Fusion Project for Students | Pen Holder
Crafting Your First 3D Printed Pen Holder with Autodesk Fusion
If you've ever scrolled through Etsy, you've likely noticed the burgeoning market for unique, 3D-printed items like pen holders. It's not just a hobby; people are making a decent income from these creative ventures. Let's dive into how you can design your own pen holder using Autodesk Fusion, turning your digital creativity into tangible products.
Check out the free Autodesk Fusion tutorial for this workflow at the end of this blog post.
Understanding Market Dimensions
Before we start, let's look at what's popular. I found a highly favored pen holder on Etsy with a diameter of 50 mm. This gives us a guiding dimension to ensure our design resonates with customer preferences.
Sketching the Basics
Begin by setting up a new component in Autodesk Fusion, placing your initial sketch on the XY construction plane. I'm aiming for a pen holder slightly over 100 millimeters tall to accommodate an embossed pattern, keeping the pattern height at around 100 mm. Instead of creating a solid block, we'll use the 'Thin Extrude' feature for efficiency. Set the inner wall thickness to 3 millimeters for sturdiness without excess material use.
Designing for Detail
Next, we'll create an offset plane -100 millimeters from our base to work on the emboss feature. Here, you can use the ViewCube for a clear perspective. Place your sketch on this plane, using a construction line to pinpoint the center for precision. Remember, this construction line is not part of your design.
For the emboss, I'm opting for a deboss effect which can give a unique look to our holder. Set the depth to 2 millimeters, knowing that with Autodesk Fusion's parametric modeling, adjustments are always a timeline click away.
Pattern and Precision
To distribute this deboss evenly, use a circular pattern. Select 'Features' for your object type and the Z-axis for your pattern axis. This step instantly adds symmetry and aesthetic appeal to your design.
Sealing and Refining
Now, close the bottom of your pen holder. Use the Sketch Project to capture the base's outline, then extrude this to seal it off seamlessly with the rest of your model.
To give your holder a professional finish, apply a chamfer. A 1-millimeter chamfer on the top edges will look sleek, while a 2-millimeter chamfer on the bottom will make the base more pronounced, enhancing the overall look.
Color and Material
Choose your filament wisely; I've gone with a matte blue plastic for this design. Customize further by right-clicking on the color to input an RGB code, tailoring your product to your vision or market demand.
Final Touches and Rendering
Save your work with a descriptive version name. Switch to the render workspace to see your creation in simulated real-world conditions. Dim the brightness slightly for that professional touch in your presentation.
Project Wrap-Up
In this project, you've navigated through Autodesk Fusion, using the ViewCube to manage your design perspective effectively. This pen holder project not only introduces you to the basics of 3D modeling but also sets you up to potentially sell on platforms like Etsy.
Happy Designing!
Fusion assignment timestamps:
00:20: How to make a thin extrude in Fusion
00:49: How to create an Offset Plane in Fusion
01:33: How to create a center point slot sketch in Fusion
02:05 How to create a deboss pattern in Fusion
02:42 How to create a circular pattern in Fusion
03:34 How to project a sketch in Fusion
04:32 How to add a custom RGB code to an appearance in Fusion