How to convert a STEP part with many bodies into a single body Fusion360 part?

[janus2]

Hello!

I have found a STEP-Part in the Internet.

The model is fine, but has many individual elements. (screws, nuts, etc.). Each as a separated body.

Since it is a purchased part, I do not need these details.
What is the best / easiest / recommended way to convert a STEP part with many bodies into a single body Fusion360 part?
Turning the whole thing into a single component with one body works. But then I have all steps (Combine, ...) in the timeline.
But I only want the result: One single simple part, because it is used many times in my project.

What is the recommended way ?

• Turn off the timeline?
• Save as STEP and reload?
• Or something completely different?

Thanks for your help

Jan

[g-andresen]

Hi,

well-founded answers are not possible without having seen the parts in their context in the fusion file.
Therefore please share your design and mark the relevant parts.

günther

[TheCADWhisperer]

Did you try your two ideas?

[janus2]

@TheCADWhisperer  Yes I tried to switch off timeline. That seems to be OK for me.

@g-andresenI know you always like a model. But  it's just like I said: a component with multiple bodies.

I think you can imagine that without a model😁.

Combine of course solves the problem. I searched for the best way to get rid of all these 'Combine' entries in the timeline.

I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss an easier or better solution.

Thanks

Jan

[g-andresen]

Hi Jan,

if you have everything in one component and then save it, you can drag it into a new construction without the individual parts of the component appearing in the timeline of the new design.

günther

[TrippyLighting · Accepted solution]

By default, downloaded STEP file or any other importable geometry imports with the timeline disabled.

You should really not enable the timeline before giving that some thought.

Enabling the timeline will cause the file size and computational overhead to increase and often is not needed.

If you need to see all the geometric detail then combining all of it into a single body is OK, but the disadvantage is that later you cannot simply remove it.

[janus2]

Yes, to disable the timeline is the best way I think too. I combine all bodies to on single body. Because for a purchased part there is no need for changes. And no need to have every screw to be select individual.

Jan

[jmurrayLY2BL]

We are having a similar issue. We have step files from vendors that have numerous (hundreds) of components. When we assemble them in it crushes the system. We would like to merge the purchased assemblies into a single combined body. It appears that the recommendation is to 1. disable timeline and import and 2. combine the parts into a single body. How do you combine all of the parts into a single. We don't care about losing or being able to change them as they are purchased parts so we really can't change them.

Joe.

[TrippyLighting]

Combining these parts into a single body isn't necessarily a good idea. If there are many instances of the same part in the assembly, combining all the parts into one body might actually increase the memory footprint.

[jmurrayLY2BL]

We have these complex PCB assemblies that have every single component modeled out. When we bring them into Fusion360 it is painful to use them at all. The suppliers provide them as STEP files - with all of the individual components. We want to put them in our assemblies - as a purchased part. What want the detail so we can point to things in the assembly but we don't need each individual component. What would you recommend to consolidate all of these parts into something that is more useful. Right now a single part will make the entire system unusable. 

Thanks,

Joe.

[TrippyLighting]

This is an issue that comes up not often, but regularly.

Not knowing the exact nature of your PCBs I can only make some general recommendations.

The best thing is actually not to bring a PCB into an assembly but to build the assembly around the PCB, but that is always an option. Moving a PCB assembly with thousand(s) of components into place is very slow.

As such before inserting the PCB into the assembly there are a few things that can be done o ease the pain.

Usually in a mechanical assembly, passives on a PCB are irrelevant. If you don't need them, delete them. Fusion 360 allows a selection by size:

Before using that selection, set the selection filter to components, so Fusion 360 does not just select the bodies in the components, but the components. That helps greatly in deleting all the unnecessary small stuff.

Don't forget to set the selection filter back 😉

If you need to keep all components, you should at least hide all those you don't need using the same process as described above. However, instead of directly hiding the components, first, create a selection set, and hte3n hide them.

If you have to see them for reference, then at least set them to unselectable.

     

[teo7YTX7]

I am late like 2 years to answer but I think I know what you can use. Please follow the steps:
1. Open the step file and delete everything you do not need,

2. Save the design (can be assembly or multiple bodies or etc., and lets call it file A) somewhere in Fusion as you like,

3. Open a new file (file B) and save it somewhere,

4. When you are in file B, under "Insert" tab, use "Insert Derive" feature to call file A,

5. It will open file A for you to choose, then choose everything with selection rectangle by mouse,

6. When you confirm your selection, everything should pass to file B as a single part.

Let me know 😉

[laughingcreek]

not sure how this addresses the question of combining multiple bodies into a single body?

[jsw23490]

How about this way of using other software like Rhino3D or Catia etc?

1. open the step file in other SW

2. Those have some function to make many components to make single part.

3. save step file again with another file name.

4. open this new file in the F360

I think F360 still needs to be improved according to the real designer's needs. 

[teo7YTX7]

First of all, that helps using a single "combine" operation to create a single body when you follow the steps, so the timeline does not get too messy. 

As a second aspect, even if you combine all the body one by one and get the timeline messy, you can still use this operation to call the messy assembly as a history-free single part.

I face this problem quite often as I work with many off-the-shelf components. I just found this approach convenient. Just a suggestion. 

[subhashmecha]

Hello,

I had the same issue. Import stp file (PCB Board) into Fusion and create BOM, it shows all the internal components in the BOM. Fusion 360 imports the internal parts as components instead bodies.

Solution: Import the stp file in Auotdesk Inventor as part file. then export the stp files again. 
https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Importing-STEP-fil...
Import the stp file (created by Inventor) into Fusion 360. it will bodies instead of components. 

[BillyBobBilly]

Dear fellow users, why doesn't our crack fusion 360 chime in on issues like this and proffer a solution.

I will ask them directly, hope you all will also.

Robert

[johnAMKDR]

That wasn't too hard, and I sort of have one body at the end, except the tree is
Body1
Body1(1)
...
Body1(8)

It's cleaned up a bit and even if I open the tree it's not as cluttered.

[jjessLWVAN]

I too, am late to this party. But this worked perfectly. Thanks you sir 🤘