Fusion 360 – Page 4 – Woody's Workshop

May 3, 2021May 3, 2021

Kant Clamp and Engineering Drawings in Fusion 360

Bondie Hacks is a YouTube site that I have on my YouTube listing and a recent video featured Quinn building a Kant clamp from a kit. Needing some lockdown distraction I decided that I would attempt to build a clamp from scratch. Searching on Google revealed a plethora of drawings and from these I distilled a plan of action.

I created a Fusion 360 assembly for my hybrid version. The clamp was made with 3mm steel side plates and the other fittings from various diameters of silver steel. From the Fusion drawings I created two CAM programs to profile the side plates and the other fittings were all straightforward lathe work with the exception of the gripping blocks. I made these in aluminium which I ran freehand on my manual mill. If the clamp is to be used for welding then it is traditional to make the clamps and the screw from copper.

I opted to fasten the side plates with screws and washers but the pillars could have been peened in place. This would have made replacement of the gripping jaws difficult however so screws seemed like a better option.

The result turned out very well and I was pleased that I had made the effort.

Stylised Fusion 360 model of my Kant clamp

I have produced engineering drawings on Fusion previously but all were a bit ad hoc. Fusion is capable of automating the process of creating drawings for each component but I had never got to grips with it. Having created the clamp I decided it was a good excuse to dig deeper into the drawing process.

There are various YouTube videos on creating Fusion engineering drawings but the one that helped the most was by Bryce at Autodesk. The key to the automation process is creating Templates. This is really worth watching if you are debating moving up a level with the quality of your engineering drawings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av7rFL-opVo&ab_channel=AutodeskFusion360

The video goes into detail on how to create a customised set of drawing sheet blanks with customised title blocks. Having watched this a couple of times the mists began to clear.

The result of my labours is the complete drawing set for my Kant clamp in the following pdf file. Feel free to download and build your own.

Kant Clamp Structure Drawing v9

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July 30, 2020April 23, 2023

3DConnexions Spacemouse joins the workshop

To date I have used Fusion 360 with just a mouse for screen manipulation. Over the past few months I seem to have developed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my right hand. (But there again it could just be old age taking its toll). This is painful at times but does depend on what activity I am undertaking. Some days just using a screwdriver can be taxing. I have begun wearing an elasticated wrist and thumb support which seems to have helped. While watching one of my many favourite Youtubers mention was made of the big improvement in 3D image manipulation that can be achieved with a 3D mouse. There is also some evidence that such a device does ease the strain on the wrist. It seems there is one major player in the market and that is 3DConnexion. I went through my previously published decision making process on a potential purchase and my Wireless Spacemouse arrived yesterday.

It is supplied with a soft storage pouch and there is a training course app with it which is straightforward. You can then play a quiz to see how good your hand / eye coordination is. Perhaps it is not good to dwell on the results of this …. Initially it is certainly weird to use but then it seems to click (?) with brain and muscle memory and then becomes a major step forward when using Fusion 360. You use your left hand on the Spacemouse and the right hand for normal mouse activity. I like it. In fact I like it a lot and wonder why I hadn’t latched onto it before now. Hopefully it will ease the strain on my right wrist and probably pass the burden to my left wrist …. arthritis rules. Similar or related subjects : –

May 23, 2020

Tormach MicroArc and Fusion 360 and 4th Axis

Tormach MicroArc 4th Axis Arrives

At last a 4th axis drive for the Tormach PCNC440 !

tormach microarc 4th axis

I have waited 4 years for this to be available and did not hesitate to put in my order to Tormach for one of the new MicroArc drives. Probably the best way to get a good idea of this product is to watch John Saunders’ video.

The MicroArc wasn’t a low cost buy and because 4th axis was not around when my 440 was originally shipped, I needed a fitting upgrade kit as part of the order. Having placed my order with Tormach it took exactly 7 days for DHL to arrive on my doorstep with the shipment. Quite amazing considering the difficult times we are experiencing at the moment.

