Fusion 360 is the first 3D CAD, CAM, and CAE tool of its kind that connects your entire product development process in a single cloud-based platform that works on PC, Mac, and mobile devices. Fusion 360 offers free use to qualifying startup and hobbyist makers through a.
Recently, with some recent developments at the University I am attending, I've been given access to a lot of amazing tools. One of these is the Othermill, a miniature 3-axis CNC machine. Part of my current position as the makerspace manager is to become acquainted with the new equipment and create educational programs to teach people how to use them.
This is also the first time I've used CAM Software or a CNC machine, so this should be a great beginner's guide to CNC, but I will assume that you have some knowledge of 3D modeling, as this Instructable will focus on CAM/CNC. Fusion 360 is a program that I've been playing with for about a month now. It's incredibly capable compared to other software I'd use and is free for students. I really enjoy the interface, and it has both CAD and CAM capabilities making it perfect to use with the Othermill, and other CNC's. Let's get started!
- Contents:. Video. Terminology. Modeling.
CAM. Setup. Roughing Pass. Smoothing Pass. Exporting Toolpaths. Otherplan. Conclusion.
When first getting acquainted with CNC machines, there's a fair amount of specific terms that will help a lot in our understanding if we get their definitions out of the way at the beginning. CNC - 'Computer Numeric Control' - for our purposes, all this means is that there is a tool being controlled by a computer. This could be a laser, 3D printers extruder, or robot arm, but in this case, it's a really fast spinning milling bit. CAD - 'Computer Aided Design' - referring to software, these applications allow someone to design a 3-dimensional model of a part. For our purposes, the part we design is what we will be cutting on the Othermill. CAM - 'Computer Aided Manufacturing' - referring to software, these applications take in information about the machine we are using and the 3D model, and translates those things into toolpaths or commands for the CNC machine.
While the model number is usually printed in yellow letters on the outside of your equipment, it can also be found on the bottom of the product identification tag (marked in red in photo). In some instances, the product identification number may be useful when searching for more specific model information. Antique john deere serial number lookup. To locate your John Deere model number or product identification number, click your preferred equipment type below. The model number can also be found as part of the product identification number (marked in blue in photo), located near the top of the product identification tag.
Files created in this way are often saved as 'g-code'. g-code - a file containing commands that the CNC machine will understand. This file tells the Othermill what to do. 2.5D Milling - Cutting a 3D object from a 2D file.
This can be a little confusing, but think about it this way: you are looking straight down at a sheet of plastic that is half an inch thick, cut a circle out of it and remove the circle. What shape do you have? We cut something in 2 dimensions, but the result was 3-dimensional, thus it is deemed '2.5D Milling'. The pictures might be helpful in understanding. 3D Milling - creating curved or angled 3D shapes. If you wanted to create the top half of a sphere, you need to be able to mill in 3 dimensions. The sides of the shape are curved, making it distinctly different than the cylinder example above.
This is true 3D milling. Roughing Pass - A series of commands that the CNC machine follows, intended to remove a large amount of stock material in a timely fashion, but without a smooth finish. Smoothing Pass - A series of commands that the CNC machine follows, intended to remove smaller amounts of stock material, create fine details, and smooth surfaces. Flat head mill - A milling bit with a flat end. These are most commonly used for roughing operations and cutting along precise edges. Ball head mill - A milling bit with a rounded end.
These are most commonly used for smoothing operations and 3D curves. If you have some experience in 3D modeling, Fusion 360 is pretty easy to use. By hovering over nearly any button, a pop-up will appear giving a description of what it does, which is really helpful to have constant reminders.
Typical Press/Pull, extrusion, fillet and chamfer commands are easy to find in addition to some more advanced functions. In this case, I've modeled a 20x20x6 mm shape to be cut out of roughly 1/4' plywood. It has a lot of slanted edges perfect to be milled in 3D. I won't be going into detail of how it was created, but if you're interested you can watch the video of the process.
Click on 'Setup'. It should be directly to the right of the drop-down menu we just used.
This will bring up a setup dialogue box on the right side of the screen. There will be three tabs: Model, Stock, and Post Process. We will only be using Model and Stock.
In the Model tab, which should be open by default, click the box next to the first option: 'Orientation'. Use the drop down menu to select 'Select Z-axis/plane and X-axis. Then select an edge to serve as your Z-axis. This should be a line that is vertical on the screen, if you are looking at the model from the home position.
