Experiential update.
Did a drawing in Sketchup and then imported it into Fusion 360 via a .dxf as a 2D drawing. Convenient for me to draw in Sketchup. Figured I would blow it up to 3D in Fusion 360 and use its CAM tools
This more or less worked, but I discovered a major issue with Sketchup. It has this habit of approximating arcs and sometimes circles with polylines. There's probably some optimization this allows them, but its unacceptable for CNC operations. You really want to preserve the primitives and let the machine controller do its thing with them.
I suspect this "optimization" is at least part of the reason for the dearth of CAM tools for Sketchup.
Back to the monumental learning curve of Fusion 360. Even though I've become somewhat competent with it, personally I think Sketchup is superior for sketching/thinking/developing ideas.
On several occasions with Fusion 360, I would decide to make what I considered a minor modification, and then have weird problems. For example, I have this plate like profile with a notch. Wanted to modify fillets in the notch. Did that and then could no longer get a closed surface to extrude. Struggled for an hour or two trying to figure out what was wrong with the profile and eventually had to throw the sketch away and start over. I suspect I was doing things in a "non Fusion 360 manner". Bad idea. I'm a rookie. I suspect frequency of these episodes will decrease as I become more "Fusion 360ized".
So far, I mostly like the CAM output tools. The number of options can be a little overwhelming at times. Seems very capable. Have only tried CNC milling so far.
There is an additive piece to my project. Looked into additive manufacturing. No machine profile for my Makergear M2. And just looking at it, the additive manufacturing appears pretty limited. I'll just have to output .stl and use my existing slicer and machine controller.
Did a drawing in Sketchup and then imported it into Fusion 360 via a .dxf as a 2D drawing. Convenient for me to draw in Sketchup. Figured I would blow it up to 3D in Fusion 360 and use its CAM tools
This more or less worked, but I discovered a major issue with Sketchup. It has this habit of approximating arcs and sometimes circles with polylines. There's probably some optimization this allows them, but its unacceptable for CNC operations. You really want to preserve the primitives and let the machine controller do its thing with them.
I suspect this "optimization" is at least part of the reason for the dearth of CAM tools for Sketchup.
Back to the monumental learning curve of Fusion 360. Even though I've become somewhat competent with it, personally I think Sketchup is superior for sketching/thinking/developing ideas.
On several occasions with Fusion 360, I would decide to make what I considered a minor modification, and then have weird problems. For example, I have this plate like profile with a notch. Wanted to modify fillets in the notch. Did that and then could no longer get a closed surface to extrude. Struggled for an hour or two trying to figure out what was wrong with the profile and eventually had to throw the sketch away and start over. I suspect I was doing things in a "non Fusion 360 manner". Bad idea. I'm a rookie. I suspect frequency of these episodes will decrease as I become more "Fusion 360ized".
So far, I mostly like the CAM output tools. The number of options can be a little overwhelming at times. Seems very capable. Have only tried CNC milling so far.
There is an additive piece to my project. Looked into additive manufacturing. No machine profile for my Makergear M2. And just looking at it, the additive manufacturing appears pretty limited. I'll just have to output .stl and use my existing slicer and machine controller.