It took me about one hour to fit the new stepper driver and additional wiring. As ever there were good clear instructions from Tormach. I switched on the 440, enabled the 4th axis in PathPilot and I could control the A axis from the PathPilot screen. Very impressed.

I watched John Saunders video on the MicroArc and how to do 4th axis programming in Fusion 360. I drew up a simple model in Fusion but could not get it to produce working GCode. I had some comms with John and he gave me some pointers. The model had a rotational repeat pattern but while I could run a single op code, if I tried to run the rotational pattern the post processor came up with an error message and would not output any code.

I thought at first it was because I was only using a Fusion hobbyist licence and that 4th axis maybe was not possible. A really helpful dialogue with Shannon McGarry at Fusion cleared up that issue so it must be something else.

After some experimenting I discovered that you have to set the axis of rotation in the post processor dialogue options list. All then worked fine.

We are up and running on 4th axis !

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January 1, 2019January 8, 2019

Fusion 360 Speeds and Feeds

It has been a quiet period leading up to Christmas and it has lead to some low level activity catching up on items on the ‘Things to Do’ list.

One of these was to make a graphical representation of what the Fusion 360 Feeds and Speeds dialogue box means and the calculations behind it. To be honest this tab in the Fusion CAM section used to frighten me but I have become more confident with it. The problem is I can’t remember what each box affects so here is a visual representation which might help others. Note that the dialogue changes between a ramp into the stock (such as when cutting a pocket) and a plunge into the stock (such as when drilling).

I hope that makes sense and I have got it right. It certainly helps me to understand what is going on and the calculations going on in the background.

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November 2, 2018March 4, 2022

Golf Caddy Locks and Ring Lights

Golf Caddy Locks

We have a couple of rigid golf caddy cases that take a full golf bag plus whatever else you can squeeze in when going on a holiday trip. Last trip to Hawaii this included lots of shoes, snorkels, flippers etc. These have or at least had two cabinet style locks on them but not anymore. Customs / security at Seattle decided they wanted to have a look inside and took the easy option and smashed the locks off, had a look inside and then Gaffa taped the case back up. Lovely.

Everything arrived home safely with nothing missing but now the debate on how to replace the locks. Clearly the idea of locking them does not go down well with baggage security teams. I have knocked up a design in Fusion that only needs a single cable tie to make it secure. I have 3D printed a concept model from the Fusion design and I have now run the finished items in aluminium using the Tormach CNC. I used a combination of CNC and manual milling to get the results and this highlighted once again that the combination of a CNC and manual is incredibly useful.

Gold caddy with 3D printed trial lock in place

Close up of the prototype lock without the peripheral shaping

Fusion 360 representation of the lock design without the locating pins and hinge pin.

Replacement latches for golf caddy security

Ring Lights

I have been receiving requests for my machine spindle illumination lights using car headlight ring light clusters and have got the process fairly slick.

I first of all edit the centre clearance hole in the boss in Fusion in preparation for printing. I then 3D print the power supply box and lid and while putting this together I get the boss print underway. The boss takes around 7 hours to print on standard quality. . Given the amount of interest being shown I think a formal write up would be useful for others with perhaps the Fusion file as a download. Working on it and more to follow.

New ring light off the production line. Note that the baking foil reflector is getting easier to do.

Update 1 – the ring lights are available on Amazon at around GBP14 per pair and you can select diameter (and colour). Buy the largest diameter you can so that there is reduced shadowing around the tool point in the mill or drill press. They are cheaper to buy on EBay from China but there is a longer delivery time.

UPDATE 2 : – Since this post I have run quite a number of ring mounts for third parties and I now 3D print them with the spindle hole offset so that the shadowing from the chuck when working with shorter tools is reduced.

Angel Light modified mount with spindle hole offset — Here is a Fusion image of the ring light mount with the spindle hole offset to reduce shadowing. Note I still recommend having aluminium foil to increase the down reflectivity.

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