Arcade Cabinet Build: 2/6 - Designing Your Arcade Cabinet in Fusion 360™ : 19 Steps

Hello and welcome! Today I'm going to show you how to design your very own Arcade Cabinet in Fusion 360.

This is part 2/6 in my Arcade Cabinet Build series. For part 1 click here. By the end of this series, you should have a fully functioning Arcade Cabinet.

In this instructible I'm going to be walking you through the basics of designing anything in Fusion 360, this was my first time using Fusion 360 so I made a few mistakes but I will try to let you know what they are and how to fix it so you don't make the same mistakes that I did.

For a more in-depth course, there is a free official learn fusion in 90 minutes Here.

If you ever have any trouble, try looking at the pictures above the step you are struggling with, I tried to make there be enough information pictured, as to help anyone who may get stuck

Supplies

Fusion 360
A computer or laptop powerful enough to run Fusion 360
I recommend using a mouse
Paper and a drawing utensil

Step 1: Starting Your Sketch

You should always start by sketching out how you want your Arcade Cabinet to look like from a variety of different angles, use your paper and drawing tool. Once you have a shape you are happy with you can start designing your Arcade Cabinet. if you are having difficulty thinking of a shape for your Arcade Cabinet then check out this Pinterest board I made with a bunch of different styles for inspiration here

Most 3d objects you create in Fusion begin with a 2d sketch. To start your Arcade Cabinet design, we will be creating a Fusion 360 sketch of the side panel shape. Imagine you stood on the left side of it and are looking at it. Make sure that your ViewCube (Yes, that is its name, I Googled it) is oriented to the left side facing your view then press the "Create Sketch" button, Now select the plane (pale yellow square next to the origin) to begin your sketch.

The reason I'm putting so much emphasis on the ViewCube orientation is because I didn't get the orientation right when I made my Cabinet, so my Cabinet design is back to front😅

Step 2: Sketching the Shape, and the Line Tool

By now you should a) have a Cartesian plane on your screen b) know what you want your Arcade Cabinet to look like

"What do I do with my cartesian plane?!" you ask. Well, now I will show you how to draw a line.

First press the "Line" button or press the "L" key on your keyboard. Now, click where you want your line to start, I recommend starting at 0,0,0 but you can do as you like. The first line I made was for the back of my cabinet so I made it the height I wanted my Cabinet to be. To make lines be the exact length you want them to be, type the length you want before you press a second time. If you have set one point of the line, when you click the second time the line will either end where you clicked or, if you typed in the length you wanted it will make the line set down following the path from the point of origin to the mouse.

Step 3: The Shape, and the Sketch Dimension Tool

Now, using the line tool, draw the shape of your Arcade Cabinet based off of your reference sketches you made. If your design has curves then do all the parts that are not curves and we'll get to that next step.

If you forgot to make a line the length you wanted you can use the "Sketch Dimension" tool (press "d") if you use this then click each end of the line the length will show up, if you use this on 2 different lines that are not parallel it will show the angles and you can then change that. You can use constraints to change the relationship between lines, but for this Instructible you don't need to.

Also, here is something I wish I knew earlier; you can pop both tool panels out of the view by pressing the two arrows that are joined together at the top of each side panel

Step 4: The Fit Point Spline

For the front of my cabinet, where the screen is mounted, I wanted a smooth flowing curve. To create a non-standard curve use the fit-spline tool. Select the tool from the menu and draw a line that connects the two end points of your curve. Your line will appear as a straight line to begin with, but you can use the grab handles to create almost any curve you want. Experiment with curves to find one you like.

Step 5:

Step 6: The Fillet Tool

The Fillet tool makes curved edges where lines make a corner. If you select the Fillet tool then click two lines that meet each other at a corner you can edit the corner to make a nice, smooth, curved corner. You can make the curve bigger or smaller by making the radius size in the text box bigger or smaller. Experiment until you find a radius you like

Step 7: Filleting the Edges

Now, to finish, I filleted all the sharp corners to give them a nice rounded shape, not by much, only 50mm or so. Once you are happy with your shape press the "Finish Sketch" button.

One of the great things about Fusion is the ability to go back and edit a shape later. I did step 7 (no spoilers😜) then had to use the timeline down the bottom, to go back and fillet the edges.

Step 8: Make It 3D!!!

Finally! we did it!!!

We finally completed a 2D shape, now to make it 3D!

On the top menu press the "Create" button, that should make a pop down menu appear. now press the "Extrude" button (or alternatively just press the E key on your keyboard) then click the face of your side panel. Type the thickness of the wooden board you will be using into the "Distance" text box then click the "OK" button. I am using 18mm plywood but you can use anything you have.

Congratulations! You have made a 3D model in Fusion 360!!!

Now, what's the point in only having one panel, you're making an Arcade Cabinet!

Step 9: Back 2D Future!

Yep, Flat again... Sorry🤷‍♂️

We will now create more panels. Press "Create Sketch" then click on the side panel you have made.

