The Revolve tool in Fusion 360 is one of those features that feels like magic the first time you use it. While Extrude pushes a shape in a straight line, Revolve spins a shape around an axis to create perfectly symmetrical rotational bodies. Anything round — a shaft, a wheel, a bottle, a gear hub, a pulley — can be created in seconds using Revolve. What Does the Revolve Tool Do? Revolve takes a 2D sketch profile and rotates it around a central axis to create a 3D solid body. Imagine drawing half the outline of a wheel on paper, then spinning that outline around a center line — the result is a perfect 3D wheel. That is exactly what Revolve does. How to Open the Revolve Tool Go to Solid in the top menu and click Revolve from the dropdown list. You can also right-click on a sketch profile and select Revolve from the context menu that appears. There is no default keyboard shortcut for Revolve, but you can assign one in Fusion 360 keyboard settings if you use it often. Step by Step — How to Use Revolve Step 1 — Create a Sketch Revolve works differently from Extrude. You only need to draw half of your shape — the other half is created automatically by the rotation. Click Create then Sketch. Select a plane and draw the profile of one side of your shape. Make sure your profile is on one side of the axis line — not crossing it. Click Finish Sketch when done. Step 2 — Open Revolve Go to Solid → Revolve in the top menu. Step 3 — Select Your Profile Click on the sketch profile you want to revolve. It will highlight in blue. Step 4 — Select the Axis This is the key step. Click on the line or edge you want to revolve around. This is your center axis. You can use: A sketch line you drew as your axis. An existing edge on a body. One of the default origin axes (X, Y or Z axis). Step 5 — Set the Angle By default Fusion 360 revolves the profile 360 degrees — a full rotation. You can change this to any angle you want. For example, set 180 degrees to get half a cylinder, or 90 degrees for a quarter turn shape. Step 6 — Choose the Operation Just like Extrude, you can choose: New Body to create a fresh 3D object. Join to add onto an existing body. Cut to remove material from a body. Intersect to keep only the overlap. Step 7 — Click OK Your rotational 3D shape is created instantly. When to Use Revolve Instead of Extrude This is a question many beginners ask. The answer is simple. Use Extrude when your shape is straight and has a uniform cross section — like a box, a plate or a rectangular bracket. Use Revolve when your shape is round or cylindrical — like a shaft, a ring, a wheel hub, a knob or a bowl. Revolve gives you perfect symmetry every time without any manual work. Revolve vs Extrude for Gears For basic spur gears you would typically use Extrude. But for the center hub or bore of a gear, Revolve is the better choice because it gives you a perfectly round cylindrical hub in seconds. Many professional Fusion 360 designers combine both tools — Extrude for the outer shape and Revolve for internal round features. Tips That Will Save You Time Always draw your profile on one side of the axis. If your sketch crosses the axis line, Revolve may produce unexpected results or fail entirely. Keep your profile closed. Just like Extrude, Revolve needs a fully closed sketch profile to work correctly. Use the angle control to create partial revolutions. This is great for making curved channel shapes, partial rings and decorative features. If you want a hollow cylinder, draw two parallel lines as your profile with a gap between them. When revolved, the gap becomes the hollow section. Common Mistakes Beginners Make Profile crosses the axis. This is the most common Revolve mistake. Always keep your sketch profile on one side of the axis line only. No axis selected. You must select an axis for Revolve to work. If you forget to pick one, Fusion 360 will ask you to select it before proceeding. Sketch not closed. Same rule as Extrude — your sketch profile must be fully closed with no gaps. A Real World Example Say you want to model a simple shaft for a stepper motor coupler. Draw a vertical line down the center as your axis. Then draw the cross section profile of your shaft to the right of that line — a rectangle with rounded corners perhaps. Open Revolve, select the profile, select the center axis line and click OK. Your perfectly round shaft is created instantly. Change the dimensions in your sketch and the shaft updates automatically — that is the power of parametric design. Save Time with Ready-Made Scripts Modeling rotational parts manually takes time and practice. If you want professional parametric results instantly, FusioScripts has you covered. Our free Fusion 360 Python scripts generate gears, shafts, motor mounts and more automatically — no manual sketching or revolving needed. Just copy the script, paste it into Fusion 360 and your part appears in seconds. 👉 fusioscripts.com