Help with a batten light fitting attachment to 3D print

[walkernb2020]

Hi everyone. I have a simple light batten fitting I'd like to connect to a goose-neck to make a nice lamp (using a 3D print of my Fusion model). I started designing in Fusion, made quite a mess, and then thought I'd stop and ask for help.

I'm very much a starter, I have done some quite basic things but this is beyond me. 

If anyone feels like helping and providing gentle pointers, that would really be appreciated. I'll describe it as well as upload pix.

It's a cone sort of a shape with a 26.5mm hole at one end tapering to a 36mm hole at the other - this will allow me to attach that thin-end to the gooseneck. The wider end has an 88mm plate with a little 3mm lip. It also has 2 x 5mm holes that go through the cone to allow the piece to be bolted to my standard batten fitting. The centres of these 2 holes are 25mm out from the centre of the 36mm hole. The thickness of the main plate I've marked as 3mm, but I'm now thinking 5mm might be stronger.

The other thing - I don't know quite how to describe it - but there's a sort of chamfer or something at the top end of the 2 x 5mm holes. One end of the holes is on a flat plate, so the nut can sit flush. The other end of the 5mm holes is through the side of the cone, so it needs a kind of cut out to allow the bolt to sit tidily and go through the hole. I have allowed 9mm for the width of the bolt head.

I started my Fusion diagram with 2 circles inside each other, extruded a bit, added a hole and then it all started to go pear shaped (rather than cone shaped) - so I thought I'd stop and ask for helps or suggestions on an order to approach things.

Barney

[Warmingup1953]

Revolve might be worth investigating....Nice clear hand sketch btw!

[TheCADWhisperer]

@walkernb2020 

Can you File>Export your *.f3d file to your local drive and then Attach it here to a Reply?

[walkernb2020]

I gave that a go today! It was a mess, but it was an excellent idea thanks. I understand that a revolve would be the start, then I could tackle putting the tapered main through hole and 2 screw holes in. It all turned to custard though. I really have trouble getting things to lock in place and turn black on sketches. I start on one plane, using the origin, and the first line is perpendicular and a fixed length... everything else starts moving around despite my efforts to constrain it.

I have uploaded my f3d model. I tried to get clever with a a circle to make an arc for the revolve and then it all went south haha.

[walkernb2020]

Yours looks a lot better than mine 👍🤣

Yes here's my f3d (it's ok to laugh at it!!). I kind of did the rough shape, then started on a tangent to make a nice arc for the revolve then everything fell apart. As I said to Warmingup1953, despite my best efforts to constrain things and make the sketch lines turn black even by working off the origin, it all went a bit nuts.

Barney

[walkernb2020]

That's amazing!!

I followed the video carefully and learned a few new things about centrelines. I managed to make the whole piece!! So a huge thank you for taking the time to make the video.

I attached pix of my Fusion showing the success.

I might need to make a minor tweak to the interior conical hole - but I'll do a test print first; then if I do I'll see if I can edit it. It might have to have the 26.5mm end come down at that 26.5mm diameter for about 5mm, then flare out to the 36mm at the bottom. Off to fire up the printer!! I'll let you know how I get on.

Again - thanks!

Barney

[walkernb2020]

I made all of my changes today and got most of them ok. There was one bit with the countersunk holes that wouldn't work, so I went back to the video to see how the CadWhisperer did it, but it had disappeared from the post - am I missing it somewhere? I can't seem to find it.

What I have done is made a little video of the countersunk holes that seem to be floating. I tried to constrain it and it just said "over-constrained"?

ANd added my F3D

thanks

Barney

[TheCADWhisperer]

@walkernb2020 

[walkernb2020]

I can see there's a link to my user name there but there doesn't seem to be anything there. I managed to get one of the blue lines to turn black - I deleted all of the constraints around it and carefully added dimensions and a few constraints - sparingly!

