Add tiling to CAM for stock larger than machine

[stevempotter]

I would like to engrave text across a piece of wood several feet across, using the Handibot and Fusion 360 CAM. The Handibot's cutting area is only 6"W x 8"H, and most users use Vcarve Pro on a PC to do this (I want to use my Mac), because Vectrix made a tiling feature for it that works well.

The operation gets automatically divided up into a numbered series of toolpaths that allow users to move the handibot over one tile (using an indexing jig that can be bought or made) to carve the next 6x8" tile.

I have asked the CAM Forum and as of Sept. 27, 2016, it seems Fusion 360 does not have any easy way to divide a job into tiles of equal size, in such a way that the boundaries come out OK and the tool does not try to go past the machine boundaries.

I see that some of the CAM operations have a "stock boundary" option, so why doesn't the ENGRAVE operation have that?

[LibertyMachine]

I think this would be an awesome long-term addition to the software, especially as it works it's way into the hands of hobbyists with limited equipment (size wise)

[davideshay]

I also have a Handibot, and have transitioned almost 100% to Fusion 360 instead of vCarve, but for larger stock/projects this will be a problem.

[stevempotter]

I am afraid that with Carl Bass no longer at the helm, Autodesk has given up on hobbyist makers and CAM.

Is there anyone home?

How many votes does it take to get such an easy bit of code written?

[LibertyMachine]

@stevempotter I don't think that's a fair assessment on Autodesks position or outlook on what is needed to implement this. 

1) By maintaining a "free-to-use" software for hobbyists and makers, they still obviously are interested in maintaining a relationship. Otherwise, they could just turn everything into a "for-profit" product.

2) The list of good ideas to bring into the software is HUGE. What gets priority, what gets the backburner?

3) For the time being, other software will be the better choice if this functionality is paramount to your operation as a shop 🙂