[kvom]

I worked through the tutorials on HSMXPress this week. Seems pretty good if you use SW for modeling parts. I did modify a sample post to get g-code in the form I wanted; the posts are large VB programs, so it seems you'd need some minor programming know-how to tweak them. I mainly switched from R mode to IJ mode on arcs and a couple of other minor format changes.

For some reason the code generation errors if I specify Air as coolant, but is OK with Flood.

I will likely stick with CamBam for most of what I do, but I want to experiment with the Adaptive Clearing OP and the ThreadMill OP.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

I worked through the tutorials on HSMXPress this week. Seems pretty good if you use SW for modeling parts. I did modify a sample post to get g-code in the form I wanted; the posts are large VB programs, so it seems you'd need some minor programming know-how to tweak them. I mainly switched from R mode to IJ mode on arcs and a couple of other minor format changes.

For some reason the code generation errors if I specify Air as coolant, but is OK with Flood.

I will likely stick with CamBam for most of what I do, but I want to experiment with the Adaptive Clearing OP and the ThreadMill OP.

The POST is written in javascript, not VB. It errors when you specify air as coolant as there is not standard G-code for air coolant - it requires custom code in the POST to do whatever it is you want done.

Regards,
Ray L.

[kvom]

Thanks for the correction. Since I turn on the air manually I'm just disabling the coolant in the ops.

[LeeWay]

What video card are you using?

-Keith

It's an Nvidia GeForce 210. I have been meaning to upgrade it for a while now. Any suggestions?

I am considering this one.

Amazon.com: EVGA GeForce GT 740 Superclocked Single Slot 4GB DDR3 Graphics Cards 04G-P4-2744-KR: Computers & Accessories

[LeeWay]

Another question. I use the standard video cables between my monitor and video card. Should I be using the DVI cables instead?

Ahh, the card I was looking at doesn't even have the old VGA connectors. I have a spare HDMI cable here too. Would that work?


As you can see, I am not up on anything video.

[amish_rabbi]

lol and here I was annoyed I had to go find a vga cable and vga to dvi converter when I got my mill because I haven't used VGA in like 10 years.

[alan_3301]

If you can spare $50 more I'd recommend the AMD firepro v4900
It's a base model workstation card, but does excellent on solidworks and fusion360
You will need a monitor with either displayport, or DVI, it can drive 3 monitors simultaneously though. (2 displayport and 1 dvi)

It's an Nvidia GeForce 210. I have been meaning to upgrade it for a while now. Any suggestions?

I am considering this one.

Amazon.com: EVGA GeForce GT 740 Superclocked Single Slot 4GB DDR3 Graphics Cards 04G-P4-2744-KR: Computers & Accessories

[LeeWay]

Thanks for that, Alan.
I'll look into it.
I did find this on the solidworks site.
Graphics Card Drivers | SOLIDWORKS

My card isn't listed, so an upgrade is certainly...uh...in the cards.

They do not list the card I was looking at either. I guess it is designed more toward gaming, which I do zero of.
Thanks for the help.
I did install my HDMI cable and all I get is the wall paper showing up. My monitor is a 26" SyncMaster T260HD. Tv and monitor.
I take it that SW works better with two screens?

[LeeWay]

Okay. HDMI is not supported. I did order the card you recommended, but from Amazon. I get free shipping and I needed a DVI cable as well. I've never ordered anything from the MacMall.
Thanks for the help.
When I get it installed, I'll retry the tutorials in 360. It was having display timing issues before it crashed, so that is probably the perfect solution.

[alan_3301]

yeah the macmall link was thrown in by cnczone, I got mine from amazon also.

[ger21]

I did find this on the solidworks site.
Graphics Card Drivers | SOLIDWORKS

My card isn't listed, so an upgrade is certainly...uh...in the cards.

They do not list the card I was looking at either. I guess it is designed more toward gaming, which I do zero of.

Your card isn't listed, because Solidworks only certifies "workstation" cards.

I'm long overdue for a new PC, so I've been doing a lot of research over the last two weeks.

The biggest benefit of workstation cards is better drivers for use with high end CAD and modelling programs. And when dealing with very complex models, the higher end workstation cards (>$1000) can really excel.
But for average use, good gaming cards can perform very well with most CAD apps. Last year, Autodesk apparently switched from OpenGL to DirectX in AutoCAD and Inventor, and gaming cards in those programs can easily outperform high end workstation cards in some cases. I suspect this is also the case with Fusion 360.