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@walkernb2020 wrote:

... but there doesn't seem to be anything there. 

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You should see a video in message 8.

What browser are you using?

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@walkernb2020 wrote:

 I managed to get one of the blue lines to turn black - I deleted all of the constraints around it and carefully added dimensions and a few constraints - sparingly!

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Attach the edited file here.

[walkernb2020]

 I don't get it... I'm using Firefox - I did the other day when I could see the video, and haven't changed browsers or anything - but still not seeing the video!

I can see your images, and mine, but no video. I can see the Floating video I added into the thread.

How bizarre!

I tried it in Microsoft Edge too - still can't see the video.

[walkernb2020]

And I can't see an edited file here. *sigh*

I've tried rebooting, different browsers, clearing cache etc.... 

[walkernb2020]

Oh that's weird - I can see it now. I switched my VPN from Australia and it worked. Maybe there's something odd with Australia??!

I watched the new video - yes, I'm recognising now no padlock = not done... the challenge is finding out what I haven't done. As you showed in your video, it can take a fair bit of detective work (thanks for the video). 

I now have the piece fully made and printed - it's very good. I took the counter bore off because the 3D printer threw in a mass of supports and it ruined all the area inside the counterbore. So, I modified my part in Fusion to be flat, so it would print fine. Then in Fusion I made a ring to glue onto the bottom to act a counterbore - that went well.

The piece I made in Fusion this evening - it worked! - was a little conical shell to go around the batten fitting itself. I wouldn't mind doing a slightly fancier version of it - putting some bits of the outside, sort of spaced in a circular pattern. I'll have a go first and let you know how I get on.

Again, thanks a lot for your very clear and patient videos 👍👍👍Barney

[walkernb2020]

OK! Made the bayonet cone, it's the nice copper bit in the pictures attached. (You can also see my bayonet / batten fitting we made earlier!) I tried to add a ring of eight half-spheres to the outside of the cone... managed to create the eight spheres in a ring but they're floating and need to be pulled in, so the half spheres sit nicely on the surface. At that point I got a bit stuck. If anyone has some suggestions, sing out. I attached my F3D file too.

[TheCADWhisperer · Accepted solution]

@walkernb2020 

[davebYYPCU · Accepted solution]

How did you place the Sphere?

I moved it towards the wall by 7.125, 

Combine them to the wall after the Pattern.

Convention would be to draw a circle with the centre point on the wall in sketch 1, and a Revolve > Join is more predictable.

Might help....

[walkernb2020]

Oh right - I tried adding it to a face but I wasn't sure if it took or not. Given they were orbiting like planets probably not... Your way would be good also - as I understand draw the circle, revolve it to make a sphere (half is automatically inside the main cone), then ask Fusion to replicate that circle-sphere 8 times. I'll try that

[davebYYPCU]

Not really, The Revolved semicircle profile will join to the Wall automatically if you ask it. (Join / New Body)

The Pattern would then be the Feature option (select the Revolve Icon in the timeline)

Sphere and Move commands are not recommended and Combine redundant.

Might help....

[walkernb2020]

This is very good, I can see how you drew the circle on the original sketch, so I played around with that and ended up with 10 dots. I see you had to tell Fusion to revolve the little 1/2 sphere which makes sense, it would need its own mini axis.

Great, thank you!

Here's my 10-dot bayonet cone.

I won't do it for this light project, and not today, what would be interesting is to have a face or surface (imagine one side of a fish) and do three things - 1, have dots in a certain zone on the surface like we've done here, 2, have a random higher density towards the front of the fish, 3, have the dots becoming less dense and gently smaller as you move to the back of the fish.

Another day though! Random in Fusion, and the surface is too much for my old head at the moment haha. I'm happy to have the bayonet fitting done, I'll post pictures when it's all complete in a few weeks.

Thanks so much for your help

Barney

[walkernb2020]

That will be a task for me to try - Joining bodies 👍