Milling a simple Square Block into a Cylinder with 4th Axis

[power64]

Dear Support & Community,

How does one go about milling a square stock rotating about a 4th Axis into a cylinder?  There appears to be a multi-axis "Rotary" capability that might work, however it is not included with the paid Fusion 360 and requires a extension.  The wrap tool-path for 2D appears to be a possible way around this however it always assumes a cylinder to start with and ignores the square stock.

If I'm having this many problems milling a cylinder, it make me really question if the paid Fusion 360 software is capable of loading a somewhat complex 3D STL mesh model and eventually milling an object using 4th axis or 5th axis simultaneously from square stock.  

Thanks.

[seth.madore]

If you have a 5 axis machine, the Machining Extension is almost a no-brainer, there are just so many good tools to be had in it. Additionally, I guarantee that it's going to become more powerful over time, further increasing it's value.

There are limited options in "base" Fusion, such as 2D Pocket > Wrap, that "may" get you something close. For 3+1 machining, you can position the A axis and perform 3D Machining, repeating that process around the part as needed.

[power64]

Seth, this is not an acceptable solution and I'm sorry if the industry standard is that one should be paying $2000 each year for their CAM software or $20,000 every 10 years of use.

The Paid $500/year Base model of Fusion 360 advertises "see what's included", and clearly states 4th axis and 5th axis machining and mill turning, which one can infer to mean simultaneous machining.    There are also Autodesk tech notes in Oct 2020 stating that the non-paid hobbyist version has been reduced in functionality over the paid version to be only 2.5 axis milling & 3 axis milling.   This again implies that the paid version supports the 4th and 5th axis machining.  The agent who signed me up also stated that Fusion 360 paid supports 4th and 5th axis.

From all videos I can find from 2018 and 2019 of Fusion 360 and Fusion 360 Ultimate, it appears that Rotary was included in those versions before being turned into pay to use, and then Flow was included under multi-axis but removed, and then there was hope that a 3+2 work around might be using Steep and Shallow, but alas this once free milling option has also turned into a paid add-on now.  So again I ask, where is the 4th axis and 5th axis machining promised and advertised for the base Fusion 360?   I want to import 3D STL statue models and cut them on 4th  and 5th axis in Fusion 360 and not using some bizarre and manual process to machine 3 + 1 by milling 3-axis, turning the part 45 degrees and repeating.   

If this is not possible, then it is not clearly stated anywhere under the Fusion 360 sign-up and the current page is VERY misleading and borders on false advertising, especially if that functionality existed in previous versions of Fusion 360 and was removed in newer paid versions.  I have invested hundred of hours into learning Fusion 360, additional time to design and set up a multi-axis Fusion simulation machine from scratch, and I hope that I'm wrong.

[seth.madore]

It is true that there is currently 4 axis (wrap toolpath) and 5 axis Contour and Swarf included in the subscription. Nothing beyond that is suggested. Rotary or Steep and Shallow were available as a "Preview" feature that clearly stated that they were going to be an Extension item, as indicated by this disclaimer when activating them:

Personal use doesn't support Tool Orientation, so 3+1, 3+2 machining is significantly cumbersome.

I invite you to seek out any other legal CAD/CAM package that offers what you're looking for in what you feel is a fair price. Let me know what you find, I'd be interested to hear of your success. The last time I priced out MasterCAM and SW, I was pushing close to 10k purchase, plus another 2k a year on maintenance.

 

[power64]

Thanks for getting back Seth.

So excluding cutting along a contour line, I will never be able to cut a face or curved surface (not a contour line) in 4th or 5th axis, basically no ability to cut 3D shapes?  Where is the promised "mill turning" feature?  I hardly think a contour line counts a face or tangential surface?

Is not the wrap tool path technically a 3 + 1 implementation and not true 4-axis.  In other word, one could never cut out the Chess piece of a Knight as the cutting head cannot move off from the center axis of rotation?

[seth.madore]

If you have some sample images of parts you have in mind, I can advise you better as to whether or not core Fusion can solve for it.

[hyperbolicindustries]

If you are going to be doing exclusively 3D organic shapes I would figure the machining/rotatory extension would be worth it. Otherwise plain Fusion is quite capable in 3D organic machining even when there can be some improvements, or maybe im just even missing some settings. But I have both made 3D "sculptures" as well as at least programed others even if I didn't have a machine to make them right now. 

Lions head is just 3+2 machining, I think I could have done some simultaneous work but the controller was limited to 3+2.

 

And I have programmed Pickle Rick as 3+2 with the deficiency being that you cant seem to specify an offset to cut with the side of the ball mill rather than the tip. You can do that with the Rotary extension but I did not/would not buy that for a 1 off hobby use.

Rotary3+2 

[power64]

Thanks hyperbolicindustries for the examples.  That's a gorgeous Lion Head!

I would like to cut Organic STL object shapes primarily on the 4th axis and occasional 5th axis work.  For 3 +2 machining, does one have to setup a 3-axis cut over one side of a part, and then rotate manually using the machine controls and then apply the next 3-axis cut or does Fusion control the A-Axis? Does Fusion 360 know where the square stock is located as it rotates the a-axis or must the stock be cylindrical?   Is there a way to do all roughing cuts from different angles in one operation and then perform a tool change to perform the finishing cuts for each angle?  Which Fusion 360 cut methods are you employing for 3+2, such as 3D Adaptive, and then repeating that toolpath for each new angle? 

Seth, I just wanted to cut 3D organic models in Fusion 360 and have little interest in cutting contours, hence the frustration when the 4th and 5th axis included with the base Fusion only support this type of cut.  Can 3 + 1 wrap cut organic object faces or must it also only follow a contour line or outline?  

[hyperbolicindustries]

"does Fusion control the A-Axis?"

-Yes, it looks at the difference between the initial setup and the tool orientation per operation.

"Does Fusion 360 know where the square stock is located as it rotates the a-axis or must the stock be cylindrical?"

-Fusion does, but its really up to your control on whether you have tool center point control (TCP) or have to setup the origin per face or at the centerline of rotation. Your stock can be whatever, the lion head example started out as a cube.

"Is there a way to do all roughing cuts from different angles in one operation and then perform a tool change to perform the finishing cuts for each angle?"

-Maybe just a different in nomenclature but you can rough all the different sides then switch to finishing. But each face/angle roughing is a different operation. But you can doo all roughing then all finishing. Or rough, finish, rough, finish for that matter though you generally need the clearance from the roughing of everything before you finish.

"Which Fusion 360 cut methods are you employing for 3+2, such as 3D Adaptive, and then repeating that toolpath for each new angle?"

-Yep

Wrap is the 4 axis version of 2D contour you need a curve/line to be able to control that, but the above examples are done without wrap.