Tab and Slot for Autodesk Fusion

Tab and Slot is a Fusion add-in I wrote for our own shop. Pick the end face of one part, pick the plate it lands on, click OK, and it builds a weld-ready tab and slot joint: tab, slot with clearance, corner relief holes and fillets on every corner, all as one editable feature in the timeline. It is what we use on every laser cut bracket that goes out of FDF Race Shop.

Get it

The add-in is on the Autodesk App Store, free for now. Search for Tab and Slot on apps.autodesk.com once the listing goes live, or grab the direct download here:

Download Tab and Slot 2.1.0 (zip, 26 KB)

Install from the zip

1. Unzip it. Inside is a folder called TabSlot.bundle. Open TabSlot.bundle, then Contents, and copy the TabSlot folder.

2. Paste that folder into your Fusion add-ins folder. On Windows it is %APPDATA%\Autodesk\Autodesk Fusion 360\API\AddIns. On Mac it is ~/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/API/AddIns.

3. Start Fusion. Open Utilities, then Add-Ins, then Scripts and Add-Ins. On the Add-Ins tab select Tab and Slot, tick Run on Startup, and click Run.

4. The command shows up under Create on both the Solid tab and the Sheet Metal tab.

How to use it

Select the thin end face of the part that gets the tab (you can select several on different parts), then select the face of the plate it lands on. Set tab width, tab height, clearance, relief size, fillet radius and the number, spacing and offset of tabs if the defaults do not suit, then click OK. Double-click the Tab and Slot feature in the timeline, or right-click it and choose Edit Tab and Slot, to change anything later.

Defaults: 0.75 in wide tab, tab height 75 percent of the mating plate thickness, 0.01 in clearance per side, 0.06 in reliefs and fillets.

Support and privacy

Questions or bugs: josiah@fdfraceshop.com. The add-in does not collect any data. Full details are on the Tab and Slot privacy policy page.