This week’s selection is “Mastering Fusion 360” by Jake O Sugden and Joshua Manley.
Fusion 360 from Autodesk is one of the most popular 3D CAD tools for 3D printer operators. There are two reasons for this.
First, it’s extremely powerful. It’s actually a full-on suite of tools used by engineers to design production parts. It has an astonishing array of features that allows easy design of almost any geometry, including generative designs, but most importantly mechanical parts.
The second reason is its accessibility. While it is available as a paid product — and I use this myself — it’s also available at no charge for qualified users. Typically those are folks who are using the product for personal use. The free version doesn’t include the most advanced features, but what is provided definitely provides virtually all the power one could want when designing 3D printed parts.
This book provides a focused and step-by-step introduction to Fusion 360, by way of 28 “meticulously designed” tutorials. Each tutorial introduces incrementally more advanced approaches. By completing all 28, you’ll suddenly find yourself quite competent in using Fusion 360.
The book begins with a review of the somewhat complex interface in Fusion 360, something often puzzling to novices. It then proceeds into the tutorials, each of which introduces new capabilities.
Some of the learnings include:
- Fundamentals
- Designing single parts
- Designing using manufacturing principles
- Parametric design
- Making blueprints
- Adding texture, color, etc.
- Joining parts for movement
- Using CAM features
- Photorealistic renderings
- Motion animation
- Exploded diagrams
The book does not cover generative design, simulation or advanced engineering, all of which would not be of interest to Fusion 360 novices. However, once this book is completed, you might very well proceed to those topics using other sources.
If you’re interested in learning Fusion 360 properly and quickly, this highly-rated book might be just what you need.
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Via Amazon
