However, this transition needs a distance to complete the transition. Since we want this part to fit over a 35mm diameter pipe we need a circle with a 35mm inner diameter. With the starting point of the transition drawn, we now need to add the final point. This way, if something isn’t quite right, or you need the same part with a slight change, you do not need to redesign the entire part. For example, you could adjust the internal dimensions of this rectangle and have the rest of the model recalculate the geometry to suit that change. Note: Remember, we are parametric modelling, which means at any time you can go back and change the dimensions of a part. This will form the initial shape that we will blend into a circular shape. Press ‘R’ on your keyboard to enable the rectangle tool and draw two rectangles with the dimensions as shown above.

For our design, we want an internal structure of 100 x 20mm, and we want the part to have a 2mm thickness. To get started, create a new project in Fusion 360. This would be very challenging to draw in CAD in a strictly 2D sense, thus the blend or loft function was born to calculate all the complex geometry needed to perform this task.

This could be a custom vacuum attachment to extract dust created with your CNC milling machine, or perhaps a duct needed to blow air across a heatsink.

Generally, this function is used to create a transition from one shape to another.Īs an example, let’s consider that we need to connect a 35 mm diameter pipe to a 100mm x 20mm rectangular receiver. Blending Your Objects:īlending or more commonly referred to as loft (a testament to its origins in shipbuilding times) is the process of joining multiple two-dimensional drawings placed in parallel and spaced some distance apart into a single solid model. We will describe them separately to make learning them much more straightforward, compared to trying to combine them in one design. Understanding how to use these powerful tools can be very useful in CAD design. This month, we'll look at the blending and sweeping functions in Fusion 360. In this installment of our Fusion 360 tutorial, we look at blending and sweeping.

Loft function fusion 360