Fusion 360 and modeling for ShapeOko

FUSION 360

Build your model as Front in Fusion will be the Top size in CNC.

Modeling remembers that only the front part can have holes and design for the cut.

When you are done modeling go to the CAM tab in the top left corner.

In the CAM options, we will go over a few 3D cuts.

The main principle of the CNC cut is to go through two or sometimes three stages:

Roughing, Cleaning, and Finishing. Sometimes the two stages process of Roughing and finishing is not enough and you will need to use one more cleaning stage.

On the Roughing stage biggest pieces of the material are cutted with a bigger tool that can handle this job. Do not choose a small bit for it. Preferably to use ¼ inch tool.

The first two in the options under 3d are Adaptive clearing and Pocket Clearing. Both this options are roughing stages.

The difference between Adaptive and Pocket is that during adaptive method your detail will be separated from the rest of the material almost fully but enough to hold it steal in its place for next stages of cut. After separative the cut tool will go around the detail cleaning the empty spaces but leaving a thin layer of the material for the final cut. Tool will clean with different methods: going circular, parallel, cleaning the edges. It cuts very clean but can go pretty rough. For this method you will definitely need a stronger tool like ¼ inch.

The Pocket method is more straightforward. Tool will go around the cut layer by layer cleaning from the extra material and leaving some of it for the final cut but not as much as the adaptive cleaning method. It also won’t go around the detail to separate it from the material.

For the finishing and cleaning good methods are:

• For the cleaning very good toolpath is Parallel cleaning. It makes thin steps to clean the material and make lines and curves more smooth.
• Another Type of finishing is Contour. This method is good for steep walls and vertical areas.
• Spiral Finishing is one more preferred method good for circular/round shallow parts with up to 40 degrees. For more vertical faces it’s better to use the Contour pass.

The first we will use an Adaptive toolpath on our model for the roughing stage.

Go to the top menu and choose: 3D -> Adaptive Clearing.

You will see the side menu open where in the first tab you can choose tool you will be using for roughing (¼ preferable).

In the second tab you can add the adjustment offset if you want to have a space around the model. Do not change the tool orientation. It should face the front side of your model.

On the third tab of the menu the clearance, retract, top and the bottom height can be set.

The Top and the Bottom heights are the top and the bottom of the material you will be using for cut.

The Retract height is a distance above the stock top level on which the tool will go up for after the each path.

Clearance height is a distance of how far from the top of the material the tool will go between different tool paths.

The last few options you may want to set for the tool path is the Predrill position and the Entry position. This options you can find on the last(fifth) tab.

Predrill positions are the point you want to select on your model to make the it easier for the tool to get to the material.

Entry position is the place where the tool will start it path.

After you are done with the settings for the toolpath click OK on the side menu and you will see the Blue, red, yellow and green lines for the paths.

1. Yellow: it indicates the rapid move of the toolpath

2. Green: it indicates the lead-in/leadout of the toopath

3. Red: it indicates the Ramping move of the toolpath

4. Blue: Most part of the toolpath are blue which indicates the cutting.

DO NOT CREATE MORE THAN ONE TOOLPATH PER GCODE FILE!

The issue is that since each tool has a different length you will need to set the Z zero point every time you will need to change the tool. Unfortunately, there is no option for now to do that automatically.

The next step will be to create a G-Code file.

Go to the top menu, choose the G1G2 icon for the Post Process in the Actions.

In the settings for the Post Process choose the Post Processor Carbide3d.cps.

If you dont have the carbide3d.cps in your Post Library follow the instructions of how to install it:

Download the .cps file from: https://cam.autodesk.com/posts/

Put file you downloaded it in the /Users/username/Autodesk/ Fusion 360 CAM/Posts(on Mac) directory. Reopen the app Fusion 360.

Then the GCode is ready open the Carbide Motion and load the file. Set the Zero Position and start cutting.

POSSIBLE ERRORS:

Invalid G-Code: Error 33 in Post Configuration

This issue usually appears when the unit system is not the same in the ToolPath settings and the Post Configuration. Choose all Units to be in Millimeters in order to synchronize with the Carbide Motion settings.

CARBIDE MOTION:

Set the Zero Point at the center of the model or set the entry position in toolPath settings in Fusion in the point where you want to start the cut.

Test the cut on the cheap piece of wood before running on the final piece.

as of end of 2018