Once upon a time, I was asked, in reference to Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Fusion 360, "Why would someone want to have a fillet feature with more than one radius in it?"  An example of two different fillet radii in Fusion 360 It's a fair question. It's likely we can pick a feature in just about any CAD tool and ask, "Why is that there?" But to that end, I did have a reason one might want to combine two different fillet radii in one feature. It's a matter of organization. In my design work, I often find myself modeling O-ring grooves, which nearly always have a differ ..read more

 Sometimes, a lesson learned from long ago comes to pass.  Recently I was working on a project that required I transfer the location of four threaded holes to a piece of aluminum so clearance holes could be drilled. The question was, how to do it?  Sure I could measure out the holes, but the threaded holes were t-nuts pressed into plywood, and the holes for the t-nuts were measured using a tape measure. So the hole placement was made to more of a carpentry accuracy than an aerospace tolerance. But I still wanted to keep the clearance holes as tight as practical. A 3D model ..read more

 I've been using Fusion 360 to model parts from World War 2 era parts It's a project I enjoy on the occasional evening and weekend.  But some time ago, someone asked me, "Have you ever run a Stress Analysis Simulation on one of those parts?"  It seemed like an interesting challenge. What would a part designed in the 1940s look like when tested with a modern Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tool.  So I decided to fire up the Simulation module in Fusion 360, and set up a stress test to see how a component I'd modeled would hold up.  The part I decided to use was for a P-5 ..read more

Part of a Hydraulic Valve for  a P-51 Mustang Recently, I was asked why I used Autodesk Fusion 360 for my side project of modeling vintage aircraft parts. Why not use Autodesk Inventor? Or Dassault Solidworks? Sitting down one evening, I decided to take a few moments to share my thoughts. These reasons are purely my own, as one guy cranking out models on evenings and weekends. I'm not an evangelist proclaiming my choice is better than yours. It's just that, my choice.  Also, I do pay for a Fusion 360 subscription. I chose to take advantage of one of the promotions a few y ..read more

A portion of the original print used to  create the model.  For many years, I've created models in Fusion 360. On occasion, I've 3D printed a few of my Fusion 360 models as "desk ornaments".  But a few weeks ago, I had a fantastic opportunity to create a model that would be used to make a part for the restoration of a B-17 Flying Fortress.  The part was a "friction washer" for use in the throttle quadrant. And the team needed geometry that could be cut on a water jet. It started with a reproduction of the original Boeing print. Having the original dimensions made t ..read more

A typical aircraft brake disk. There's not much room for a socket! Hands on experience is often the greatest teacher.  And, while helping work on a friend's change tires on a light aircraft.  In looking at the brake disk, bolted to the tire rim, I saw that there was no way one could get a socket, the ideal tool for the job, onto the bolt.  Fortunately, my friend, having run into this case many times before, had a wrench he'd cut to fit inside the disk. So in the end, it was job that was still very easily accomplished.  But there lies a lesson for those of who sit b ..read more

I print a lot of Polylactic Acid (PLA) in the 3D printer at work. I've found it's a great material to work with. It prints easy, and generally gives great results.  A sample of a different PLA print.  Usually a great material to work with. Sorry, the actual print is proprietary. Almost without exception, I have great results. At least until all of a sudden I start having problems with it!  When printing new color, silver from Amazon the PLA started peeling off the bed.  It didn't matter how much glue I put down on the bed, It would peel up after a few layers ..read more

I've spent just over 20 years working with 3D CAD programs. That experience has been nearly exclusively with the Autodesk manufacturing product line, starting with Mechanical Desktop (shortly after the earth cooled), and followed by Autodesk Inventor.  We've all seen the ubiquitous, 3D model, floating in space. A couple of years ago, my company decided to experiment with switching to Siemens NX. That experiment, unfortunately, failed. Siemens NX, while a good program, wasn't the right program for the needs of my employer.  A few months ago, my company announced that we woul ..read more

Many CAD tools contain a chamfer note that I would describe as a leader style.  You've probably seen it, probably used it even.  It utilizes a leader to point at the chamfer, and contains both the chamfer distance, and angle in one simple note. The advantage of this style is it's compact, easy to read, and especially easy to place when the chamfer is packed into a crowd with other nearby dimensions.  But this dimensioning style as a subtle disadvantage. This style of dimension doesn't identify the direction of the chamfer. So if the chamfer angle is something other than 45 degr ..read more

 Sometimes it's the little things that make a guy happy.  A thread note placed on an external thread In this case, it's the improved thread annotation tool in the January/February Fusion 360 update.  In short, Fusion 360 can now create an annotation for a thread note placed with the thread tool, not just the hole tool as was the case in previous updates  That opens up the field to place thread notes onto external features. It's a capability I've personally been hoping would get added for some time.  Admittedly, applications like Inventor have been doing this ..read more