Also, sorry about the bad pun.

My Dad helped me make a Panel size calculator that will come in handy later but Instructables doesn't support any of the formats I can make it in, so here is the Dropbox Link

Step 10: 2 & 3 Point Rectangle Tool

To use the "2 point rectangle" tool you click where you want the rectangle to start then click where you want the diagonal corner to be. These rectangles are aligned horizontally and vertically.

To use the "3 point rectangle" tool you click one point then click another point to make a line then click another point to decide how thick the rectangle is. You can create rectangles on any orientation with this tool

I am using the 2 and 3-point rectangles to make all the other panels for my Arcade Cabinet.

It's ok if the rectangles you draw overlap, in fact, I encourage it! It will make step 11 much easier for you.

Step 11: Sketch Dimension Tool Again

Remember that "Sketch Dimension" tool? You are most likely going to be seeing a lot of it... unless your plan for your arcade cabinet has flat sides. For my Cabinet I decided to make the Side panels stick out from the Cabinet so... lots of sketch dimension then!

I want my side panels to extend 25mm from the body, so I'm using the Sketch dimension tool to make sure each panel I draw on the side panel is exactly 25mm away from the edge.

Step 12: Making Ends Meet

Here you want to extend all the rectangles you just made so they overlap with the adjacent rectangles, i suggest using extend for this or just drawing some more lines or rectangles. then draw a line between all the two corners where the wood meets. Now press "modify" then press the "Trim" button (or just press "T") and delete all the excess lines so each corner looks something like the picture above (pictures 1&2). make sure that each rectangles thickness is the same thickness as the board you will be using to make this.

Step 13: The Shelf

Create a 2 - point rectangle which meets the back of the front of the control panel and the front of back panel. This will be the shelf all of your stuff will sit on and adds considerable strength to your cabinet. Be sure to make the rectangle thickness the same thickness as the board you will be using

Step 14: Marquee

We now need to make the gaps in the wood for the marquee. There is an excellent Instructible by MakeItYoutube, on how to make an Arcade Marquee Lightbox Here.

Make sure that you have a big enough gap in your Cabinet to fit your Marquee you make.

Step 15: Mirror Your Side Panel

Now you know what each panel will look like and where it goes, we can extend them, but not yet. First, we will make the other side panel.

First, go to construct and press "Offset Plane". click on one of your panels then type your Arcade Cabinet Panel Width that you got from the calculator and put /2 at the end. e.g. if you got 490 type 490/2 in the distance text box. You can create yours any width you want but you need to decide this now. (example if you want yours to be 600 mm wide enter 600/2 to get the offset)

Once you have done that go to create and press mirror. Now click the side of the side panel that's closest to the offset plane then press Mirror plane and click the offset plane you created. Your first panel should now be mirrored with the correct width between them.

Step 16: Extruding the Panels

Now to finally make the rest of your panels. Select Create then press "Extrude" (or E) Then select every Second rectangle, making sure that no two selected rectangles are adjacent panels. Press the "Distance button" on the extrude Side bar and select "To Object" Then Click on the Panel without the selected rectangles on it. Select the "Operation" Button on the side bar and change it from "Join" to "New Body". Now select the Panels you didn't do and Repeat.

You should now have a Arcade looking 3D model. But where does the screen go..?

Step 17: Making the Monitor Hole

Now to make a hole for your monitor. Measure the monitor you are going to use and put the measurements in this calculator.

Once you have done that, make a sketch on the face that you want your monitor to be on and draw a rectangle with the same length and height as your monitor.

Now press "Sketch Dimension" and measure the distance between the edge of the panel and your rectangle you drew, do this on all 4 sides of the rectangle. When you try to create a sketch dimension on the side that doesn't have a sketch dimension but the side opposite it does. a pop up will appear saying "Over-constrained sketch" Press "Create driven" and you will be fine. It doesn't matter if the rectangle isn't centered yet, I will show you how to easily center it.

Select one of the Sketch Dimensions and it should show a number down the bottom of the screen. E.g.d58.

Now select the Sketch dimension on the other side of the square and type that number into it. Do this for the other 2 Sketch dimensions using a different Number. for example, if I centred my rectangle between both the sides of the panel but not the top and bottom, I would select the top or bottom Sketch Dimension and put that Sketch dimensions number into the other Sketch dimension. If all went well your rectangle should now be centred

You now need to extrude the Rectangle, Press "Extrude" then select the rectangle, make the distance in the side panel -(your board thickness) E.g. -18mm

Step 18: It's the Final Product (🎶do, La-do-do🎶)

You should now have finished this section of your 3D Arcade Cabinet model! There is still things you need to do for your cabinet (holes for controls, back door), but this should give you the basic design. I have attached my model down below for reference. Or if you just can't be bothered to make your own / Don't have the time. then you can just use my model.

I hope this Instructible helped you and that you will join me in building your own. Thank you!