Fusion 360 CAM and nesting

[cms9094]

Hey guys,

I was checking out Fusion 360 for it's CAM features, and while it's certainly a very powerful program, I need some software that can take my drawings and give me the ability to nest them onto a work area.

For example, let's say that my stock is 24"x48", and I want to place multiple drawings on that sheet. Am I able to do this with Fusion 360 CAM? Or, should I be looking elsewhere for this sort of support?

Our business is a startup, and we need some inexpensive software that can give us some basic nesting capabilities. I tried Fusion last night, went through the tutorial and learned how to create a toolpath. However, this was only with one part, and I need the ability to have miltiple parts on one stock piece. Is this possible with Fusion?

[curtis.chan]

Hello cms9094,

Great to hear you've been using CAM for Fusion 360!  In regards to your question about nesting, unfortunately we don't have that capability quite yet, but there are definitely some other approaches you can take.  

1. If you need to machine four (4) of the same part on a large piece of stock, feel free to copy and paste the parts; as well as the toolpaths for part as well.

2. If you're working with 'tombstone', you can take the same approach of copy and pasting toolpaths onto parts.

Let me know if this helps...if not, more than happy to jump on a GoToMeeting.

[jeff.walters]

I am assuming your main concern is nesting not the actual CAM function. We don’t have nesting support at the present. FusionCAM is more for milling from billet stock than sheet stock.

[cms9094]

Nesting is something we absolutely need right now. Unfortunately, we haven't found a piece of software that can do this AND be relatively inexpensive. 

I do love the features of Fusioon 360, but without nesting, I can't get the job done. 

Is there anything I can do here? How about an add-on program? Or, perhaps I can take the CAM data into another program and nest it that way? 

Just trying to figure out a solution. 

[jeff.walters]

How complicated is your nesting? Do you just want to do multiple parts on one sheet? Would a standard linear pattern work, or would you need part rotation and part in part nesting?

[cms9094]

I need to be able to place the part in different locations throughout the sheet. 

For example, one of my pieces is an odd shape. I have to place two of them next to each other, but with each one reveresed and 180 degrees, if that makes sense. So, I need the ability to rotate, and place the parts where I want them on the sheet. I also need the ability to make sure that they are far enough apart that the tool does not interfere with the previous cut. 

I could probably create a stock sheet in Fusion, and then copy/paste, but some of the parts are different shapes. I'm not sure if Fusion can handle multiple shapes in one stock sheet...

[jeff.walters]

You could definitely do it in the assembly  environment BUT it would be a manual operation.

[cms9094]

Manual is perfectly fine with me. I don't need automatic nesting. 

In fact, I don't like automatic nesting. I prefer manual nesting so that I can manipulate where each part goes. This is vital to how we cut our pieces. 

[jeff.walters · Accepted solution]

then working your parts as an assembly should work perfectly for you. 

[cms9094]

 Jeff, 

I haven't tried using the assembly feature yet. I will have to find a good tutorial on that. Does Fusion come with a tutorial on assembly? 

[curtis.chan]

Hello cms9094,

In regards to tutorials for working with Fusion 360, here's a list of new Quick Tips Videos that we just created and uploaded to YouTube today.  I recommend Section #06.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmA_xUT-8UlJpYbha60oAQMxFlBY371oZ

Hope this helps.

Best,

-Curtis

[cms9094]

So, is it possible to take the assembly into the CAM section of the program and cut the assembly as if it were a nested group? I assume this is what you're getting at.

[jeff.walters]

in this screenshot i created a simple L part, then put it in a new part a couple of time creating an "Assembly". i then went to CAM and created a contour and yes selected each parts edge for the geomitry. Then just hit the OK and this is the results. as i said we dont support any of the automatic nesting functions so cutting the paerts as a "group" isent supported. but once in the assembly you have full control over what you want to cut and how. 

[cms9094]

So basically, after you "assemble", or lay out the parts the way you want them in the assembly, you can take it to the CAM portion of the program, and it will cut your assembly as if it were one part. Is that what you mean? So basically, the CAM function only works for one part at a time. So, you can have it cut as many parts as you like, as long as you put them into an assembly first.

I think that's what you meant. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I'd really like to use Fusion because it is so powerful and rather inexpensive. It seems to be perfect for what we need to do, and if we have to use the assembly as a work-around for now, then that's fine by me 😉

[jeff.walters]

you can have it cut as many parts as you like, as long as you put them into an assembly first.

[cms9094]

Sounds great!

I think I will go ahead and give the assembly a shot. If it works out, I'll be buying Fusion 360 ultimate!

[jeff.walters]

Then I look forward to having you as a customer 🙂

[russtuff]

I have been playing with this too, and like it (already a customer). Question, If I have a model already CAM'd, can I copy/paste the model for multiple pieces and have the CAM for each one copied over too? When I am doing it now, I have to manually CAM each duplicate model in the assembly.

Thanks!

[yoshimitsuspeed]

It would be really nice if there was more of a manual nesting feature in CAM so you didn't need to clutter up your model with a big assembly of copies of parts.
It would be nice to just be able to move things around on a fixed plane. You could make your stock the size you want then just copy and move stuff around to fill it up.
Part if it may be my inexperience with assembly but option a. is to create a sheet and then mate everything to that sheet which is very time consuming giving it enough constraints to ensure it will be where you want, or you just have them floating in space and risk accidentally moving one off the work plane or something.

[jeff.walters]

While this sounds to me like a good enhancement request, once we get the HSM patterns two that will be of great use for this. I don’t normally talk about what isn’t in the software yet but … The Component Pattern and Duplication pattern will allow you to pattern the toolpaths from one instance to another regardless of the additional parts location or orientation.