That’s useful if you want to make wheels, vases or anything else that’s circular in one axis: Fusion 360 will sweep the profile through 360° – or however many degrees you choose – generating a 3D object from it. You can also create a 3D object by drawing a profile then selecting an axis to rotate it round. Once you’ve extruded a sketch into a 3D shape you can then choose any face of that shape and extrude it again, setting the distance and taper angle. Need a hole to take an M5 screw? You can set it up in a few clicks. You can make a simple cylindrical one, and choose the depth and diameter, or you can have it threaded for a screw and choose the exact thread size you want. For example, if you want a hole you can choose what kind of hole to create. Then you can modify it by cutting holes, manipulating corners or edges and using an array of other tools.ĭetailed menus make it easy to quickly add features to your designs. The drawing tools let you create rectangles or circles, or draw a shape freeform Once you’ve drawn a shape – and it can be a very complex one – you can extrude it to create a 3D object. The workspace is based around three intersecting flat planes, one for each axis, which you can draw shapes on. Autodesk Fusion 360 is a little different.

So, is it a viable alternative to FreeCAD? How Does It Work?ĭesigning in FreeCAD mostly involves creating, moving and modifying shapes in a 3D workspace. It has some restrictions, mostly related to CAD automated machine tools, but it’s free. Autodesk also offer a “hobbyist” version of Fusion 350. It turns out it’s not that simple, though.

3d print from fusion 360