I have been working toward learning Fusion 360 with great difficulty. The Autodesk and YouTube video tutorials are overwellming for a beginner. The Autodesk website is a bear to navigate; it's as complicated as the programs. I need the very basics, i.e. how to select and duplicate and object, change the dimensions of an object, etc. Where can I get non-video tutorials/books for Fusion 360? Thank you fro your help and advice.
+1 for NYC CNC, once you get the knack of 360 it flows and you can knock out models quickly, the cam is highly advanced My latest model uses domed text by using the fillet rule, took a while but it all fell into place
Thanks to all the above for your help and advice. David, I'll be sure to go to NY/CNC. JustinTime, it's nice to have a kindred spirit; and I thought it was just my old age. Flash22, if you will, please educate me on "domed text" and "fillet rule'. Thanks. I have requested some AutoCAD books from the library. I hope they will help with Fusion 360. I'll let you know. Keep me in mind, I'm still looking for a few good books. Thanks, folks, Tom
you know what a fillet or chamfer does, a rule fillet allows you to fillet multiple body's/sketches at once sketch out the text, pull/extrude the text to the desired height, Then use the rule fillet - this does seem to work better with bold text I'm still learning myself as I come across things I want to do and finding out how to do them, I will be doing some 3d printing soon so modelling skills will be useful The cad Is my steepest learning curve at the moment a 3d model I made with 3d contour toolpaths comes out 127,000 lines of g-code
there are lots on autodesk's site, if you run through fusion 360 it does tell what every button and setting does just by holding the mouse over it what's useful if you have a head like a sieve Learning | Autodesk Fusion 360
I've just watched a ton of tutorials this week and can put simple stuff together, but for the heck of it I can not figure out how to assemble ready made parts like from the Openbuilds parts libraries (or how to make those V-Slots parts shorter for example)... Guess I need to watch some more. Flash22, do you have Openbuilds sketches and parts for Fusion 360 you can share?
Up until now, I've been using SketchUp for designing parts. Only for my 3D printer, but I've recently ordered an OX and one of the parts I want to make on the OX requires 3D vs 2.5D, so I thought it would be best to start the transition to Fusion 360 since it seems better suited to where I'm wanting to go with part design. I attempted to use it a few months ago, but since I didn't have a reason to switch my mindset from SketchUp to Fusion, I just stayed with SU and it's limitations. But I've been watching NYC CNC videos as well as Fusion 360 posted videos on youtube, and I've been able to start producing parts with it now. It took a little bit to get into the pattern of create a body, sketch on the face, push pull things, rinse and repeat. Nothing too complicated, but there are things I really love about it, such as being able to go back 10 steps, alter a value because I didn't quite get it right the first time, then all the other steps adjust and off I go. Still just using it for printing, so haven't done the CAM portion yet, but at least once I start on that, I'll be mostly familiar with the CAD side and can focus only on the CAM functionality. Of course, I'm only scratching the surface of what it can do on the CAD side, so I look forward to learning more advanced techniques as I go along.
Why would the OX not be usable for 3D work? XYZ axis is all you need, isn't it just a matter of the CAM software and controllers you're using?
Justin is right, in that 2.5d is really what the OX can do as it can only cut one z height per x,y coordinate. And my use of 3d was technically incorrect. The problem is it's not quite that simple. The creator of SketchUCam suggested that the part I want to build would be best done using 3d and thus I used that term here. When you need to carve a full surface at various contours, using SketchUCam is not the best solution, even though it may technically be possible if you had enough time. I'm still building my OX, so time will tell how easy it will be to mill the part I've designed. I'm sure it'll take a few separate passes with a few different bits to do the various steps. It'll be interesting to see if I can figure it out without calling a professional.
I've been 'learning' Fusion 360 lately and watching some videos. It will do 3D tool paths very easily. It's free for hobbyists, will create gcode, run simulations, etc. It really looks fantastic.
I converted the SolidWorks parts provided by Mark to Fusion360 parts. My "training" was just watching Youtube tutorial videos. I haven't gotten the hang of motion on assemblies yet... BTW - Does anyone have 8mm Acme Lead Screw 1040mm and 540 mm parts in SolidWorks (or Fusion)?
I created the final design of a skid plate for my kart, and it's not the easiest of parts to machine. I think I have 4 tool changes required. I wouldn't say it was trivial to create the tool paths for this part, but it was also the first part I attempted to make tool paths for. Of course, I did it for the sole purpose of the challenge and to make sure I could figure out how to get it done. While I've yet to actually get my OX built and thus have not even attempted to run the tool paths yet, the fact that I was able to make the tool paths virtually do what I would think is a good set of steps that would result in a usable part is quite satisfying. The big question I still have is whether my speeds and feeds are even close to being usable. That's still the scary part to me as I've never used CNC anything before, so it should be a fun next couple months once I finish my build. Here's a picture of a 'chamfer' tool path. It's not a simple chamfer as it's quite deep so it takes multiple passes using a smaller bit. Keep in mind, I have no idea if this is the right way to do this, but it looks like it could end up cutting something useful when it's done. It took me a number of tries to get the right set of edges selected in the right way to end up with this set of tool paths. Kudos to Autodesk for making it possible for the DIY crowd to use their tool to learn something like this. Fusion 360 tutorials are also a great resource.
Could you give a quick run-down of how you created that toolpath? I've been having issues with deep chamfers and I can't get it to make multiple passes like your screenshot. Is that just a 3d contour action?
Regarding making V-Slot parts shorter, I have uploaded a F360 Screencast that demonstrates how to import a part, project the parts outline to a sketch, copy the sketch, open it in a new design, and pull it to a desired length. NOTE: there is a weird work around; you have to make a line to enable paste to work. This trick was posted on the F360 Forum... can't find the link. Regarding F360 OB parts. Dileo posted a ZIP with files for a C-Beam Assembly - Fusion 360 & STP.
Autodesk Community > Fusion 360 > Computer Aided Machining (CAM) > CNC 101 CNC 101 - Autodesk Community 30 minute video explaining the basics of CNC machining followed by several Pier 9 training videos.