Then select an edge to act as your X-axis. Click on the 'Stock' tab, and redefine the depth of whatever your stock material is. In this case, measuring the thickness of 1/4' plywood yields about 6mm, so the depth should be 6mm. The width and height should be directly related to your model and shouldn't need to be changed. Click back to the 'Model' tab.
Click on the box next to 'Origin', and use the drop down menu to choose 'Selected Point'. You should then select a point on your model at the greatest Z-height, and ideally as close to the corner as possible. Click 'OK' at the bottom, we're done with setup! Click the down arrow on the '3D' button. There are two options for roughing passes: Adaptive Clearing or Pocket Clearing.
Fusion 360 will show a pop-up box with a description of both options so you can choose what's best. For this model we will be choosing Pocket Clearing, which will bring up a dialogue box on the right side of the screen again. This box will have five tabs: Tool, Geometry, Heights, Passes, and Linking. We will be using the first four.
Under the tool tab, click on the box that says 'Select'. This will open up a dialogue box where you can choose from a plethora of pre-programmed bits, or add you own based on your measurements.
While there might be some Othermill-sized bits pre-programmed, I went ahead and added the ones I would be using by measuring them with calipers and adding them manually, just to be safe. The next step will go over adding new bits. Click the 'Geometry' tab. In the text box next to Additional offset, enter '2'. By adding 2mm surrounding the part, this will let the machine know that we want the part to be completely cut out. Click the 'Heights' tab.
Click the down arrow next to C learance Height. In the Offset text box, change 10mm to 5mm. This is optional, but it will lower the distance the cutting head moves when retracting, thus lowering the amount of time it takes for a job to run. Click the down arrow next to Retract Height. In the Offset text box, change 5mm to 2mm. Click the 'Passes' tab. The important thing in this tab is called Stepover.
To ensure this goes well, click the check box next to Manual Stepover. Because this is a roughing pass, we want the stepover to be only slightly smaller than the diameter of the bit we are using. This will allow more material to be removed more quickly with a rough finish, which is what we're going for. Click 'OK' at the bottom and the toolpaths will be generated!
You can hit 'Simulate' on the toolbar at the top to preview the movements of the machine. Click the down arrow on the '3D' button. There are nine options for roughing passes: Parallel, Contour, Ramp, Horizontal, Pencil, Scallop, Spiral, Radial, and Morphed Spiral. Again, Fusion 360 will show pop-up boxes with descriptions for each of the options so you can choose what's best.
I've found that Parallel Clearing is pretty simple and yields good results. A dialogue box on the right side of the screen again with five tabs: Tool, Geometry, Heights, Passes, and Linking. We will be using three of these. Under the tool tab, click on the box that says 'Select'. Select the desired tool. A ball-end mill is most often used for smoothing operations.
Under these conditions, we should be able to ignore the 'Geometry' tab. Click the 'Heights' tab.
We will be changing the same values we changed for the roughing pass, but in case you forgot: Click the down arrow next to Clearance Height. In the Offset text box, change 10mm to 5mm. This is optional, but it will lower the distance the cutting head moves when retracting, thus lowering the amount of time it takes for a job to run.
Click the down arrow next to Retract Height. In the Offset text box, change 5mm to 2mm. Click the 'Passes' tab. Because this is a smoothing pass, we want the stepover to be very small so that the surface comes out, well, smooth.
Click in the text box next to Stepover and change the value to 0.1mm. Click 'OK' at the bottom to generate our smoothing toolpaths!
You can hit 'Simulate' on the toolbar at the top to preview the movements of the machine. On the left hand side of the screen, underneath the toolbar, there will be a block that says, 'Setup1'. Underneath, there will be blocks describing the different toolpaths that have been generated.
If you chose the same bit for both the roughing and smoothing operations, then right click the Setup block, and choose 'Post Process'. This will bring up a dialogue box. Under Post Configuration there is a drop down menu. Select 'othermill.cps - Generic Othermill (Otherplan)'. You can choose an output folder underneath that if you'd like also. Click the 'Post' button at the bottom of the dialogue box and save your file. If you are using two different bits - one for roughing, and one for smoothing - you should export two files, but right-clicking on the toolpath itself instead of the Setup block.
If you weren't using a Mac earlier, you'll have to get your g-code files over to one with Otherplan installed by whatever method your heart desires. Open Otherplan, choose 'Setup Material', and enter the dimensions of your stock material.
