Cutting large pieces

I cut my first large piece today. All went as expected. I haven’t cut much lately but after getting the last update for fusion a few days ago - its seems to be less hangy and was able to get a larger piece done without much difficulty. ( 39x16 ) Fusion, gives me headaches in general - considering plasma cutting is all 2d , youd think it shouldn’t give too many problems. To me its just isn’t quite ready for prime-time. Never the less, I did get the job done. and was easy to set up for multi passes in indexed cuts.

One problem I did run into - is that the controller wire for the y stepper motor is not long enough - to slide the material under gantry support - when shifting stock. I had to pass mine through a cut-out window in the stock.

Since we’re using a 3D CAD tool for 2D design perhaps it’s not the tool that is at fault here. I know people struggle with it but it is designed for professional engineering work, used by tens (hundreds?) of thousands of professional designers every day. It requires a different mindset to think “in 3D” and yet we expect to pick up a complex software application and use it like Word.

If you’re not a professional designer or don’t have prior 3D design experience, rather than struggle through attempting to learn Fusion 360, I’d recommend a 2D design application like Inkscape (free), Illustrator, Corel or Affinity Designer. Since they’re not 3D design tools they have simpler workflows and are generally easier for people to become proficient in.

However, you’ll still need to create your toolpaths and for that you might want to look at Sheetcam. That’s all it does so again you don’t have to navigate around a tool with a lot of other functionality that you’re not going to use.

I am not struggling with features or designing , I am struggling with the computer program hanging and crashing … I have a new machine that is pretty powerful and doesn’t have issues except I have to reboot sometimes as it wont wake from sleep. but with fusion , I have been on their board and others have issues. It might be an a corrupted file - I believe it happened after rebooting without closing the program… - most programs should not blow up like this. as the install files should not be changed during use. but its trying so hard to do stuff online etc. it tries too hard.

I’ve been without internet in the shop for a few days. Fusion is definitely made to keep calling home. If it doesn’t get its fix it does not run very well at all and does crash a lot. This is my only issue with it in that regard. Maybe your having some connection problems too?

yes it throws all kinds of connection problems when my computer sleeps perhaps why it wont wake up if I walked away to the bathroom or something… come to think of it the only time my comp wont wake from sleep is when I am using fusion… anyhow was taking about 10 minutes to open… and sometimes 10 minutes to import a svg etc… but after last update the program actually opened in less than a min or two…
so its noticeably better/ it did run well the first time I installed it… so, my point is its a software garbage like windows… it works nice for first few moments then gets garbaged up fast and unusable … so that is what I mean its not ready for prime time

Yup I’ll bet it doesn’t get along with hibernate mode. Sleep mode might be ok, As a rule we turn off all the power saving stuff… if we wanted to save power we wouldn’t be cutting with plasma.

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Just hate being tethered to the wall with my laptop… I move from room to room a bit… I also have a bunch of tools , lights and other stuff using up power when I am cutting. If I had to add another cord to the mix - I would go nuts.

You might even think of turning them off completely (Sleep - Hibernate - Screen saver) (power saver mode) but mostly make sure your HDD sleep is set to NEVER. I set all of mine to Never, and no screen saver.
Worth a try.
Bob

So odd, that I cant find where to turn this off - I recall having this setting. before I pulled out the HDD and put in M.2 stick… Maybe that is why it wont turn off - and maybe there is not full compatibility for the M.2 SSD

I’m running an m2 ssd in my laptop. No issues I’ve seen. Lots faster booting up though :slightly_smiling_face:

mine is nvme with both m and b keys… so that is unusual as most nvme do not have the b key… so its probably done for cross compatibility - and its the only one I ve ever seen like this. - and about 3/4 of the time my machine wont even recognize the drive - when I reboot - it doesn’t find the drive - I usually have to do a few times - I would have sent it back and got something different but once all my info is on it - you know. even deleted - I am uncomfortable returning it.

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