Fusion360 for hobby use

[bowderynman]

Am a retired professional engineer with a design background in airframe structures and Flight Test Instrumentation. I have used 2D AutoCAD for drafting plus Computer-vision and Catia for 3D solid modelling. Since retiring in 2003 I have adopted Sketchup as my software of choice, which I used for hobby projects including a some design work for family when extending their homes. I also joined  a retired men’s association, which has wood working facilities with a wide range of machinery making possible opportunities for many differing projects. A 3D printer has just been gifted to the group and I am keen to produce 3D models, in STL, format so they can be created on this printer. SU 2017 free version does  not allow boolean functions and also has been superseded. From my reading, Fusion 360 looks very promising, but many claim the learning curve is quite steep. As a practised user of various CAD platforms - albeit, only professionally until 2003 when I retired - I am hoping this learning curve will be much easier for me. Your advices would be appreciated. For interest, I am hoping to help those members of our association who have shown an interest, but have no previous CAD experience so they can create simple models for themselves, which can then be recreated on our 3D printer.

[seth.madore]

What sort of shapes are you looking to create? If they are extremely organic (along the lines of statues and other art), it can often be an exercise in frustration, and there are other platforms that might suit you better. On the other hand, if the items you have in mind are more prismatic in nature (rectangular/cylinder/triangular etc) then this can well be the package for you.

Is the learning curve steep? Well, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but had really little issue picking most things up. For reference, my experience was in SolidWorks and some early AutoCAD, as well as Esprit and MasterCAM.

Obviously, your mileage may differ, but I suspect that with your background in CAD, it shouldn't be too difficult to get into the swing of things. Just remember; Fusion is not SolidWorks or AutoCAD. There are going to be differences in workflows, just learn to work with it, not against it.

[TheCADWhisperer · Accepted solution]

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@bowderynman wrote:

I am hoping this learning curve will be much easier for me. Your advices would be appreciated.

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Geometry is geometry.  If you understand geometry then there should be no real difficulty.

1. Go through the tutorials linked upper right of interface.

2. Post your early attempts here after each and every sketch/feature for diagnosis and guidance by the experts here BEFORE developing inefficient sketching/modeling habits.

That is all there is to learning Fusion 360 (or any CAD) software.

If you understand terms like Origin, plane, line, arc, polygon, rectangle, horizontal, vertical, parallel, perpendicular, tangent and dimensions - you will do fine. 

Edit: If you have experience with Design for Manufacturability and Assembly and tolerances - you are already ahead of the class.

Edit 2: If you have experience setting a datum (home position, stop, fence - whatever you want to call your datum) on a milling machine, lathe, table saw or any power tool  - you will achieve expert status in no time.