Week 1: CADD

Welcome to the first entry of my blog!

For this week, we were tasked to revisit the keyring design as a refresher to CAD design on Fusion360. I had followed a set of instructions that eventually created my personalised keyring, which will be outlined below:

Step 1: Create a 65mm x 25mm rectangle on a singular plane. This was done by using the Sketch tool to select the plane, and then the Rectangle tool, pressed on the origin, to type in the specific dimensions.

Step 2: Using the Offset tool, select the rectangle and set offset to 2mm. This should create a middle rectangle. I found a bit of difficulty as the offset would be in the outer rim instead of the inner, thus to circumvent that, I indicated offset as -2mm instead.

Step 3: Using the Fillet tool, select the 4 corners of the rectangle and specify 5mm for the radius. This should give a rounded shape for your keyring.

Step 4: Using the Line tool, create a straight line through the shorter length of the rectangle. Ensure it is straight by referencing the 90 degree angle on the side. This line will indicate where the center of the circle would be. You need not put it near the left side (as I did), as we will be adjusting that distance later.

Step 5: Right-clicking the line, select the Normal/Construction option. This makes it so that it would be a guiding line instead of a sketch line.

 

Step 6: Using the Dimension tool (the double-arrowed line between two other arrows on the leftmost toolbar), click on the construction line as well as the outer rim straight line (as shown below). Specify the distance to be 7mm. This should adjust the construction line nearer to the outer rim.

Step 7: Using the Point tool (From the Create tab > Point), create a point in the middle of the construction line. This is indicated by a triangle pointing to the point. On the point, using the circle tool, make a 5mm diameter circle on this point.

Step 8: Now's the fun part, customisation! For names, use the text tool and adjust the font type, size, and all other things to suit your design. You can even find PNG files to import and add into your own design! After completing customisation, finish your sketch.

Step 9: Once done customising, it's time to create a 3D model. Using the Extrude tool, select the base of the keyring without selecting the hole, and specify 3mm extrusion. It should look something like this:

Step 10: Hide your model by toggling the eye button of the Bodies folder on the browser sidetab. Show your sketch by doing the same thing for the Sketches folder. Using the Extrude tool again, select the outer border and your name, specify 1.5mm extrusion. Afterwards, on the Extrude menu on the right, in the "start" selection, select Offset plane and specify offset to be 3mm.

Step 11: Hide your sketch, and voila! you've completed your first keyring.

Embedded as well is my own design, in the flesh. (Technology is amazing sometimes!)

From this exercise, I was able to recount my CAD skills. I know there is much to learn about this intricate software. Here's to learning even more nifty tips and tricks about Fusion360!

Thank you for reading!