I'm using 1/4' wood in the form of paint stirring sticks that you get at the hardware store, so my dimmensions are kind of unique, and the stock is held to the platform using double-sided tape, as is Othermill's recommendation. Maker sure the appropriate bit is loaded in the spindle, or select the 'Change' button next to Tool. Drag your g-code file into Otherplan, select the appropriate bit, and position your job on your stock material. Select 'Start Cutting' when you're ready to begin! When the Othermill is done cutting remove your parts from the build platform, and use them for whatever you're making!
Depending on the file, it can definitely take some trial and error to be able to get it right, so I'd recommend practicing on a relatively soft or non-dangerous material like soft wood or machine wax before going straight for the final product. In the first image you can see where I didn't define the axiis correctly, and ended up not cutting down enough on the work piece. Thank you for reading!
Fusion 360 is an awesome tool you can use with your CNC because you can do fancy cuts like 3D curves, slopes, and complex layers. BUT it can also be a little daunting. So we've put together this beginners guide to using Fusion 360 CAM for your CNC. Before we dive in, here are a couple things to help you follow along. First off we're gonna go over the different types of carving a CNC can do. Most common are outlines around a shape or flat surfaces at different depths.
You can make a lot of really cool stuff using just these types of cuts, but you can also carve more 3D looking shapes or do really complex designs with multiple flat surfaces, way more than you would wanna calculate manually. These fancy cuts are big deal for a computer to do, but a computer doesn't know what's in your head, so we'll show you how to tell it what's in your head. CAD: First you need a 3D CAD model of the thing you wanna carve.
You can design one yourself or download existing models to use. CAM: Then you show the CNC how to carve this model from your stock material.
This process is called CAM. G-code: Next you generate instructions that your CNC can understand. Machine controller: Then load these instructions into your machine control software, in this case Easel. CNC: Click run and your CNC takes those instructions and starts carving.
So this video's about how to cut fancy things on your CNC, not how to model them in the first place, so we're gonna skip over CAD and save that tutorial for another time. But you can and follow along, no 3D modeling experience required. In CAM, the setup is where you’ll define 1) what the raw material is, 2) how your model is oriented, and 3) what you wanna end up with. You’ll start by clicking the setup drop down on the upper left and selecting new setup. The setup window with a few tabs will pop up.
We’ll start with the stock tab. Some people define their material, or stock, directly in the setup tab. But we like to model the actual stock in CAD and then define the stock from solid (on the stock tab) using the body we made. This is nice because you can move your model around within the stock, see where it’s gonna end up, and regenerate your toolpaths later.
In this example, we’ll use a piece of walnut that’s 8 inches long, 5 inches wide, and 3/4 inches thick. If your model is not oriented correctly, right click your setup on the left menu and click edit. On the window that pops up, you can easily change your work coordinate system. To orient your model correctly, click the top of the stock for the Z axis and an edge for the X axis. Then choose the origin from your stock box point, or model box point. The origin shows your machine what it should consider to be zero, aka it’s starting or home point.
Some machines auto home to a certain point, so you should set your origin to that location. For Carvey that is the top of your material in the bottom left corner.
How To Use Fusion 360 Offline
But for a lot of other machines like the X-Carve you can set your home point almost anywhere. We pick a spot that makes sense for the model like the middle of the piece or a corner. In general you wanna choose the top of your material as the home point. And that’s because if you pause, stop, or finish your carving, it will often try to return to home, and if your home’s set at the bottom, it’ll try to eat through the material to get there. Now that you’re done with the setup, we need to tell Fusion what tool you’re gonna use to cut. But first, a quick tip for ya!
Make sure to enable your cloud library that way your tools, post processors, and other assets are easily shareable between computers. To enable it, click on your account drop down in the upper right, and choose preferences.
In the preferences video that pops up, click CAM on the left menu bar. Then click the Enable Cloud Libraries check box.
How To Use Fusion 360 Basics
Now we’re going to add your tool. First open up your tool library from the Manage menu on the top bar. Then click on your cloud library on the left menu. And click the icon on the top right to add a new mill tool. Select the type of cutter, most likely a flat end mill. And enter the dimensions of your tool, measuring with calipers.We like to also enter the speeds and feeds here so they’re saved in the cloud too. The speed is how fast the bit rotates, but some machines won’t use this input, like the X-Carve.
