Fusion 360 Dwg

Groundhog

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I've been learning Fusion 360 for awhile and feel pretty good about my drawing abilities.

However, I am not very proficient with the CAM part of Fusion yet (or maybe the cam features are not as developed as I would like yet?). So, I am trying to output a drawing (a design converted to a drawing in Fusion 360) as a *.dwg, which I can use in my cam program (Visual Mill 2012). But I can not get the *.dwg files created with Fusion (or A360) to open in Visual mill or in TurboCad Pro 18. I can open drawings output to *.pdf but that doesn't do me any good.

Anyone else having problems opening Fusion 360 exported programs in non-AutoDesk programs? Or am I doing something wrong?
 
I'm probably nowhere near as far along as you are with Fusion. I do a novice job of building models, but I haven't investigated the CAM part. Maybe once I get a model I am satisfied with. I don't see a way to save DWG files. I can save sketches as DXF and bodies and components as STL. I can open both DXF and STL in a variety of applications like TC18, 3D builder, and CamBam. How are you saving these DWG files?
 
To save as a *.dwg I open a drawing of the design and use the output button on the drawing menu to save as .dwg. That is the *.dwg that will not open in VisualMill 2012 or TurboCad 18.

I did find a work-around but it is a few extra steps and I haven't checked it close to see if it is completely accurate and all inclusive. That is to export the design from Fusion 360 as a .stl, then open the .stl in TurboCad (I can open the 3D stl in VisualMill but I want a 2D drawing to work with). Then I make a drafting projection in TurboCad and save the projection as a *.dxf (I assume saving as a dwg would work too). I can then open the 2D dxf file in VisualMill and proceed to develop my g-code file.

OK, I found where I can save a sketch as a dxf. I think that might be what I am looking for. Thanks, I missed that.
 
When doing the export are you given the option to save the file as an older version of an AutoCAD dwg file? If you're using the 2016 version of fusion it's probably creating a file compatible with AutoCAD 2013 and newer. If your CAM software is from 2012 it probably can't read the newer dwg format. If that's the issue you can use Autodesk's DWG TrueView (a freebie) to convert the dwg file to an earlier version. If you have a buddy with AutoCAD they could open the file and do a save-as to the earlier version for you. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks. I'll look into TrueView. I bet saving in a newer version is my problem. Fusion drawing output lists the dwg file as 2013 and it is the only option.

The reason I am going to all this trouble is that I want to be able to make 2D parametric drawings and save them in a format that I can open in VisualMIll 2012. I don't have the money to justify upgrading my VisualMill and/or TurboCad programs to the current versions. An option is just to keep making non-parametric 2D or 3D drawings in TurboCad (parametric drawing is possible, but difficult). That option isn't really that bad. I just keep a hundred or so drawings of a simple part as I make minor changes and I have lots of disk space!

With this new info you both have given me I think I can get what I want. I'll start playing with it tomorrow. Thanks so much.
 
Update,
I tried TrueView and also TeighaFile Converter (which I like better than TrueView) but still no luck finding a way to open (or successfully convert) the 2D *.dwg drawing files created by Fusion's drawing feature. The older file versions simply will not open. Converting to a newer file version (either in dwg or dfx) will open the template (the page outline, title block and annotations, and they are not in register) but the drawing in not there. That is true for both VisualMill and TurboCad.
Guess I'll either just use TurboCad and VisualMIll or use the work-around above until both me and Fusion360 CAM get along better.
 
If you're trying to import a parametric 2D drawing from software released in 2015/2016 into software from another company released in 2011 you are bound to have some problems. Even drawings produced with AutoCAD Mechanical won't open in vanilla AutoCAD because the file formats, while both .dwg, have differences that make the Mechanical drawing unreadable by plain AutoCAD. You have to run a command in Mechanical (exporttoautocad) to save the file with the extra data dumbed-down for plain AutoCAD to be able to open it. Chanced are slim the Mechanical file would work without conversion in a non-Autodesk milling program. A parametric file locked to a 3D model would probably be even less likely to work.

Can your target software use another file format, like .dxf, .stl, etc.? Something that isn't parametric that can be used to do the milling and then deleted when you're done?

I wish I had some hands-on experience with the software you're working with.
 
Cadapult, I don't think my the .dwg file is parametric. In Fusion 360 I make a parametric 3D "design", then use the Fusion feature that allows you to make 2D working drawings. The 2D drawings are not parametric - you have to go back to the 3D "design" to make changes, then use the drawing feature again. The two "output" options of the drawing feature are .pdf and .dwg. I am trying to find convert the .dwg file to .dxf for exactly the reasons you suggest. However, your explanation of incompatible releases is probably the reason I'm having trouble. Thanks for confirming my suspicions about this. I'll quit wasting my time chasing a solution.
Right now I am going through Fusion 360 CAM tutorials. I'm pretty sure Fusion CAM will produce the g-code files I need. I just need to spend some time to learn how.
 
I have some limited experience with the CAM functionality in Fusion360 and have found it to work well. It just takes a little time to figure out what buttons to push and what knobs to twiddle with. I don't know what CNC software you are using, but it has a lot of built in post processors.
 
I am using Mach3 CNC control. Fusion360 has a post processor for it although I might have to make (or not) some refinements for my Syil X4+ mill, but no big deal. The Fusion360 learning curve is seeming to be shorter than I expected so I may be in business sooner than I expected. My old Turbocad -> VisualMill -> Mach3 method works fine too, just looking to update computer (and software?) and not sure my old programs will work under windows 10.
So far the biggest problem with Fusion360 CAM has been that I'm a bit lazy and have been slow to set up a new tool library in Fusion360!
Again, thanks for everyone's help. My plan is to continue to learn Fusion360 design and CAM and convert to that. If I run into major problems or exciting benefits I'll post here.
 
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