[keithmcelhinney]

Just got the cnc cookbook email and he mentions that he tried fusion 360 from autodesk. This is autodesks all in one cad/cam package that uses HSM express (that they bought). He didn't have good luck with it but this looks like just the thing for small shops as you can get it for $300 a year and does everything. I am downloading the demo when I get home but I encourage everyone to give it a shot and post what they think here. Seems like a no brainer to get into a package that has adaptive clearing/etc.

Try or Buy | Autodesk Fusion 360

-Keith

[mklotz70]

This came up on tacticalkeychains' youtube channel. Here's his newest info on it. There was a previous one 2 days before that. I saw the first one and thought I was too late.....ordered it, then found the info stating the extension until the 15th....posted it.....then Brad created a new update.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Yd...IaPXAlFaHN5NgA

Great deal and they keep improving it!!!!

[tmarks11]

Well if you think you want it, then don't delay in deciding to buy it and lock in the price. If you buy it the standard version (2.5D) before 12/13/2014 ($40/month or $300/yr), they will upgrade you to ultimate (3D) for life (which would otherwise cost $150/month or $1200/yr).

Fusion 360 Ultimate Coming this Saturday, Startup ... - Autodesk Community

Tempting, but I really like the SW/HSMWorks combo I use right now.

The down side of Fusion from my perspective is that it is cloud-based product, requiring broadband. I live in the boonies, with a slow dsl connection (2 MB/sec), which might mean less than stellar performance.

[murrayclair]

Since this is a Fusion 360 thread can I ask how good it is? We have 9 seats of Inventor ultimate and get the lot but have only used HSM works for a few jobs. We run NX and Delcam for most parts is it worth setting up machines and tweaking posts for Fusion 360?

[G59]

murray, being that you run a 'Real' Cam software package already, why would you bother with HSMworks? Everything HSMworks can do, your Delcam or NX can do. So why spend the extra cash? My Delcam package, has never been upgraded or has never had maintenance done on it for 4 yrs now, and it still does everything it was intended to do. NX and Delcam, although expensive, were developed for the machine shop. Autodesk, by the way, also owns Delcam. I would wait a couple more years and see what they come up with.
As for cloud based anything, why would I need that unless you 'open source' everything you make, meaning the competition can also see your work. To me, bad idea.

Just my thoughts before heading to the machine shop. Take care.

[ger21]

I bought it, but haven't used it yet.
But it appears to be a still developing product, with the Ultimate version not even released yet.

[keithmcelhinney]

I played with it a little bit and it definitely is going to require a lot of playing around until it is useful to me. Ran into one issue that has me stumped and I just started .

Again I don't have any formal training in this stuff so take what I say with a grain of salt. I think once I am used to it, it will be good if not great.

As far as the cloud part of it there is a major reason to go this route. You can't pirate the software. I wonder what happens to your designs if you stop paying for it? Can you download it? If not, they basically own you for life.

I saw on CNC Cookbook the guy was complaining about upload speed. I think they are doing the conversion from whatever you are using to Fusion model on the server. I think that is what takes so long.

-Keith

[LeeWay]

I did take a shot on it, but haven't tried it yet. I wanted an upgrade from Cut3D. Something that would support machines with tool tables and coolant for 3D stuff. I was under the impression that this could do 3D tool paths. It will take some play time for sure. Not sure about the cloud based side of it.

[ger21]

I was under the impression that this could do 3D tool paths.

The Ultimate version will. There's a page on the website with a description of all the 3D toolpaths available.

About 3D Machining Strategies

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Maybe it's improved, but when I tried Fusion about a year ago, it was, like most "cloud" apps, just painfully slow. I spent the $4K for Solidworks, downloaded HSMXpress, and it was one of the smartest things I've ever done. Worth every penny in terms of increased productivity and reduced machining time.

Regards,
Ray L.

[amish_rabbi]

I picked this up just for the 3d. I have solidworks and HSMXpress and wont be going away from that for 2.5D but the 9k for proper HSMWorks isn't in the cards so for $300 I figure I'll try fusion360, small gamble I guess

[SCzEngrgGroup]

I picked this up just for the 3d. I have solidworks and HSMXpress and wont be going away from that for 2.5D but the 9k for proper HSMWorks isn't in the cards so for $300 I figure I'll try fusion360, small gamble I guess

You do realize you can lease HSMWorks for a little over $200/month?

Regards,
Ray L.

[keithmcelhinney]

I would love to go the solidworks route but $4k is a lot of money. $300 a year is much easier to handle...

[amish_rabbi]

You do realize you can lease HSMWorks for a little over $200/month?

Regards,
Ray L.

that's still 8x the cost of fusion360 for a year. If you have a business and need 3D for customers parts, totally worth it for full HSM, but that's not me.

[murrayclair]

To clear things up...re ultimate not released yet. We have inventor product design suite "ultimate" this gives us HSM express and fusion 360. I only asked how good it is because we only have 2 CAM seats NX and Delcam and another seat of either of the above is 30k plussss.

[ger21]

I saw on CNC Cookbook the guy was complaining about upload speed. I think they are doing the conversion from whatever you are using to Fusion model on the server. I think that is what takes so long.

I was browsing their forum yesterday, and saw a post about this. That's exactly what they are doing.

[forrey]

I did down load and tried to get through the tutorials but it would never make it through the first tutorial without crashing, I spent about 8 hours trying to work with it and my frustration level went sky high.I did like the user interface and can see a lot of potential but I can not afford the time, so moved on and will in all probability go the way Ray has, it is worth money(time) to be able to get going out of the box.Also if they do get it on the up and up then $1200 a year is still a killer deal.

[kvom]

I recently got the Student version of SW free as a US veteran, so I'm going to try HSMXPRESS. I've been using CamBam for years, and it does pretty much anything I've needed, but doesn't generate the constant TEA toolpaths that can be useful in some cases. As a hobbyist doing 1-off parts, speed isn't a primary objective; but as a former programmer I like seeing and using innovative software.

[LeeWay]

I did down load and tried to get through the tutorials but it would never make it through the first tutorial without crashing, I spent about 8 hours trying to work with it and my frustration level went sky high.I did like the user interface and can see a lot of potential but I can not afford the time, so moved on and will in all probability go the way Ray has, it is worth money(time) to be able to get going out of the box.Also if they do get it on the up and up then $1200 a year is still a killer deal.

I am having the same issue with it crashing on the tutorials. Hmmm. This can't be good. It also updated prior to me trying this. So it is up to date. It did send a crash report. Bet they are getting a lot of those to analyze.

[keithmcelhinney]

I played with it for a little bit and it didn't crash. One thing to try is to update your video card drivers from the manufacturer (not windows update). That may help...

What video card are you using?

-Keith