Fusion360 CAM tutorial

One of the best “getting started with Fusion 360 CAM” tutorials I’ve seen.

NYC CNC

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Agreed - NYC CNC basically taught me how to use F360 through their Fusion Friday videos. Best way to get started.

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The look and feel of Fusion is daunting when compared to Vectric offerings… those of you that have chosen 360 and come in as newbs, how do you find the learning materials to help you out? It seems much harder to find tutorials focused on the type of work most of us probably make with out SHapeoko or similar machines ( i.e. cabinetry, boxes, artistic signage ) … I am still holding back on buying VCarve but it just seems like the best option for quickly learning what I need to learn to be up and running full speed.

I am going to finish my morning coffee now and watch this video though and hope for a new source that might focus less on manufacturing type CAD/CAM and more on an artistic approach.

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My 2cents: I love/hate F360. It is a tremendously capable suite of software. But, the learning curve is very steep. And it’s engraving capabilities are not the best. Still, I find I use it for most of my SO3 and Woodworking projects.
I finally bit the bullet late last year and purchased VCarve Desktop. And soon upgraded to Pro. Perfect for cutting reliefs and, as you would imagine, v-carving.
You’ll end up buying VCarve, might as well do it now.

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Also, check out Lars’ YouTube channel for F360: https://www.youtube.com/user/cadcamstuff

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I don’t disagree entirely, but it depends a lot on what kind of stuff you’re trying to make. I find that vcarve, although well suited for signs and engraving, just isn’t much help when I’m trying to build parts that fit together. I need an actual CAD package. That it’s got CAM in it (really great CAM, by the way) for free is icing on the cake. Meshcam seems to be able to come up with a workable toolpath for pretty much everything I’ve thrown at it, but doesn’t offer the same level of control as I can get out of Fusion. It’s not for everyone, and it’s certainly not where I started. I wouldn’t recommend -anyone- get started with Fusion. BUT, when you run out of capabilities elsewhere, it has them, and works quite well. There are -extensive- tutorials (for a lot of things) on the autodesk site and they focus mainly on how the tools work, not so much the projects themselves. There are some really good ones on youtube as well (Lars, NYC CNC are two of my favorites) for lots of different kinds of projects.

Again, I wouldn’t recommend anyone use Fusion as their first dip into CAM with a new SO. Parametric modeling is awesome, once you learn how to manage it well (just like writing code, it’s not so much the code itself, but how you structure). It is a great tool once you start getting into the kinds of projects that Carbide Create or VCarve just aren’t built to do. It’s massive overkill for projects like simple engraving that can be done much more easily with other tools. It’s not where I would start someone that is new to a CNC router.

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Mikep is spot on.
It all depends on what you want to CNC.
F360 is great for a great many projects, not yet good for engraving (I don’t know if that is even on the roadmap).
I have been working with Surface and parametric solid modeling apps since 1994. The transition to learning CAM has been, at least for me, a good transition. I’ve been learning a lot about work holding, which has been the biggest challenge lately. I am always learning and hope that doesn’t stop.

Based on the comments made here before and my “gut” I purchased VCarveP… maybe someday 360 will make more sense to me.

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