In this video, we’re going to learn how to use the revolve tool inside of Autodesk Fusion 360 to extrude objects along a central axis in order to create extruded shapes.
There are really a couple different ways that you can use this tool. The first is that you can use it to take a 2D profile and rotate it around a central axis that your item is touching. What this will do is take your shape and rotate it around the axis you create, much like a lathe. This will create a solid shape from your profile.
Start by activating the revolve tool. From there, you’re going to need to select a 2d profile (the object you want to extrude) as well as an axis, which is the point that you want to rotate around.
Notice that as soon as you select this, the program will automatically revolve your profile 360 degrees around your central axis.
However, you can also drag the little circle or type in a number of degrees to revolve around a partial circle as well. Notice that you also have the option to do this single sided, two sided, meaning you can extrude either side, or symmetrically, meaning you’ll have an equal number of degrees both directions.
This tool also supports the different solid operations, meaning you can use it to remove material or figure out differences as well. For example, let’s say we wanted to cut a profile or some notches into our object – we can do that by drawing in our profile in Sketch mode, then running the revolve tool and setting it to cut mode. This will remove material rather than creating a new body. You can also use the edge of a sketch as your axis as well – you’re not just limited to using the model origin as your central point. Not only can you use this tool to rotate around an axis your object is touching – you can also use it to revolve around an axis that your object is not touching.
This allows you to create much larger circular objects as well. Note that the further from your central axis an object is, the larger the extrusion you’ll create!
