“Hi! My name is SunShine, and in this Instructables I will show you how to use Fusion 360 as a design tool to create Print in Place designs for FDM-3D-printers, and share some of my tricks that I use to make a working design. Specifically, in this Instructables I will show you how to design a spring-loaded box, but the main focus of this instructables will be to show you the principles that can be applied to other designs!
I made a short video on this project:
(PS. If you feel like being lazy, and just want a print in place box, I have released the STLs for it so you can simply print it without having to put in the design work, but thats no-fun, is it? (links at the end))
What is a print in place design?
Print in place means that an assembly is printed without the need for any further manual assembly, and one can start using the part right away. The example that I will show you today is a spring-loaded box; this box could have easily been designed with multiple parts and assembled afterwards. However, today we will learn how you can put in a little extra effort in the design stage and save on time and effort in the production stage by printing the entire assembly fully assembled and ready for use!
Supplies:
What you will need to follow this guide:
Some experience with 3D-printing
Some experience designing in Fusion 360 (you should be comfortable with creating parts and assemblies)
Fusion 360 (Home/Student-license is free)
InkScape (optional and free)”