Right now, I'm leaning toward a GTX970 to go with a 6 core i7 5820K. I probably won't have it assembled until after Christmas, and won't be able to try Fusion 360 until then, even though I've paid for it.

[LeeWay]

The rest of my computer is in good shape. DSL with 9.5 mbps download. I do have an i7 2600K overclocked a bit and 16 GB ram. 900 watt power supply. CPU is liquid cooled. 60 GB SSD for cache and 240 for boot drive. 2 TB HD for storage. The only low end item I installed was the graphics card. In retrospect, I am pretty sure I had trouble before using Turbocad. I remember some warnings that my graphics card did not support whatever I was trying to do. Probably when compiling videos or something. Might have had something to do with Lightworks.

The new card should be here tomorrow. I sure hope it will let me use Fusion 360 some. My current one seemed to do SW okay, but I haven't done any renders with it.

You can just about date when I built my computer to the cpu you are considering now, Gerry. I got mine in July 2011. In computer age, it is getting old.

[LeeWay]

Got the new card installed. It went quickly with no snags. Unlike my other card, the Fire Pro had no software with it. No control panel either. I guess it already knows what it needs to do.


I also just got an email saying that Fusion 360 Ultimate has been released and the deal extended to Dec. 12.


Fusion 360 Ultimate is here!
Autodesk® Fusion 360™ Ultimate offers the most comprehensive feature set available in the Fusion 360 lineup – and is now available!

As you may be aware, all existing Autodesk Fusion 360 customers were upgraded to Fusion 360 Ultimate at the standard price on November 18th – and they get to keep this discount for as long as they maintain their subscription. Due to the overwhelming excitement in the Fusion 360 community, we are extending this very special offer until December 12th.

We built Fusion 360 to be a radically different product development platform. Allowing you to improve and accelerate the way your great products are brought to market. The time has never been better to make the move to Fusion 360 and take advantage of this amazing discount.

Take advantage prior to midnight, December 12th!



Time will tell if it is a good value, but I think it might be.

[alan_3301]

you have to download the drivers. It does come with a bunch of crap that runs in the background, but I don't know if there's any way around that.
Download Drivers
scroll down to "manually select your driver"

[LeeWay]

Thanks for the link and info. I did crank up Fusion 360 this AM and it did automatically update to Ultimate. I was also able to complete a couple of the tutorials.
Fast. No glitches.
It should prove to be some very nice software.
Can't wait to become as proficient with it and SW as I am with Turbocad and Sheetcam.

[LeeWay]

Okay Guys. Something in Fusion 360 that I was totally unprepared for. It supports 3D print models as well. Thats just plain cool. Laser cutting too as well as the expected 3D machining.

[mklotz70]

I logged in yesterday and it said there was an upgrade available......it upgraded itself to Ultimate!! Which was expected, but they also said they've extended the deal until Dec.......12th I think.

[LeeWay]

A few more things I found out about Fusion 360. I was having a difficult time selecting the correct machining surface in SolidWorks. I would eventually get there of course, but not without lots of tries. Maybe this one. Nope, not that one. Lets try this one.

Anyway, Fusion is much better at it.

I though the CAM in fusion looked familiar. It is HSMWorks. It actually remembered my tools that I had already setup in HSMXpress. I was expecting to have to redo that. For those that cannot afford HSMWorks, I suggest giving this the trial run they offer. I like it more and more every time I open it up.

[amish_rabbi]

oh good, I'm glad templates and tool libraries transfer over

[MBowers]

I use Solidworks and HSMXpress and am very happy with Solidworks. HSMXpress is good for what it is, 2.5D CAM. But for the cost (free), it is hard to beat. I tried Fusion 360 after reading the post on CNCCookbook too, and have had similiar results to what he had. If you are used to SW, going to and Fusion has a learning curve, but that is to be expected. However, slow speeds aside, it is a very inexpensive 3D CAD/CAM system. I've only posted one program, but haven't actually run it on a machine. I don't like cloud based applications, maybe it's because I'm old and kind of crusty. Our internet goes down on a regular basis, and not being able to work offline is not my friend. What I'm really hoping Fusion will do is help lower the price on all the other programs out there, but that is probably wishful thinking. I wouldn't use Fusion 360 for my primary CAD/CAM system yet, but hopefully it gets better.