Text won't extrude. SOLVED: Don't Explode TEXT - use as profile plane cutting tool

I have been trying to bridge the font Gabriola since it was discussed on another thread (It’s been awhile. Post those projects!) I have bridged them so they appear functional but once I use them in Fusion 360, there is a defect that limits the ability to act like the untouched letters.

At this point, all letters are exploded and “unfixed”. I then extrude. Every letter that has been bridged, does not extrude:

No matter how I try, I cannot select the letters from the sketch to do another extrusion. Now I revert all letters back to their “unexploded” state and extrude. Now I get a disc without any letters.

Here comes the money shot of this investigation. With three (clicks) I have selected all of the text for another extrusion:

Now the selection is used as a cutting tool in the body:

Voila:

So the moral of the story: If you have a font that you would like to use in Fusion360 and it is not acting as expected, use it as a cutting tool with your extrusion and it will work fine.

I actually learned this in one of Craig’s videos. Special thanks to: @holla2040

For anyone interested, here is that bridged Gabriola font (remove “pdf” from the file):
Gabriola_Bridged.ttf.pdf (3.7 MB)

5 Likes

Looking good!

1 Like

Hey Jim, nice tip. Using the Extrude a Profile Plane is how Tin solved a problem in my sketch yesterday when everything but the anchor feature extruded.

Can I make a suggestion?

For the purpose of future search results, you might call this something like “Text won’t extrude - Solved don’t explode text” or “Exploded text won’t Extrude - Solved use Profile Plane Extrude”. Anything that works in those key words in play here.

3 Likes

I’ve never exploded the text, I’ve always extruded through a plate then project plate onto new sketch. I prefer this approach because I fillet all plate corners. I probably learned this approach when I was working with a CNC wood router.

1 Like

On my 5th time viewing your video on bridging fonts, I finally realized that is what you did (No exploding of text). I was going to send you a message and ask what I was doing wrong with my font since it seemed correct but would not extrude properly. When I saw that maneuver I said “Ah ha! He would not be encountering this issue.”

Yes. Already made the change. I am going to act like I was planning to do it all along. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

3 Likes

Glad you got it. 5th time is always a winner.