Good training for fusion 360???

[snowshooze]

Hi guys;
A couple years back I spent an entire two weeks in the office trying to transition from Bobcad V 32 to Fusion 360.
I streamed hours of video, had notes all over the desk...
I like the software, but every video was in another version, and the software seemed to be a moving target. Hardly a two of them in the same version.
And fusion 360 support wasn't much help.
In the end, I gave up. The harder I tried, the more confused I got.
Is there now a more stable version of 360, and are there now common sense training videos for it?
Thanks,
Mark

 

[MaxPrairie]

I have never used Bobcad before so I can't speak to the similarities between the two, but Fusion is constantly changing and updating. The best way I learned was just by sitting down and programming parts. Is there anything in particular you are having a hard time with?

 

[Ohio Mike]

I won't speak to Fusion 360 being stable, everyone's opinion seems to vary greatly.

I can however recommend training if you want to go that direction. I took one of Kevin's classes a few years back and it was a great experience. Mechanical Advantage

 

[snowshooze]

I have never used Bobcad before so I can't speak to the similarities between the two, but Fusion is constantly changing and updating. The best way I learned was just by sitting down and programming parts. Is there anything in particular you are having a hard time with?

I can't even get off the ground.
What I did learn, I liked.
But I am missing something...

 

[snowshooze]

I won't speak to Fusion 360 being stable, everyone's opinion seems to vary greatly.

I can however recommend training if you want to go that direction. I took one of Kevin's classes a few years back and it was a great experience. Mechanical Advantage

Thanks!
I will check him out.
I like everything about the program aside of the lack of a good straight-forward training regimen.

 

[MaxPrairie]

I can't even get off the ground.
What I did learn, I liked.
But I am missing something...

Typical method of programming a part.

Switch to manufacturing tab
-Create new setup
--Select Z face and X direction
--Switch coordinate point to model box point and select point
--Select stock tab (still in setup menu) relative size stock is default. Offset this or choose another stock definition from the drop down
--Switch to last tab in setup menu and number your program and pick work coordinate # (Zero and 1 are both G54)(2 is g55 and so on)
Now you can start creating toolpaths. It will take some time getting your tool library setup. I have a tool library for each of my machines where the tool number corresponds to how my tool changer is setup.

 

[rklopp]

Fusion is not that hard. I am in a room with high school robotics club students right now. At least a half dozen are quite adept at Fusion CAD/CAM. They have not had a class in Fusion, but some had a class using OnShape. They do have some bad habits, like not using components properly, but they make useable designs and workable Haas-compatible g-code anyway.

 

[BugRobotics]

Hey snowshooze, post a part or drawing of a part here and I'd guess you could get someone to take you through it. I'll do it if I have time over the next few days.

If you could give an overview of how you normally do the part in Bobcad (tooling/work-holding) that would help get something closer that you can learn from or use.

As far as stability goes you're at the whim of Autodesk to not change or break something because you have to update every so often (I think that is still the case). I don't use it enough to tell you what details have changed but I fire it up once or twice a year to see what has changed (I'd say not much since 2014 when talking basic 3-axis CAM). I follow a couple guys on Instagram that use it daily and have complained various times over the years that they open up a CAM job that has worked fine and due to a recent change something is messed up.

 

[DavidScott]

Are you just trying to program parts or modeling them from scratch? I agree, I found it impossible to learn at first until I went through a course that then made things click. This was 7-8 years ago so that course would be of zero use.

 

[len_1962]

here is a book from SDC Publications, I used there books for the SW course I taught.

Parametric Modeling with Autodesk Fusion 360, Book 9781630574987 - SDC Publications

 

[Dan from Oakland]

For basic understanding, the U Tube videos by Lars Christiansen are really well done and easy to understand. They were a big help starting out.

 

[snowshooze]

For basic understanding, the U Tube videos by Lars Christiansen are really well done and easy to understand. They were a big help starting out.

Lars is great, but with fusion 360 changing from day-to-day...

His work was irrelevant to the current version.
The clutch on the left, was changed to the brake in the middle, and I couldn't even find the gas peddle.
Like I said... a moving target.
And I am old...
Change is bad.

 

[BugRobotics]

Post a model you'd like to see snowshooze. I'll sit down today in a bit and record it so you can see the workflow.

 

[Dan B]

I found this super helpful:

Fusion 360 - NYC CNC

Hope this helps,

Dan