Discover how to construct the upper arm component for a lampshade using a 3D modeling technique. This guide will take you through creating a new component, sketching, dimensioning, constraining the geometry, and finally modeling the 3D structure.
Key Insights
- The tutorial begins with the creation of a new component called 'upper arm', followed by sketching its geometry along the YZ axes, similar to constructing the lower arm.
- Dimensioning and constraining the geometry involves assigning specific measurements to the rectangle and circles in the sketch, followed by placing horizontal and vertical constraints to find the midpoint.
- Once the sketch is completed, dimensions are dragged out for better visibility before proceeding to the 3D modeling command. Finally, all the arm components are nested into a component assembly, which Fusion does not view as separate objects.
In this video, we will build the upper arm for our lampshade and create an Arm Assembly component. The first thing I would like to do is to create a new component and rename it.
So I will right-click, New Component, and I will rename this component Upper Arm. Now we know we can create our first sketch, so I will go to Create Sketch, and I will select the interface here along the YZ axes. Our view will automatically reorient itself, and we will build this arm just like we built the lower arm.
I will first create my rectangle, and I will press P to Project my circle—press P, select my circle, and click OK. Let's draw another circle at the top. I will press C on my keyboard to create my circle, and I will draw my circle. Now that the geometry has been created, let's dimension and constrain our geometry.
I will press D for Dimension, select my circle, and type 5 and press ENTER. Our rectangle will be 15 mm wide and 340 mm tall. Again, you may need to move your geometry back into position, and let's dimension our circles and constrain our rectangle.
The bottom circle, if I zoom in, will have a diameter of 45, and the top circle will have a diameter of 22.5. Finally, let's place our Horizontal/Vertical Constraints using SHIFT to find the midpoint. I will go to Horizontal/Vertical Constraint, select the center of my circle, and holding SHIFT, find the midpoint of that line. One more time, let's go to the bottom—Horizontal/Vertical Constraint—center of my circle, and midpoint of this line.
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Let's drag our dimensions out so that we can see them more easily. Remember, this is not a necessary step, but it allows us to keep our sketch well organized as we are modeling. I will click Stop Sketch, or I can select the Extrude command to stop my sketch and directly go into my 3D modeling command.
Again, I'll need to select the top profile and bottom profile because when I projected my geometry, my projected geometry split my profile. I will drag out and type 30 and press ENTER. I will activate my topmost component, and the last thing I would like to do is to create a component that nests my arms for my lampshade.
I will right-click, New Component, rename this Arm Assembly, and with this component active or not active, I will grab all three of these arm components and drag them into this component. You will see the icon change to three cubes instead of one, and now all of my components are nested inside this component. Fusion does not view nested components and components as separate objects.
Like other programs see parts or assemblies, but the icon does update to help us identify which components have nested components inside of them. I will activate my uppermost Component one last time, and let's save our file. In the next video, we will create the Lampshade Arm component.
I will see you in the next video.