So you can skip this step if you want. The Carvey’s speed can change, but in most cases you’ll wanna do 12,500 RPM since that’s the most efficient for the motor. The cutting and plunge feedrates are probably the most important numbers here because they determine how quickly the bit moves through material. These depend on your machine material and tool. We actually use Easel to cheat on this. Easel will hold your hand walking through the setup of the materials and tools you’re using, it’s pretty quick and intuitive. After you’ve told it your setup, click on cut settings in the upper right menu it’ll tell you a feed rate, plunge rate, and depth per pass.
The Geometry tab defines what will be cut out of how much stock. We choose an offset from the model to carve within the boundaries of.otherwise the machine thinks it should eat away literally all of your stock.
Under the Machining Boundary drop down, we usually select Silhouette which restricts the toolpath to a boundary around your part. Then we add some additional offset larger than the diameter of your tool so it can fit all the way in. If your offset is too small, the tool may not be able to reach where it needs to cut the model out. Rest machining might need a little bit of an explanation.
It's basically asking where it should begin 'machining the rest' of your model. The Passes tab is very important.
This is where you define how aggressive the depth of your cuts are, called out here as Stepdown. Remember the depth per pass/depth per cut we referenced earlier that we grabbed from Easel? This is where you enter it. You should also pay attention to the Stock to Leave option.
Fusion 360 Tutorial
Picture this as a protective bubble of material around your model. When you're doing curves and slopes and wanna layer additional finishing toolpaths after your Adaptive Clearing path, you need to leave a little bit of extra meat to cut into. On the other hand, if you're doing just one operation to get your final product, you can leave this option unchecked. For this topographical Texas we made a while back, we liked the layered look left by just the Adaptive Clearing pass, so we left it unchecked.
But for Kevin, we wanted that protective bubble of stock so that we could do a 3D Parallel pass or two to finish with finer detail. Alright guys, you made it through the toughest steps. It's pretty easy from here. To finish up, you need to select a post processor so that Fusion can export cutting directions, called G-code, in a way that your specific machine can understand. So remember how we enabled Cloud Library earlier for our tools (the quick tip)?
This also added an Asset Library where we can store CAM posts (aka post processors) between machines too. We'll walk through how to add the post processor you need for your machine here. You can either post process the entire setup you created with all the layered toolpaths, or you can pick just one toolpath from your setup to post process. See the drop down on the left? It shows your setup and all the toolpaths within it.
We also have a photo above showing an example of just selecting one of the toolpaths. When you're ready, right click on the setup, or specific toolpath, and click Post Process.
Then find the post processor for your machine, whether it's local or in the cloud (ours was in the cloud, so we selected Use Cloud Posts): Select the post processor (Easel for the Carvey and X-Carve). You can download the easel post processor right here if you need it: Then click Post! Now you have some G-code, saved as a little.nc file on your computer. Click Carve in the upper right corner (the green button), go through the automatic prompts/checks, and you're good to go! But if you're nervous about carving, we have another quick tip for ya.
If you wanna test your G-code before running it on expensive wood. You can run it on cheap material or in the air.
When your carving is done, remove the stock and cut any tabs necessary with a jigsaw and sand them down like we showed in the earlier photos. So at this point we haven't sanded Kevin at all. And you can see how smooth the combination of toolpaths we did got the finished surface. We gave him a quick sanding and an oil finish. It was really easy because the paths were really detailed passes!
Thanks so much for making it through this very information-dense tutorial with us! If you have any questions just let us know (we'll see them most on the the YouTube comments) This was not a sponsored project and we did not get paid to do this, BUT we do have a if you find value in what we do and want to support us - but no pressure! Thanks y'all! You can also find us at: (all our DIY videos) (sneak peeks @evanandkatelyn) Our (includes tutorials from our pre-YouTube days) (stuff that inspires us) (us, in 140 character doses) (be our friend) Note: This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting us!
So many questions. I downloaded Kevin.
When I click 'Create Setup'. I don't see a view that shows my stock and Kevin happily co-existing. I only see the stock with no Kevin in sight. Also, when I try to set the orientation 'Z Axis' and 'X Axis' I don't have something reminiscent of what the photos show here, a beige box with a blue wall that interacts with where I click to make changes.
The entire 'stock box' is beige and no matter what I click it ignores the input. I have tried selecting the different mouse-cursor's on the page and clicking various parts of the stock, and I get nothing. I feel as though I'm missing a step somewhere but I've read the text tutorial and watched the video at least a dozen times and I'm not able to to replicate what I see.