First Fusion 360 Part on Acorn-Powered PM 940CNC

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Rickwjenn

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Took some time and trial and error, but I made my first Fusion 360 part and took it all the with CNC Milling on my PM-940CNC.

Pretty simple in that I wanted to make a tool holder plate with some 1.25" diameter and 1.0" diameter holes. Used a 10 X 15 X .25" plate of Aluminum.

Designed and modeled in Fusion 360:

Then did the CAM setup with the Centroid Post Processor:

Resulting GCode programmed was 1145 blocks and took about 70 minutes:


End product came out pretty nice and I am definitely ready to make more complex parts:


 
That is awesome! Congratulations.
Just an FYI, when we make parts on the platform CNC our feed speeds are significantly higher than what you are doing there. I am sure you were taking it easy for the first go though.
I'm jealous. Sure would like to get my 833T cnc converted and powered with Acorn.
 
How did you learn the software?
I am intimidated when I watch someone zip around the screen, pointing, dragging and clicking away.
I did see some YouTube lessons.
Just wondering how you learned.
 
I have a training subscription to Pluralsight.com that I use for my business. They have a number of great Fusion 360 training classes. I did some of the classes, and then picked a simple project start. Fusion 360 is very complex and it did take a couple of hours just absorbing all the modes, features, and operations. Some features were not intuitive (to at least me) but once I learned it became easier. I still have a LONG way to go but can at least make basic 3D parts.
 
Are you referreing to Fusion 360 Janderso? If so, there are many avenues for obtaining help. One of them is Lars Christensen Fusion 360 tutorials. Autocad (makers of Fusion) also have numerous help videos and a great forum. They are significantly more responsive than the Solidworks folks, although that is certainly an awesome program too.

One piece of advice is this... keep in mind that learning CAD software is an ongoing process. No matter how long you have been doing it, there always seems to be a different way that you could have drawn or assembled your object. Initially, I was very frustrated (ok, actually still am, lol) about going back and having to redraw an element or discovering that if I change this dimension then that widget will not fit. Some thought needs to be put into how it is all going to go together before you even start. BUT, you must start! It is all just electrons that can be wiped away or deleted. Start the video series and follow their basic drawings. Before you know it, you will be designing your own supercar. :)
 
Thanks - Yes, I went very slow about 6 ipm after going WAY to fast and clogging up the cutter. A
 
Oh yes. Even a misting coolant will make massive improvements in your chip clearing. I built a "no mist" cooling system (from plans on this forum, I think), but even a squirt of WD-40 on the aluminum will help.
 
Thanks - I need to check out the no mist cooling approach. Do you have any pictures you can point me to?
 
Man! I know CNC'ing is in my blood...I so want to go that route, I just want to make sure I get a good manual understanding before I jump the gun. I am super envious however. Very cool.
 
Rickwjenn said:
Thanks - I need to check out the no mist cooling approach. Do you have any pictures you can point me to?
Click to expand...

Here is a link for you. I know that there is another one on this site but can't seem to find my bookmark at the moment.

https://www.cnczone.com/forums/unca...nes/102934-built-fog-less-coolant-mister.html

I have one picture for you at the moment. I can get more when I get down to my shop tomorrow and also, hopefully, look at the PDF plans, if I still have them.

Also, if you search Google for "fogbuster cooling system" or something close to that, you will find a lot of hits too.

20180130_131101.jpg
 
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