Here, I have a list of names. Notice how they're divided into first and last names, two columns. We have our first row being the header, the name of the variable we're going to be using in the data merge feature.


Next, we wanna save this file.


We're gonna click download.


And save it as a comma separated value sheet. Now, this is really important because the data merge feature requires it.

Using the data merge feature

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Name Tags Tutorial

We want the width to be 3 inches and the height to be 1.5.


Then we're gonna create a text box.


That's going to contain.


And first name and last name.


We want the text box to be the same with.


As our box.

Creating a text box

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Then what we want to do is we're gonna click on window.


Go down to utilities and click data merge. Now, we're gonna click on this icon right here. We're gonna select our data source, and we're gonna click on the name tag sheet that we downloaded.


Now that we have clicked on our data source, we're gonna highlight.


Then the first name, which is going to be first. Remember how our first row was named first? This will be the name of the variable, and now we're gonna highlight last name and click on last.


And as you can see, the names are here.

Selecting the data source

Next, we're gonna create merge document.


We're gonna select multiple records. We're gonna click on multiple record layouts. We're gonna create our margins to be zero.


Now I'm gonna click OK.


And here you have it.


Multiple name tags.

Merging the data

Autodesk Fusion 360 LIVE - Idea to 3D Print in Under 30 Minutes

Now, I'm going to export this into our Adobe InDesign, as I've already have here. We're going to save our spreadsheets.


As a common separate values file.


And then I'm going to go to InDesign again, Windows. We're going to click on utilities and data merge. Now, I'm going to click on our data source.


Then I'm going to designate our Data To a variable.

Designating the data to a variable in InDesign

Click on file, print, click on setup.


Preferences, adjust your laser cutter settings for the material you are working with.

Adjusting your laser cutter settings

Next, I'm gonna click on create merge document. We're going to click on multiple records. We're gonna make sure that our margins are 1/8 of an inch, and the spacing in between the name tags are


One-sixteenth of an inch. I'm gonna click OK.


And then here you have it.


I'm going to copy and paste our design into a new Adobe Illustrator file as you have it here.

And then make sure that our margins are one eighth of an inch. And here you have it.

Setting the margins and copying to Illustrator

I glued 160 layers of cardboard together to make this chandelier, but the only thing holding those layers together was the glue. There was no mechanical interlock or mechanical fastener holding it all together. So I'm gonna remake this chandelier, and today we're gonna work on one aspect of it, and that's gonna be that mechanical inner lock to hold it all together.


I was thinking there are a lot of different ways I can actually attach those layers together mechanically, but you know, a lot of us have zip ties around. You know, maybe you have a bag that looks like this full of all different size zip ties. Maybe you have some larger ones like these. This is what we're going to use today. So I have a whole bunch of these zip ties, and I want to use.


In a way that's a little different than the standard zip time. So the standard zip time method is of course making a closed loop, putting it all through here, but again, you'll see that it is a loop. And what I'm trying to do is use this sort of more like a rope, so axially. I want this thing to actually hold in this direction instead of having to do a loop.

Upgrading glue to zip ties

So


let's all


start by creating a new file, and as always, my golden rule is to save that file right away. So this is going to be called my zip tie washer and this is going to be very custom. We'll go and add that as well. And I'd like to save my files right away because it creates that instance or that file inside the cloud, and that means that my auto saves are going to work in the background for me, so I never have to worry about losing any of my data.


The next thing we're gonna do is we're gonna bring in the zip tie itself, cause we're gonna use that to our advantage. But before that, one more step, we're gonna go and create a new component.


And I typically, when I'm designing custom things, I usually design it internal as an internal component, but there are some cases where I use external components. The zip tie is a great example. It is its own file, but what we're going to do and make a custom washer for it, we'll use that internal component, and this will be called washer. And we don't need to activate it just yet. We'll go and hit OK, and then so that this component doesn't move around, we're gonna also go and add a joint.

So that

it stays put, so to speak, we'll go and use an as built joint between the washer and the main assembly here. I'll leave it as a rigid joint so it's not going to move, and we'll go and hit OK. Perfect.

Setting up the custom file in Fusion 360

So today we're gonna learn a little bit about joint origins. Joint origins are another way that you can create joints a little bit more specifically, or get a little bit more control over what you're doing. When I made that joint and I lined up those two origins, it lines up the X, Y, and Z


axes to each other.


And right now I have the


Y up setting in Fusion 360, whereas you might have the Z up. The Z right now is facing forward and on the zip tie it's the same thing. But what I want is that the Z on this is going to line up


with


the Y in my assembly.


So what I want to do is create a joint origin to do that. So under assemble, I'm going to go and use a joint origin.


