I am waiting for my Pro version table to arrive. It is my understanding that I design in Fusion 360 (or another) then go to Sheetcam and finally print with Fire Control. Correct???
Sheet cam is another cad program like fusion. Originally you would go fusion or sheetcam, to mach 3. But now you will go from fusion to fire control
you can design and post process from fusion so you won’t have to use sheetcam (sheetcan is only a post processor to create gcode) then to firecontrol.
I’m my opinion, unless you’re gonna be designing anything from scratch, then fusion is too much for simple 2D projects.
if you’re gonna download dxf or svg files from the internet then i would go with inkscape and sheetcam then firecontrol. that’s what i do now but with mach3 at the end.
2 Likes
Thanks.
I have already been using Fusion 360 for my 3D printer so I am familiar with it. I also bought Sheetcam about 2 months ago so I own that as well.
I guess I can use either Fusion 360 and FireControl together or Inkscape, Sheetcam and Firecontrol together.
Rather than make a new post, hopefully someone here can clear up some confusion for me.
I have a lot of experience designing in CAD. I use a different program than fusion360 and have a lot of complex 2D designs already that I would not enjoy redrawing.
I have Fusion360 installed as I qualified for the entrepreneur license but have no experience with using it. I’d rather not get too far in the weeds with different programs if not necessary.
Question is, can I import my DXF files into fusion360 and push those to the CAM side of fusion to then create my Gcode and then push to fire control? Or is there some limitation preventing that in which case I would have to buy sheetCAM to create the Gcode from my already existing DXF files?
Thanks!!
Hi and welcome to the gang. Just import you DXF into fusion. Create yout tool paths and such to make your TAP file / Gcode then into firecontrol.
1 Like
You can absolutely do what you are asking. We were doing that in the beginning. My wife and I ultimately decided to move away from fusion after they changed their pricing structure. We had just purchased sheetcam and I cannot recommend it enough. We were able to eliminate the majority of the problems we were having with complex and difficult cuts by having individual path rules etc. She got another CAD program, can’t remember what at the moment, and has said it’s much easier for her and prefers it over Fusion. To each their own. If you’re already using something else, get sheetcam, you wont regret it. If someone is already using fusion, I understand not wanting to have a 3rd program to process. Sheetcam does expand the post processing abilities over fusion.
2 Likes
wvredbeard Let us know what other CAD program your wife got!
1 Like
Solid Edge. I don’t know much about it. She likes it and is much less frustrated with it. Happy wife, happy life! She was a complete newbie to CAD as of last year when we got our crossfire.
1 Like
@gorillamotors, @wvredbeard Solid Edge 2D is free, you can download it here
You may get a call from a sales guy trying to upsell you to the 3D package, but once you explain that you just do 2D plasma table stuff they’ll leave you alone.
1 Like
@wvredbeard Awesome to get a great response from a fellow Mountaineer!
Hi wvredbeard. I use Solidedge, and would like to know if you’re able to use the CAM feature within Solidedge and go straight to Firecontrol.
If you’re not, what methods are you using to go from SolidEdge to Firecontrol?
MrWiskers, no, we were using sheetcam before we transitioned to solidedge and have continued to use sheetcam. If you’re not using or haven’t used sheetcam, it’s well worth the small investment.