Introduction to 3D Sketching in Fusion 360

Time needed: 20 minutes.

I happened to come across this “C Side Table” on Amazon and thought it was the perfect 3D Sketch beginner project.

This table design could theoretically use 2D Sketches. However, we can make the table much faster using 3D sketches.

1. Select Create Sketch in the toolbar

   Start the sketch by selecting the XY origin plane. We’ll click this plane to start by drawing the bottom of the table as if it were sitting on the ground.
   
   

2. Turn on 3D Sketch

   Select the 3D Sketch checkbox in the Sketch Palette to turn it on.
   
   

3. Activate Line & Home View

   Select the line feature in the toolbar or hit the keyboard shortcut “L.” Select the “Home” position next to the ViewCube. This will help us sketch in 3-dimensions.
   
   

4. Draw First Line from Origin

   At this point, we can start the line by setting the first point at the origin point.
   
   Similar to a 2D sketch, we will drag our mouse cursor along the green Y-axis. Type out 45cm for the length and then click where the line snaps into the Y-axis. Fusion 360 will automatically add a “horizontal/vertical” constraint for us.
   
   

5. Draw Line Straight Up

   We can start to sketch the height of the table by moving our mouse cursor to the blue z-axis. The cursor should snap to the z-axis when close.
   
   Type out 60cm for the height. Carefully select the blue z-axis to set the line, making sure it automatically add a vertical constraint.
   
   

6. Heading Back Toward Center

   For the third line, we’ll want to head back toward the center, while following the green y-axis. If you haven’t already noticed, see that the origin planes move to the end of our line while in 3D sketch mode.
   
   This is where things start to get tricky with 3D Sketches. We don’t want to overuse sketch dimensions. Instead of typing out a dimension, click to place the line along the y-axis.
   
   Shift-click the endpoints of the line we just placed and the origin point or the original starting point of our first line. Select the “horizontal/vertical” constraint in the toolbar. This will ensure they stay the same length while making it easy for us to update only one dimension.
   
   

7. Reactivate Line Command

   Select the line feature in the toolbar. Select the endpoint of the line we just placed.
   
   The 3D sketch planes and manipulators will reappear once you select the endpoint.
   
   For this line, we’ll type out 25cm for the width. Make sure to snap the line in place along the red x-axis.
   
   

8. Heading Back to the Right

   We’ll now want to create a line heading back to the right.
   
   Since we’ve already defined our length, we’ll want to use sketch constraints instead of sketch dimensions for this one. Click along the green y-axis where the line snaps in at the same length of the opposite line.
   
   Hit the “Escape” key on your keyboard. Shift-click the endpoint of this line and the opposite line. Select the “Horizontal/Vertical” Constraint in the toolbar. This will force the line to stay the same length.
   
   

9. Heading Straight Down

   Reactivate the line command in the toolbar. Select the endpoint of the last line we created.
   
   Heading straight down, click to place the line along the blue z-axis where it snaps equidistant to the opposite line. The line should be 60cm.
   
   

10. Finishing off The Lines

    Let’s finish off the lines by mimicking the “C” shape on the opposite side.
    
    Place the first endpoint at the red y-axis. Create the second line by clicking the origin point.
    
    Hit the “escape” key to clear the line command.
    
    

11. Adding the Final Constraints

    To ensure our sketch is fully-constrained, we’ll need to add the final constraints.
    
    It appears the last line created does not have a constraint forcing it to remain in one direction. Simply select the line and then select the “Horizontal/Vertical” constraint in the toolbar.
    
    Our sketch is now fully-constrained. We can double-check this by looking for the red lock icon next to the Sketch name in the Browser.
    
    

12. Turning the Sketch into Pipes

    Our sketch is now complete. We’re ready to use the Pipe command to turn the sketch into furniture.
    
    Select the Solid tab in the toolbar. Select Pipe from the Create dropdown. Select the 3D sketch geometry.
    
    

13. Adjusting the Pipe Features

    We’ll want to set the Section type to Square. We can also change the thickness of the pipe by changing the section size.
    
    I’ve entered 2.5cm for the section size.
    
    Select the “Hollow” checkbox, which displays the section thickness. For the section thickness type out 2mm.
    
    

14. Congrats and Next Steps

    You’ve now completed the 3D Sketch! Finish off the model by adding boards to the top – or whatever surface you desire!