Announcements
Attention for Customers without Multi-Factor Authentication or Single Sign-On - OTP Verification rolls out April 2025. Read all about it here.

Arc lengths and centerlines

rhasell
Advisor

Arc lengths and centerlines

rhasell
Advisor
Advisor

Hi

I have just installed and am trying to get my head around Fusion 360.

Simple things are getting the better of me (I am an Inventor user, so for me, Fusion is clunky and difficult, as I don't know how to do things yet)

 

I created a simple curved CHS beam and then tried to detail it.

I discovered that there is no way to add a centerline, or create an Arc length dimension.

Are these two options possible?

 

I am trying to educate myself a bit more, as there are times where I will need to use Fusion.

Thanks guys.

 

fusion-drawing.png

Reg
2025.2
0 Likes
Reply
Accepted solutions (4)
2,459 Views
27 Replies
Replies (27)

g-andresen
Consultant
Consultant
Accepted solution

Hi,

1. Please create separate threads for different questions.
2. Arc lenght (extended lenght) isn´t available yet.
Take a look at the Roadmap

 

günther

0 Likes

jhackney1972
Consultant
Consultant

I would like to address your question about applying a centerline to a Fusion 360 drawing.  Fusion 360 can create a center mark for any drawing arc, but I will agree it is very small and cannot be expanded.  I would then like to propose a couple of work around choices for a centerline and the Arc Length dimension.  They are not direct clicks and picks but they get the job done.

 

John Hackney, Retired
Did you find this post helpful? Feel free to Like this post.
Did your question get successfully answered? Then click on the ACCEPT SOLUTION button.

EESignature

2 Likes

TheCADWhisperer
Consultant
Consultant

@jhackney1972 

I did not see you address this issue in your video.

TheCADWhisperer_0-1635881567420.png

 

0 Likes

jhackney1972
Consultant
Consultant

Truthfully, I did not notice what he point to as the centerline.  I assumed, bad practice, he was talking about the center mark of the arc which I mistakenly called a centerline. OOPS!

John Hackney, Retired
Did you find this post helpful? Feel free to Like this post.
Did your question get successfully answered? Then click on the ACCEPT SOLUTION button.

EESignature

0 Likes

jhackney1972
Consultant
Consultant
Accepted solution

I apologize, I missed your request for the placing of a centerline along the arc length.  I was thinking center mark all along.  Anyway, my workaround for the centerline of the arc in the drawing environment is outlined in the attached Screencast.

 

John Hackney, Retired
Did you find this post helpful? Feel free to Like this post.
Did your question get successfully answered? Then click on the ACCEPT SOLUTION button.

EESignature

1 Like

rhasell
Advisor
Advisor

@jhackney1972, thank you so much for all the help.

 

Yup, as I guessed, the arc centerline is a sketch work around, yours was better, than mine, I used the sweep sketch.

The arc length is a no go, having to manually measure and re-write a manual dimension is something that can go very wrong very quickly. The angle dimension on mine drawing had the dimension leaders into the arc center, so yours was better, and answered the question. As @g-andresen  pointed out, with the road map that arc length dimensions as well as centerlines are in development.

 

I will definately be doing a lot more testing and learning, I found that driven dimension in the modeling environment are not addressable, so they can not be used in formulas and calculations.

 

Thanks

Reg
2025.2
0 Likes

rohit.bapat
Autodesk
Autodesk

Hello all,

 

I wanted to give an update that, our team has been working on Arc length dimension. I won't be able to provide exact release date but as soon as validation is complete, it will be available.

 





Rohit Bapat
Product Owner
0 Likes

DesignHJWZH
Explorer
Explorer

Still no curved centerlines?

0 Likes

colinNJB25
Advocate
Advocate

The first google listing for "Fusion 360 curved centerlines" shows a idea station thread saying this is on the roadmap for 2016. I draw piping all the time and would love this feature.

0 Likes

damiennn_w
Contributor
Contributor

I'm having the same issue, the part I've drawn is a tube rolled to a radius, and it has a split in the middle for a spigot when fabricated. Fusion will not dimension the left side, only the right side of the split, it drives me up the wall how the things that should be so simple are an absolute nightmare to do sometimes. I just can't find a way to get that outside arc dimension, as hard as I try. 

0 Likes

jhackney1972
Consultant
Consultant

Please post the MODEL, not the drawing, and indicate in a screen capture the dimension you want. 

 

If you do not know how to attach your Fusion 360 model follow these easy steps. Open the model in Fusion 360, select the File menu, then Export and save as a F3D or F3Z file to your hard drive. Then use the Attachments section, of a forum post, to attach it.

John Hackney, Retired
Did you find this post helpful? Feel free to Like this post.
Did your question get successfully answered? Then click on the ACCEPT SOLUTION button.

EESignature

0 Likes

damiennn_w
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for your quick reply, I will upload it tomorrow after work if I don't figure out how to do it beforehand, but I have found a few things that should be simple but aren't, or should I say, can be done but it takes 3 times longer than it should and introduces the risk of mistakes, such as dimensioning a coped tube in the place that is most useable for fabrication, I'll  explain with the files tomorrow if you are able to help. Thanks again. 

0 Likes

damiennn_w
Contributor
Contributor

So I've just done an example of the tube I was trying to dimension just to make it easier to locate for you, for some reason the arc dimension doesn't seem to work on this part, and it is actually an important measurement when it comes to cutting and fabricating the part.

0 Likes

jhackney1972
Consultant
Consultant

I have no idea why you created two bodies for the tube section but I combined them.  I created a drawing and then the required section view and added the Arc Dimensions.  The section view is required because Fusion cannot detect the curved outside radius to pull the dimension from.

 

Arc Length Drawing.jpg

John Hackney, Retired
Did you find this post helpful? Feel free to Like this post.
Did your question get successfully answered? Then click on the ACCEPT SOLUTION button.

EESignature

0 Likes

damiennn_w
Contributor
Contributor

The reason it is two bodies is that the part has to split, which also has to be shown in the finished drawing, inside that tube at the split point will be a smaller diameter tube inserted as a spigot. I find it strange that fusion can't just give the arc dimension of the right side of the split and then the left. Doesn't the split give it a point to measure too? I feel that the creators of this software would benefit greatly from the input of an actual fabricator when it comes to what dimensions would be preferable and worth spending time on. Don't get me wrong, I love the software, and I really do appreciate the help you give, I just sometimes find that things have to be done the long way around, Like this part for instance. To make it, both arc lengths are needed to cut the tube correctly.

0 Likes

jhackney1972
Consultant
Consultant
Accepted solution

You can dimension it with two sections also as you desire.

 

Arc Length Drawing.jpg

You can also give the centerline arc length.

 

Centerline Arc Length.jpg

John Hackney, Retired
Did you find this post helpful? Feel free to Like this post.
Did your question get successfully answered? Then click on the ACCEPT SOLUTION button.

EESignature

0 Likes

damiennn_w
Contributor
Contributor

Thank you, that is what I was looking for, how did you make a section view of the curve? And can you then delete the section view but keep the dimensions? 

0 Likes

jhackney1972
Consultant
Consultant

I simply created a section view using the top view in the normal way, hover over the ends and follow the green dotted line.  You CANNOT remove the section view as it is supporting the dimensions.

John Hackney, Retired
Did you find this post helpful? Feel free to Like this post.
Did your question get successfully answered? Then click on the ACCEPT SOLUTION button.

EESignature

0 Likes

damiennn_w
Contributor
Contributor

Ok I'll give it a try, Thank you again for your help!

0 Likes