I built a Fusion 360 library of parametric SHCS, dowels, and PEMs with drop-in clearance/tap-hole patterns, and it let me turn a napkin sketch into chips on a VF-2 in about 3 hours Tuesday night… If you want the F3D + hole chart (ANSI B18.3; dowels +0.0002/+0.0004), I’ll share — and I’m all ears for better data to fold.
I built a similar Fusion library and the one thing that saved me grief was disabling the Hole feature’s automatic “chamfer” for PEM holes and pulling the exact drill sizes straight from https://www.pemnet.com so the clinch ring bites right. Small caveat: if you’re anodizing, add about 0.001 in to your dowel ream param or pins will stick after finish.
Tying PEM features to a ‘sheet_thk’ user parameter has saved me — counterbores/countersinks update when I swap material, and naming holes with the exact drill like ‘#7 0.2010’ makes Manufacturing pick the right tool instead of a 5.1 mm. For dowels at +0.0002/+0.0004, my VF‑2 holds size only if I predrill about 0.010 under, ream dry, and avoid Fusion’s default ‘chip breaking’ cycle that tends to open them a tenth. If you drop the F3D, I’ll add my ANSI B18.3 tap chart with min engagement calc.
I drive each PEM from a ce_min parameter pulled from PEM’s design guide and add a sketch constraint so it flags if I crowd an edge; it’s saved a couple scrap panels. Small caveat: Fusion will keep a tip on ‘drill’ cuts — model dowel reams as flat-bottom so CAM doesn’t sneak a cone; ref: https://www.pemnet.com/design-guides/ @norwalk.
“Napkin sketch into chips” resonates; add finish_thk to oversize taps post-anodize so ANSI B18.3 SHCS don’t bind.