Most of the time I focus the blog here on how Autodesk Fusion 360 fits into the established manufacturing company workflows.  However, today I'm pleased to have a guest blog from Kevin King, one of our local engineers who is using Fusion 360 to expand his reach!  Kevin is very much a professional and uses Inventor every day at work, but he's been able to use Fusion 360's hobby license to branch out on his own time.  Check out how Kevin has built his side hustle below!

- RJ

YOU'RE DOING WHAT WITH FUSION 360?

I’m a freelancing product design consultant!  That’s right, my name is Kevin King and I have been using Fusion 360 to follow a passion of mine for the past year. Professionally I work as a mechanical engineer in Springfield, MO and have taken almost every Autodesk Inventor training class offered at the D3 headquarters. I work for Watts Radiant, a manufacturing company, creating 3D models and production floor drawings for our OEM and hydronic heating products. While I typically model in Autodesk Inventor at work, at home I open Autodesk Fusion 360 because it’s free for hobbyists.

3D printing is a 3-step process. A 3D model is created and then the model’s file is “sliced”. (Fusion has a very useful button for exporting a model to a slicing software such as Simplify3D or Cura, which is also free). After you slice and save the file, it can be transferred to a printer via USB, SD card, or wirelessly. Model. Slice. Print.

Being familiar with Inventor made it extremely easy to jump into Fusion 360. I do try using Fusion shortcuts in Inventor from time to time though. On occasions when I don’t have my laptop it’s been handy to view my models in the Fusion App I have on my phone. Since all my active files are saved to the cloud I can pull up the latest version. I wouldn’t model on my phone, but because you can pinch to zoom and rotate on your phone screen it’s an easy replacement for viewing a project.

With Fusion 360, I’ve been able to develop my passion for 3D printing/prototyping into my side hustle, Creative Kings. It started out as a way to provide creative 3D printed products for family and friends (or myself, like this blue phone/business card holder). It’s grown through networking and now includes a range of people. I’ve worked with a local car shop, science center, screen printing studio, and civil engineering firm. I’ve also worked with individuals looking for unique gifts or ornaments. Some clients already know what they want and just need someone to create a 3D model or manufacturing drawing. Others I’ll meet with several times to develop the product scope. We may 3D print certain aspects to prove or create the final product. Fusion’s phone app has been especially useful during these meetings.

I enjoy keeping up to date with technology news, and D3’s blog has been a great way for me to lean about new Fusion feature updates. If you need another blog to follow or some innovative inspiration I encourage you to visit my blog at https://creativekingsblog.wordpress.com. You can also see some of my past prints here: www.instagram.com/creativekings417. What are you using Fusion for? Please let D3 know in the comments below!