I'm designing a router gantry with a core X-Z kinematic. I'm using some components that I CAD myself in Fusion360 and some that I import such as servo motors etc. I'm having serious workflow issues when it comes to getting this modeled in a way that works and a way that is maintainable / adjustable.
I've been giving fusion360 my honest best for a little over a year because I love having access to CAM and I hate the SW license/screw-the-customer model. I also enjoy the python API of which I've made great use. However, I'm having real problems getting done what I need to get done here. Is there an expert around that is interested in some consulting? I think I may need an hour or two of screensharing and recommendations from a true expert. Let me list a couple quick hurdles here and if any of you experts have recommendations and are interested in some consulting please get in touch.
- The servo I'm inserting has a timing belt pulley that I mate to it's output shaft. I need to align this pulley to other components. It's not that I want it jointed to other components either. I just need it to remain aligned as I move other things around. This alignment is essentially to keep the belt centered on the servo pulley as well as other pulleys in the design. If I change the pulley I want various other components to change so as to keep everything aligned.
- The gantry is mounted on a piece of 4x6 box tube. Let's say I change the 4x6 (down the road) because I want more stiffness. I want everything to update. As of now I think everything explodes.
- This is a bit of a mishmash of top-down and bottom-up design and it sure seems to me the F360 workflow just doesn't play well here. While I really like the concept of joints, they seem to be extremely limiting in practice.
If you're a pro, and an advocate of Fusion360 please direct-message me. I'm happy to pay for some consulting and get this sorted out, or I need to cut my losses and move back to SW where these sorts of things are not only easy, but intuitive. I've got a few days to get this working so get in touch soon. I'm trying to get my company to move to F360 and away from SW, but I've got to be able to demonstrate to colleagues that it makes sense to do so. As of now I can't even convince myself of that let alone anyone else.
What is strange to me is that in many ways F360 works really well for top-down components/assemblies with just a few parts whose sizes are based on just a few underlying sketches. Where I'm blown away is how hard it is to do a bottom-up design, which is often necessary with using real-world commerical-off-the-shelf parts.
Someone please help me
-Marc
