Hello, I am brand new to cnc plasma and I just bought the Crossfire Pro, waiting for it to arrive and I figure I might as well familiarize myself with the software. Do I have to use Fusion 360 or is there another CAD software that will work equally well? Wanting to know before I get in too deep…
You can use any program that makes dxf or svg file. You will have to use f360 or sheetcam to create gcodes.
What kind of stuff do you plan on doing? We can make suggestions maybe.
1 Like
@GrasStop welcome to the forum!!
As Phillip said there are allot of options for design.
For CAM there are currently only post processors available for Fusion 360 and SheetCam.
What are you planning to design and cut? Dimensional parts, art, both?
There is allot of good information on CAD and CAM options on the forum. Search software on the forum(little magnifying glass on the corner)
1 Like
@GrasStop Welcome to the Forum.
No you do not have to. Like @Phillipw and @72Pony stated , it depends…
What are you making?
IMO Fusion 360 is the future of all product CAD CAM. It get get better all the time, there was 14 updates last year that made fusion 360 better and faster. No other software is evolving so fast.
There is no single piece of software that can replace Fusion 360.
4 Likes
I don’t like the future.
5 Likes
Fusion in the skilled hands of a designer like you would be an amazing pairing.
2 Likes
I recommend the free personal use fusion 360 to start.
Langmuir has a lot of good information on this topic Software Workflow | Langmuir Systems
It takes a month to get stuff setup and start feeling comfortable moving around in the software. Your in the right place when you have issues or questions.
1 Like
Fusion is fantastic once you understand it. I learned it from youtube and there are people on this forum that can help with specific use cases. I know you have projects in mind most likely but I would strongly encourage you to (regardless of which CAD/CAM you try) start with elementary shapes design them, CAM them, and then cut them on your CF. It seems like a waste but it’s invaluable and will save you hours of frustration.
6 Likes
I just wanted to jump in here and say that I’ve been programming using CAD cam for 42 years and I have never seen a piece of software have more trouble creating boundaries for extrusions before cutting with the plasma. In my opinion their workflow infusion is so confusing that I’ve spent four days trying to learn it watching videos reading material and it is still the ultimate and frustration LOL. I wouldn’t have fusion if they paid me to use it!!! And not just my opinion, my cousin owns a fabrication shop in Columbus Ohio doing government contract work and uses a Lincoln CNC plasma system and he tried fusion as well and said it was just way too difficult to understand, so you got a mechanical engineer here who’s used AutoCAD since version 2.14 and I’m very versed with the package but this Fusion Autodesk product is chaos…
1 Like
Fusion isn’t for everyone. I can empathize with you, most of my CAD experience is in REVIT and it took me some time to get used to the different workflow. Once I did, I was glad I stuck with it. The 3D capabilities and the Sheetmetal tools are awesome. If you have access to a CAD program, you are proficient in then stick with that.
Not being critical, but I am quite surprised that a mechanical engineer would still be using Autocad as a design program.
3 Likes
Understood at the autocad, most of my personal design is done with AutoCAD 2000 because that’s what I’m used to and that’s what’s loaded on my personal computer. 3D stuff for machining is always SolidWorks that was what I got used to when doing glass molds. I work for a CNC fabrication equipment manufacturer out of Germany and am the national service manager in this country for that company. Right now all of my exposure and usage is with SolidWorks and a cam package called Metalix and that stuff is really nice for lasers and plasmas. My problem is I’m probably too old and too set in my ways to learn something new LOL
3 Likes
SolidWorks is a great program! you can keep using it, you will just need to write your own post processor or use sheetcam for cam.
And as you know Autocad will do everything you need for CNC plasma. You are all set.
1 Like
Maybe you guys can help me… I probably should have asked long before now but my major problem is that when I finish the sketch and go to extrude it, all of the simple interior elements come out fine. But when I extrude and select the outside profile of the street sign for my mom and dad, I get this error.
Historically I would say that in other software packages it had a problem with the outside boundary being contiguous and all elements connected but I have checked and rechecked and can’t find anything.
What are you guys think? Is there any way to ask Fusion to highlight the boundary elements that aren’t connected? Or is it that I simply have too many elements up in the tree feature?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I think I’m close as the house number, all of the barn elements and the islands in the tree branches all extrude fine. It’s just when it goes to extrude the outside boundary the alarm pops up.
My workflow was I took a black and white clipart of the barn scene, then used a converter program online convert that jpeg into an SVG. Next after importing it in with the canvas option, I completely traced the outlines using the sketch elements infusion.
I’m stumped, other software would highlight the elements that were not contiguous or joined. Fusion seems like it’s not much help in this respect as I think that’s what the problem is. Let me know your thoughts
@oldcarguy61 can you save, export, and post your current f3d of this project?
Having now had my table a year, I wish I’d just stayed with a simple 2d cad program. I had thought Fusion would help me build parts in 3D, and then lay them out for the table. But the investment in time to master that appeared to be infinite. So I just use Fusion in 2d now. And it’s still a PITA. There are lots of easy 2D cad programs that will work that are easier to learn and use than Fusion and that can generate the files required.
Okay, I think I owe Fusion 360 and apology LOL. A couple of the members talk me down off the ledge and I owe them a bag thank you.
I think it was a combination of the converter I was using to go from a JPEG to either a dxf or an Svg… Once I started using a good one, things started working the way they were supposed to!
As I said earlier, sheet cam is a very simple program and I used it in industry for a couple of years on an AKs with 300 amp I perform high def and it was a program you could learn in an hour and be very proficient. But it didn’t have 3D capability so it would was limited in some aspects but if all you ever do is suck in 2D geometry and burn it, it was great… Dependable no major bugs and did what it was supposed to do.
But if you take the time to learn Fusion 360 it is very powerful my advice after almost throwing my PC out the window at 2:30 in the morning, it’s just take your time and don’t expect too much in the first week or two. Stick with it and you’ll eventually get to where you’re going you’re going to have a lot of mistakes but the people on The forum here are very helpful.
4 Likes