Serious question on 360 CAM

[imechura]

I know this might seem strange but this is a serious question I have. 

Is anyone actually successfully using fusion 360 in a CAD CAM Post workflow to make complex parts in a commercial production environment on 3 axis machining center?

The reason I ask is because when I have attempted for about 6 months straight nearly everything except the simplist of parts ran into issues during production.

This was for both my 3 axis machine center and my turning center. I have had to resort to hand writing gcode which is a pain but I am able to make quality parts without issue that way. 

Latley I've reduced my fusion 360 usage to just creating 3d models and prints to share with customers during the estimation/approval process.

In fact I have failed on and lost work on several occasions due to these issues and I know I could have hand coded the parts if I had taken the time.

Im not here to bash and I don't want to hurt anyones feelings but I do want some closure to the last 6 to 8 months I have spent banging my head against the wall due to these issues. 

I've decided to shut down my machine shop for a while so I can figure this out. I have to determine if this is a fusion 360 issue. Maybe the entire concept of the cad cam post run workflow is all hype? Maybe it's my equipment or maybe it's me.

I look forward to hearing any supporting or dissenting stories you have to offer. 

[daniel_lyall]

What would help us to help you can you post some models you are having problems with, To attach a file Go to File -> Export and save as a .F3D Archive File and attach it to your next post, if you can not post the file you can PM it to me or say in your next post you can not post the file and one of the Guys that do NDA work will help.

[seth.madore]

@imechura Yes, there are many small and medium sized shops using Fusion 360 on a daily basis. 2, 3, 4, and 5 axis machines. I'm truly sorry to hear that you've struggled for so many months and are now faced with closing your shop.

Looking at your posting history, you've only come to the forums a couple of times, looking for help with an Acramatic post processor. Is that where the majority of your issues are stemming from?

[DarthBane55]

Yep, using it for 95% of our milling work, 3 to 5 axis milling (ok, for serious 5 axis we have another software, which is that 5% missing).  We also have another software for turning which is more advanced, but turning is coming along in Fusion and we will revisit it at one point, we'd prefer to have only 1 system for everything).  It saves us time in programming due to its simplicity, but still does the job fine.  Been using it (mostly Inventor CAM, which is identical to Fusion CAM) for about 3-4 years now.  There are a few compromises to make, there is a lack of total control over some toolpaths, but after you accept this, it does the job just fine.  Highly recommend.

[zwelsh91]

By "CAD CAM Post workflow" I am assuming you are referring to: CAD, CAM, Post, Run workflow. Meaning you post clean ready to run code and run it start to finish on your machines? I have been using Fusion for almost 3 years now and have been able to make all types of simple to complex parts on my machines with the work flow of Post and Run. In order to get to that point I had to develop my post processors to reliably put out the code in a format that I wanted and tailored my workflow in fusion to compliment it.

    My thoughts are that it most certainly can be done. the importance of using simulate and interrogating your toolpaths (both in simulate and viewing them in the graphics window) can not be overstated. One of the major challenges facing any shop or individual is getting to the point where you can, as I say "Post and Go". In experience and practice, whoever is doing the programming of the job needs to be diligent and thorough in what they do for this to work. I remember being in a hurry early in my career and doing the "Fire Drill" from the office to the machine many times before the process was explained to me that the largest percent of a good program is taken care of on the PC and the rest is usually speed and feed changes at the machine (don't forget to record those and update your CAM to match at the end of the job).  There are many more factors at play when you do Post and Go, but the core is there Patience, Diligence and Thoroughness. If your CAM is incomplete your program will be that way on the machine.

[mathew.hutton]

Hi @imechura 

To answer your question, yes Fusion 360 is fully capable at assisting you with CAD/ CAM workflows for a commercial production environment. As part of my job, I am required to use Fusion 360 to produce components of various complexity on various machines; 3 axis mills, 5 axis mills, turn-mills, mill-turn centres. Based on our experiences of using the software to machine these complex components, we relay our feedback to the development teams so we can potentially make the process easier within Fusion 360, or, add new functionality to the software to aid manufacturing processes. I’ve attached a few pictures of some of the components we have made in our Birmingham Tech centre just to show you what Fusion was capable of about a year ago. A lot of improvements and new functionality have gone into the software since then, which means making complex components such as in the attached images, is now even easier. I would definitely suggest spending some time to sift through some video tutorials and have a go following the instructions. As @seth.madore  has pointed out, it may be that you are struggling with post processor issues. This obviously impacts your workflow. If you are experiencing issues with the post processor you are using, don’t be afraid to reach out, the post authors within Autodesk are extremely helpful and will go out of their way to assist you.

Hope this helps and has put some of your doubts to rest,

Mat

[John_Wright]

Having no difficulty running 3 axis machines in production environment. I am a toolmaker and precision engineer and use fusion for all of the CAD/CAM jobs. I needed to do some re-coding of the Hurco 3axis postprocessor to remove some unwanted Mcodes, but other than that, no problems at all. Fantastic bit of software. 

[kelbie.ockey]

To echo other sentiments in this thread, lots of shops use F360 in a variety of applications in both prototyping applications (wide variety of one-off projects), to larger production applications like yours. 

Not having specific examples of issues you have run into, it's hard to say whether or not F360 is the appropriate tool for you. 

It might not be a bad idea for you to take a proper instructor-led F360 class from one of our partners. The overall issue could just be as simple as knowing the product a bit better. Either way, I would recommend getting more active on the forums as you run into issues, as there are a whole lot of very smart and very helpful members on this forum that are happy to help you resolve issues as they arise.