Sketch Blocks in Fusion 360

[Anonymous]

I am new to Fusion 360, but have several years of experience with Inventor and Autocad. A very common workflow in those products is to define geometry that works for a given project (I'm in woodworking, so an edge profile as an example, and I can use as many as 10 or 20 for a single piece), and then to save that geometry as a "block". I can copy and paste those suckers to my hearts content, update them, move them around in sketches, and re-use them in other files. Can anyone tell me why Fusion 360 doesn't have this feature??? Is there a workflow that I'm simply missing, or does anyone know if this feature will appear in future updates? Any advice about repeating geometry over many sketches (or just a workflow to achieve the function of a traditional "block") would be greatly appreciated!

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

Most of the functionality you desire can be accomplished using the Insert Derive command.  Using the command, you can select a saved file and then select any part of the file to use over in a new file.  The parts can vary and can include sketches, bodies and parameters.  If you select a file containing just sketches, this will be very similar to using Sketch Blocks in Inventor.  I will admit, it needs to be improved on some fronts but it is very useful.  Take a look at this article where I use the command to place a saved sketch into the model as a drilling pattern.

[chrisplyler]

@jhackney1972  talks about how to USE bits you've created in other files. But how to get them out of the source file into their own file to be used that way?

Anything that is contained within a Component will be included when you save the Component out into its own file. If you've created a sketch or sketches in that Component, they will be in the file. If you've created construction elements in that Component, like planes, axis, etc., they will be in that file. If you've made any bodies within that Component, you guessed it, they will be in that file.

[g-andresen]

Hi,

ist it this, what you are looking for?

insert profile

günther

[Anonymous]

Yes, this is the workflow I'm trying to replicate. Is this a derived sketch that is saved within your browser?

[g-andresen]

Hi,

no, it's a f3d file from the data panel.

günther

[cad]

Thanks for this post, but I can't seem to replicate this workflow. Are you saving a sketch in one file, starting a new one and literally dragging the one file into the other? Is there more to it than that? Can you locate the sketch with more that just a control-point (dimensions and constraints)? Thanks!

[cad]

Thanks for this reply. I watched your video, and have gotten further with this function, but it still seems really cumbersome. Sketch blocks are fundamental to both Inventor and Autocad, and if I'm not mistaken, there isn't a way to locate the "block" geometry with dimensions or constraints. Any additional advice or insight would be greatly appreciated!

[ghrrum]

I just came across this post and had a thought. Is there any reason you couldn't use joints and simple 2d geometry to replicate what you want?

[laughingcreek]

yeah, that's what he's doing in post 4

[mjohnson.cps]

Well, in some cases using joints and constraints gets cumbersome

I have a case where I have inserted and SVG file of a logo and want to use it as a block. Inserting the logo geometery in sucha away that I can reference it to a layout and move it as a block, yet it is still sketch geometery, just a sub set of a larger sketch.

[dylsontest]

Yes, he's saving the sketch in a separate file, saving it in the fusion cloud as a f3d file, and then in a new file dragging the sketch he's saved onto it. Then any changes made to the original sketch file will be reflected onto the new file you made (you just have to update the file). Working like a sketch block in Inventor, but not as ideal