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How to Model multiple variations with machining in mind?
I am looking for input/advise on the best way to model a part with multiple variations with machining in mind.
What I have read/seen is great if your the engineer or designer, but not great if your the machinist.
One suggestion I received from an Autodesk employee, now that "save as" is fixed, is to save multiple iterations of the part. This works, and may be the best solution, but it gets very cumbersome with lots of part files. Additionally any changes made in the machining, setup, or otherwise to one part file, is not reflected in the other part files.
Another option I have read is various sections in the design history of suppressing certain features. This gets cumbersome, for me at least, I have not seen a clean approach to this yet, there very well may be a good example.
Another I have seen is to make a "parent part" and then in a new design derive multiples of the parent part making the various changes to each component. Some of the part variations are simple, minor dimensional changes, however, copying and pasting tool paths, then going through all the tool paths to fix the broken ones takes a considerable amount of time. For more complex variations that may include more complex dimensional changes reworking the programming can take hours.
Is anyone willing to offer insight on how they handle their design through to machining with part variations?
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Hi @M>oolWorks and thanks for posting.
Have you tried out the Manufacturing Working Model preview functionality? I believe it could be perfect for what you need to do. It will let you edit a "copy" of the original CAD model in the Manufacture workspace to help when creating toolpaths. To activate it, go to your Preferences -> Preview Features and activate "Manufacturing Working Model".
If you want to learn more about it, go to this link: https://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=Fusion_CAM_concepts_mm_model_html . Keep in mind it's still not 100% developed (that's why it's a preview), but it is working well and should help you sort your issues out.
Let me know if this helps.
Cheers
Paolo

Paolo Bastianelli
Technical Consultant
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Paolo,
Thank you for posting that, I have not heard of this feature before. It is an interesting feature, but not quite what I was referring to.
Fusion