Scale to exact Dimensions Fusion 360

[chrisWCQXN]

So I have a model that I was given from someone else for a project, it is a STEP File, and it is exactly what I need for the project I am currently working on.

However, it is the wrong dimensions when loaded into Fusion 360

As an example, the design of this vehicle chassis is 3,577mm long and in Fusion is is 1,460mm long

So I thought no worries, I'll make it 2.45x bigger and it ends up still a few mm off, I think first time was 3,578.something

Now for what I need, these measurements need to be EXACT unfortunately, is there a way to click on it and manually set the length, width, and height by typing in the exact millimetre dimensions rather than the scale tool?

I've found a number of topics like this one however they do not help, they still involve using the scale tool to get it fairly close.

For reference, this model will be used to help manufacture Electric Vehicle Conversion Kits for a popular vehicle, as such I need the diagrams and sizes to be bang on for the vehicle engineer to look over in principle and run his own simulations on, turns out he uses 360 as well, hence why I have moved over to 360 as he can run his simulations in 360 which is nice.

[celticone]

If you are importing SVG files and you need exact dimensions. Should work with DXF files as well. 

https://youtu.be/oVGvO2kOWdM

[coherag]

Ok, can we explain what tags are for day one users? I am trying to create 3d models for pen blanks. Firstly my machine is a high end hobby machine (6050 prover xl) I understand fusion is for more industrial use, but its a little frustrating when the rotary won't let me select my own rotational axis, or its not clear how to do it, I can't sale to measurments, and I don't know what tags are yet. I have to use the turning/milling option because there is no clear rotary setup for what I'm doing. 

I would genuinely appreciate some help... any help. I will send you a pen with any 3d model on it you like. This is just getting ridiculous. I have had so many steep learning curves recently that I feel like im on a rollercoaster.

[etfrench]

This doesn't seem to be what this thread is about.  It would be best if  you start a new thread.

Are  you asking about modeling or manufacturing?  What is your setup for machining pens on  your router?  Which post processor are  you using?  Do  you have a fourth axis?

[g-andresen]

Hi,

This is a topic for Manufacture Forum 

günther

[bryanGXTNK]

Look into deskproto for your cam work. You actually buy the software, and it does not not get changed or updated unless you buy the update. We stopped using 360 because it always changes without asking if we want that, costs more each year, and other options worked better.  FOSSCAD is similar to AutoCAD, minus the extortion pricing. Buy it once, and thats it. We had 2 licenses of standalone AutoCAD (purchased around 2016), and a year or so ago MS updates undid the activation, and Autodesk refuses to activate any longer. 

[johnhughes1986]

Again sorry for the necro thread but I totally agree with this, I have migrated over to Fusion from Rhino and I must say the amount of things that are 'missing' in Fusion is baffling. It has a lot of great features, especially the parametric modelling with history etc but frankly the catalogue of 'tools' is lacking, and don't get me started on the plugins, Rhino has 1000s of them and most of them are free.

I don't doubt that Fusion is incredibly powerful and that it is much better in a production environment than Rhino but it really needs a much bigger tool kit.

[TrippyLighting]

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@johnhughes1986 wrote:

...

I don't doubt that Fusion is incredibly powerful and that it is much better in a production environment than Rhino but it really needs a much bigger modeling tool kit.

---

I've amended you statement 😉

[johnhughes1986]

Yeah that's probably more accurate, it just seems that a lot of what I would consider very basic options are not there. 

If Fusion had all the modelling tools of Rhino it really would be the absolute pick of the bunch for me, but as is I find it both brilliant and lacking. 

Maybe it's because I am not familiar with the workflow, but scaling a part to a dimension seems like a pretty basic operation to expect from CAD software, it is even possible to do this with an imported image so one can use it to create a sketch, why would it be so unlikely to be used for a part? 

[rry19oyie]

Ran into this exact issue while managing a batch of action figures from different freelancers. Because everyone uses different software pipelines, the import/export scales were always a mess.
I started using an add-in called Scale to Size recently, and it’s actually sorted out the consistency issues so far. Definitely worth looking into if you're dealing with the same headache:

scaletosize

[rry19oyie]

Ran into this exact issue while managing a batch of molding designs from different freelancers. Because everyone uses different software pipelines, the import/export scales were always a mess.

I started using an add-in called Scale to Size recently, and it’s actually sorted out the consistency issues so far. Definitely worth looking into if you're dealing with the same headache.

https://nalagareng.com/scaletosize/

[vie_mozard]

This thread still comes up first on Google, so for anyone landing here in 2026: the accepted answer above still works — measure the current dimension, then type the ratio straight into the Scale factor field (e.g. `3577/1460`). Fusion evaluates the expression.

Two things it won't solve: you have to Measure first every time, and with several bodies selected they all scale around one pivot point, so spacing changes. I ended up building an add-in that does the target-dimension version directly (type the size in mm/in, per-body in-place scaling, live size readout) — it's called Scale to Size on the App Store ($9, I'm the author): Download (Windows) or (Mac). For a one-off scale, though, the division trick above is all you need.

[andrew2085]

What was the issue here? Scaling a 1460mm cube by 2.45 gives me a cube that is exactly 3577mm. Scaling is one of the easiest things to do computationally, I would expect all resulting dimensions to be accurate to machine precision, or around 17 decimal points.

[vie_mozard]

This thread still comes up first on Google, so for anyone landing here in 2026: the accepted answer above still works — measure the current dimension, then type the ratio straight into the Scale factor field (e.g. 3577/1460). Fusion evaluates the expression.

Two things it won't solve: you have to Measure first every time, and with several bodies selected they all scale around one pivot point, so spacing changes. I ended up building an add-in that does the target-dimension version directly (type the size in mm/in, per-body in-place scaling, live size readout) — it's called Scale to Size on the App Store ($9, I'm the author): Windows listing or Mac listing. For a one-off scale, though, the division trick above is all you need.