I purchased a Crossfire Pro and have been trying to learn Fusion 360 prior to receiving my table. I have been following Langmuir tutorials on Fusion 360 and I am really struggling.
Is SheetCAM any easier for a total computer novice to learn?
I have figured out how to do simple things like load a dfx file, but any drawing or machine setup in Fusion 360 is very confusing to me.
I’m looking for some advice - can anyone help?
Welcome to the forum!
First thing is, don’t confuse Fusion 360 with SheetCam, they are totally different things.
The simple explanation:
CAD - computer aid design - software used to CREATE designs. Fusion is this, SheetCam is not.
CAM - Computer Aided Manufacturing - software to convert designs into Manufacturing code, specifically G-Code. Fusion has CAM function, and that’s ALL (pretty much) that SheetCam does.
There are MANY CAD tools for creating designs. some 2D, some 3D. For Plasma Cutting 2D is sufficient. Fusion is a 3D CAD program with LOTS of capability, but, along with that, comes complexity. You can use many different ones of these depending on what you’re doing.
There are only a few CAM programs that know how to creat G-Code compatible with Firecontrol, the Crossfire controller. Fusion is one, SheetCam is another. You NEED one of these.
If you want to use different kinds of CAD tools, then I recommend SheetCam as it will work with virtually all of them.
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Thanks for the reply - I have figured out how to import a sketch into F360. I do a lot better with MS Paint and simple sketches. There is a lot of dfx files available for free or purchase so I think I will have lots of things to cut out without having to learn a CAD program - for now anyway…
Can you import a simple drawing into sheetcam?
You can import any DXF or SVG file into Sheetcam. If they are not plasma ready, you will need to edit them in a design program. By “plasma ready”, I mean letters and other features bridged, so the centers don’t fall out.
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Good point - I am sure I will eventually need to get fluent with some kind of CAD program. I just am struggling with the F360. Any recommendations for a simpler CAD program to design files?
I use FreeCad, but I don’t know if I would say it’s simpler than Fusion. I had already invested some time into learning FreeCad for 3d printing, so I continued using it for plasma cutting.
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@GasGas300 if you are trying to do highly precise technical things then a cad program is necessary…however if you are simply tying to do simply drawings up and including highly complex artwork type things then i personally suggest inkscape, its free, has a LOT of your tube tutorials for just about any question you can think to google and personally it was far easier to grasp and create things with than fusion was. it can take in just about any input image and spit out exactly what sheetcam needs to create gcode for you table.
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Thank You - I see the benefits with F360 and think I need to spend some more time trying to learn it - I’m going to give some more time, but if I continue to struggle, I will look into the inkscape/SheetCam