will get thru it. After 3 Cads, 4 electronics EDAs and 3 raytrace programs I always get thru somehow thanks to forums like this.

Thank you all for your help

Fritz