Fusion 360 For Hobbyist

Ken, you might also look at Onshape cad. It runs on your browser, chrome or firefox, so no software download. With the free version your files are out on the web so if you need to keep them private this won't work for you.
 
I agree with all of what you are saying, the OP was "Cad for a Hobbyist", I merely think that Fusion is overkill for this application, a nice simple 2D package fits the bill, in the past Autodesk had a product called Autosketch which was a stripped down version of Autocad 9 I believe, it was as simple as pie (no pun intended) to use, would run on a consumer 386/486 machine with minimal RAM.
I am still running AutoSketch 9 here and it does the job very nicely. It's great for anything I need to do. Autosketch 10 was the final version, and it is no longer available from Autodesk, although it is available from some aftermarket vendors yet for $80. It does not do full blown 3D, but it is capable of drawing some 3D objects as 3D extrusions.
 
Does anyone know of a utility software that will convert AutoSketch 9 files to a DWG or DXF drawing file? I have about 300 files I would like to convert over someday. Ken
 
Well, I tried it. It will not open skf file I have. Would not even recognize the file ending. It may have something to do with the version the file is in. If I get some time in the future, I'll mess with it. For now I have to move on to bigger and better things. Thanks all for your help. Ken
 
I feel like the hobbyist has just as much use for CAD/CAM as a professional.

I used an early Alibre Design a few years ago (now called Geomagic). I found that having something to model object in 3D was immensely helpful as I had trouble visualizing how things could or would look when fit together and in various perspectives. At that time, I was able to run it on my laptop. Once that laptop crashed, I waited too long to replace it. By the time I did, Alibre had changed and it was no longer in my budget. I think at the time it was something like $190 but I don't remember for sure.

The other thing it had that was really beneficial was the ability to animate moving parts. Not being an engineer or having a math or physics background, there wasn't really any way I could predict motion ratios. It was helpful to design the parts, put them together and watch the operation. I could then make adjustments as necessary.

Last year, I was shopping around for another program and came across Fusion 360. Looked like a good deal. I bought a refurbed desktop that I thought would work but it the software wouldn't run worth a toot. As I recall, my desktop only met the minimum requirements, which apparently was not enough.

Forgot one other thing...I was trying to go through the tutorials and there was a command that it would not even execute. Can't remember what it was but it stopped me dead. Gave up on it and uninstalled it.
 
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Just thought I'd throw this into this thread - I have been using Fusion 360 (still learning!) and feel it is worth the effort if you are doing CNC, for the simple reason that it integrates Solid Modeling and CAM into a single package. It also let's you easily generate paper drawings with dimensions and multiple views from the 3d model easily. There is a real learning curve - don't get me wrong. But the fact that it is free to the hobbyist and constantly improving and adding capabilities makes it worth it o me. On another note, if you do not qualify for the free version, I just received a couple codes good only on January 24 and 25 2017 that will let you buy Fusion 360 for $100 for 1 year (promo code is fusionjan1yr) and 2 years for $120 (promo code is fusionjan2yr). That is a discount of 60% and 80% respectively. Dan
 
Just thought I'd throw this into this thread - I have been using Fusion 360 (still learning!) and feel it is worth the effort if you are doing CNC, for the simple reason that it integrates Solid Modeling and CAM into a single package. It also let's you easily generate paper drawings with dimensions and multiple views from the 3d model easily.

I have been trying to learn Fusion 360 for a while now. Seems like when I think I'm good progress, some issue will stump me and I will come to an abrupt halt. I do find the 360 forum a valuable resource.
So, how do you generate paper drawings from your 3D views with dimensions. I was actually considering going back to a 2D just because of that.
 
It is pretty easy - in the Model space, right click on the header under the browser that is the title of your project and select Create drawing - a dialog box will come up to let you select units of measure, sheet size, and title block. Click Ok and you will see the blank sheet appear and the primary (front) view will show up at the scale it thinks is best suited (you can override that). Place the view where you want it on the sheet. There are options to create additional views, detail views, sections, etc in the drawing space. Here is a link to ge you started. https://knowledge.autodesk.com/supp...drawing-from-your-CAD-file-in-Fusion-360.html Remember that the 3d design is refered to as a model and the paper output is refered to as a drawing when searching for things on fusion 360.
 
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