I'm gonna choose the origin of the washer itself, but there's a trick here, you can choose reorient and you can choose a new Z axis, and for that I'll choose what you would see on the screen is


the Y axis,


and


that's all I really care about, like the rotation doesn't really matter for now. So I'll just go and hit OK, and I have this joint origin that I can now use to actually


do my joint.

Learning about joint origins

So now we're ready to go and bring in that zip tie. I'm on a PC, so I can actually go and drag the zip tie right onto the main screen. That's one of the very few things that doesn't match up on the Mac. But if you're on a Mac, you can just right click and say insert into current design.


I brought in my zip tie, but now I want to reorient this so it's a little bit more vertical. So we're going to go and grab the zip tie and actually we'll just move it out of the way for a second and then we're going to go and use a standard joint and place this where I want it. So we have our joint inside this particular file. It turns out we're going to go and use the origin itself of the zip tie, and then I'm gonna go and use the origin of this washer.


Oh, that's not exactly what I was thinking was what I wanted, but I think we can actually fix that pretty easily. So let's actually get canceled.

Bringing in the zip tie

Let's try this again, assemble, and we're gonna go and use a joint right there.


I'm gonna choose the origin of the zip tie, and then I'm gonna choose the joint origin that I just created,


and now that lines up exactly how I was


expecting. The only thing I was hoping for is I do want to maybe raise this up a little bit,


make


my life a little bit easier later. So I'll just go and raise that up by 1 millimeter, and that's perfectly fine. All right, so I have my zip tie


in place,


and I have my washer, which right now has nothing in it.

Finalizing the joint origin

And let's go and start.


Designing this. So I'll turn on


my active component to be that washer. I'll create a sketch, and we're going


to start with the top plane here, and I'm going to draw some geometry that's gonna start this all off. Well, the first thing I know is that I'm gonna have a hole for this


actually, like for that zip tie to go into. So


I draw my hole.


And this metal rod that you see here on my right or in front of me now,


is what I'm going to use to help me


get everything lined up.


So as I laser all of these cardboard layers and I glue them on top of each other, I'm going to force those cardboard layers on this metal rod so


that all of the layers line up with each other. So basically I'm using these metal rods like a big jig or a fixture. So when I put the zip tie in, it's going to be through a hole that needs to match this size. So let's go and grab


My calipers


here.


It turns out this is gonna be 6.4 millimeters.


I am gonna be using


metric today if that's OK with everyone. Hope so. And we'll go and set that to 6.4, and that's pretty good.

Designing the hole

Now we're going to go and want some space for the head itself. So let's go and draw that as well under create rectangle, and I personally prefer the two-point rectangle for pretty much everything. So I'm going to go and just draw the two point rectangle. I'm gonna add my own center lines here, might end up using those, and I'll set those to be actual center lines because that might help us later.

Perfect

And then let's hide my zip tie for a moment. We're going to go and line this up.


I'm gonna use the midpoint constraint and center that. And so now we have this rectangle that I could adjust in a couple of different directions. Oh, that's pretty good. What I also want though is some space around this. It's actually gonna be like the washer. So let's also go and draw another circle here.


And I don't yet know the sizes for any of this, but this is pretty good. This is the geometry that I think I want, and then let's go and show our zip tie again.

And let's take a look at this in a little bit more detail. There we are.

So that's looking pretty good.

Space for the head

one thing I'm noticing right off the bat is that when I put my joint, I use the joint at the very bottom of the zip tie that origin wasn't exactly in the middle, so I'm gonna want to adjust that, and we can do that right now actually. Let's go and take a quick measurement. So the zip tie thickness itself is apparently 1.26 millimeters. So if I go back to that joint that I created earlier, go and find that, that would be this one right here.


I'm gonna go and offset this.

I think it's gonna be this way, and we're gonna go and offset it by 1.26 divided by 2, whatever that ends up being. Perfect. All right, so now this actually lined up exactly how I want it. Perfect. So now that we have that, let's go back and edit our sketch again.

Lining up the zip tie

So I have some geometry from the zip tie itself.

And I could use that to help me figure out, you know, what size this square should be. So I'm gonna go and project that corner right over here for now. I'll project this corner as well. Now I can hide that zip tie itself. I don't really need it, and I can move this, you know what

I'm thinking maybe I want this to be square.

We can go and add another constraint. I'll make that equal. And now when I drag this in, I can see where they line up. I definitely don't want them to be smaller than the actual projections, and it looks like this one's actually the bigger of the two. So maybe I'll just go and stick with this. I do want a little bit of clearance. I'll go and add some clearance here as well.

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