I am studying Fusion 360 CAM and I have a project to help me learn that. I have challenged myself to design a box with 4 sides, bottom mitered and removable top; The corners will be mitered; Real simple. I have learned enough F30 to be able to make each part. But, CAM will be new.
After modelling I will have the parts. I will need to lay them on a plane for CAM. That way with a series of operations and without moving the stock I can cut them; and just change tools.
1) Should I start with sketching my sides, top and bottom on the plane arranged for CAM?
2) I don't know what part of F360 I can use to maintain the CAM arrangement of the bodies and create an assembled representation of them. Is there a way to reference the bodies in my design and arrange them as an assembled object?
Please, point me in the right direction and I will follow-through with studying more of the tutorials.
Ultimately I plan to design some wooden objects and then cut them on a CAM router.
Thank you, Tom Meyers
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Solved by etfrench. Go to Solution.
Solved by etfrench. Go to Solution.
I'm not done CAM things so fare and I'm not sure if I understood your question, but perhaps this might be something you're interested in:
Yes, that helps a lot and fits in well with the workflow that I think will be efficient.
workflow:
1) for each part:
1.1 Create component (could be top, side ...); sketch to body to component;
2) Create a component ( the 3d model ) and copy bodies to component (eg. front x1, back x1, side twice (L+R)
3) Mark all Joints I will be using
4) Join to make a model of the assembly
5) Create another component (the CAM model)
5.1 arrange all pieces for CAM operations
6) ... CAM ...
All works well except I had 2 problems.
1) Chamfer: I made a 45 degree 100% chamfer on a 4mm thich piece and made it 45deg + sqrt(32) long and it went well; later I made another on 4mm material and it required 45 deg and 4mm. Is my memory faulty? What is the length on a chamfer?
2) Move Component: I tried to position my components on the xy plane and a point on the corner of one component showed it being .017 above the plane so I moved the component -.017 but it would not go to zero above the plane (I tried other tricks but it outsmarted me every time). My memory is not faulty and I think it has to do with decimal points of accuracy (I suspect a bug). I was arranging parts on a plane for CNC.
Is my workflow optimal?
Thanks, Tom Meyers
Put step 2 before step 1, then you don't have to copy each part into the assembly component.
I'd create each unique piece in place. A simple box may not need joints.
After creating each piece, Copy|Paste (not Copy|Paste New) to the CAM component.
Use either the Align tool or a joint to ensure each part is on the same plane.
I can definitely say that a chamfer in 4mm thick material will not have a length of 4mm (depending on your definition of length ). Pythagorean theorem is your friend.
ETFrench
I would guess that creating joints will conflict with the nesting script. AFAIK it creates joins to join the parts to the bed / panel.
I was still confused by chamfer measurements because my intuition conflicted with the facts.
The fact is that a chamfer is measured by angle and depth. The length of the hypotenuse could have been used to specify a chamfer but it is not. In my design I have a chamfer at 45 degrees for the thickness of the material 8mm so 45 degrees and 8mm
Tom Meyers
Fusion 360 uses the term 'distance' not 'depth' or 'length'. Distance in Fusion 360 speak refers to the length of a leg, not the hypotenuse. It would be much less confusing if Fusion 360 used common terms.
Sorry if I mislead you earlier.
ETFrench
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