THIS IS EXACTLY THE TUTORIAL I WAS LOOKING FOR! - grounded in real world problems of setup for fabrication. If you dont own a mill it can be difficult for a beginner to know what things to integrate into the design so that it is easier to make. I think this is really important otherwise costs of production can get out of control. Thanks for creating this video!
It's friday nite and I had to get the popcorn out for this one. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Being green at the CNC business, I loved hearing about alternative holding ideas. Great stuff man!
The match shape in Fusion 360 is just what I have been looking for. Professionally I design plastic injection molds using Cimatron which is a pretty high-end software. However, for my home shop I have a small Tormach 770 and I now use Fusion 360. Extracting EDM electrodes from geometry might be a possibility with your tip! Thanks!
+Jay Catmull Yes! You are right on. I used to use the Combine function for EDM electrodes. There will still be some cleanup and edges that need to be either deleted or moved back for an EDM electrode, but it works! BTW. One of my good friends owns a mold shop and they also use Cimatron for their high-end stuff :-) Thanks for comment, and have an awesome day!
Awesome, this is just what I needed to see. I've been struggling with a fixture for ages trailing and error has been a killer. I will try some of these tips and hope for the best. I can see a few tips there that will be a definate help. Thanks heaps Lars
Thanks Lars. Great video. The parts in question are Steel (I think?). I'm wondering how would you do it if they were Aluminium? I guess the pitbull clamps would damage the finish? And an aluminium block: would that still works as a "soft" jaw if it has the same hardness as the part?
Thank you so much! Glad you liked it. You would have to be careful when tightening the pitbull clamps if you are using it on a softer material, but you are in control how much strength you are using :-). You could fold up a small piece of paper and place that between the part and the clamp; this will create a little bit of sponge effect that can make it easier not to over tighten. I have used aluminum soft jaws to hold aluminum parts many times with great results. If you have to machine hundreds of aluminum parts, I would create the jaws out of steel. When using aluminum on aluminum you will see more wear and you can also have trouble with it binding if you having something like a circular fit between the two.Again, thank you for taking the time to watch the video.
You explained how to fix the part properly for multi-sided jobs. But, how do you set the origin on your cnc cutter with high precision? On the other side, If I understood correctly, you'd only need to set the origin once. If for some reason you turned off your machine and you need to execute another job, how would go about doing it?
Hi Lars, great videos. Thank you for doing this for the CAD/CAM/Machinist community. I'm essentially relatively new to CNC machining and I have just started using Fusion 360. I have a number of "Wedge" shaped parts that I use a sine vice to produce. My problem is getting Fusion 360 CAM to orient the stock correctly to create a tool path that takes off the wedge shaped stock. The stock is rectangular and every time I go to setup the origin with the Z axis normal to the wedge shaped surface the rectangular stock shifts so it is also normal to that surface. How do I create a setup and tool path to make this work in Fusion 360? Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Lars, at the second op of the pedal is there a way to tight the part with the Mitee-bite through the material? because it suppose to be stock material all over the part when upside down?. Thanks.
That is a great point. Honestly, might be one of those DUH! moments when you try to install the part the first time in the fixture :-). There might be a chance that you could still could tighten the Mitee clamp, but I could see that you drilled a couple of clearance holes in your first operation. Thank you for taking the time to comment! Have an awesome day!!
I'm very familiar with Mitee-Bite and what they do (as we're the grand winners of their Top Dog contest that was held last year). lol In regards to the pitbull clamps being used how you illustrated, the pitbull clamp would tear up the finish on the spline of the part. Doesn't matter if it's knife-edged pitbulls or not...it will still compromise the part. Those little suckers are best when used when holding on at the carrier. However, I would have used ID expansions or XYZ Xpansion pins in this case. Nonetheless, thanks for taking the time to make these vids. You're never too old to learn something new. :)
Thanks for another very useful video! When doing the CAM setup do you set the XY zero origin to the center off the hole you put in the vise jaw? Thanks again.
+Kerry Harrison Glad you like the video :-). Yes, the hole in the soft-jaw on the solid end is for the WCS. Now you can take your soft-jaws in and out and just pick that hole up, and be on your way. Have an awesome day!
Hi Lars, new to F360/cam, am enjoying your vids. Seems obvious, but what do you mean by "pick up the hole"? How does the mill determine the hole location, assuming you've taken the part in and out of the vise? Thanks!
Lars, I'm curious about the reasons for the pickup hole. Can't you just use the front left of that same jaw and skip milling the hole? If you pull the soft jaw and put it back in the piece is still relative to those edges. So I'm interested in hearing the additional advantages you see to the hole approach.
Lars, I'm using a Lenovo W520 laptop for CAD/CAM and can't get the middle mouse button to orbit the part. I've tried a separate USB mouse with the same results. Lenovo uses the shift+middle button+wheel to duplicate the alt-tab function of showing icons of all the open apps on the page. I can change the assignment but don't know what to change it too. Any ideas? Jim
Hi Jim, Dang, I'm really not sure. I would try to ask the question on the Fusion 360 forum. Someone else there should be using the same workstation. forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360/ct-p/1234
nice can you do a vid on using boundary's and drawn boundary's there are a few noobs that are having problems with there tool paths the main reason is there boundary's are wrong
does anyone realize that the part hes creating a fixture for doesnt need a operation on that side? but rather on the "top" face for the hole be drill after the main side profile, other than that this exactly what i needed
This might sound stupid, but couldn't you use a "donut" shape magnet to hold metal cylinders to hold the piece you want to mill?. There are magnets that are so strong you can't pull them apart. For example, with your piece you could use 4 magnets, 3 for the 3 holes on the left and 1 to the one on the right. Does this makes sense, or possible?. There would be a problem "maybe" with the drill itself. If its attracted to magnets you couldn't use this system.
+Pedro Gordinho Not stupid at all! I hope someone else also would share their thoughts on this. I have used magnets on the mill from time to time (Just borrowed one from the grinder) There are a few disadvantages. One, you better have a magnet that can be turned on or off. If not, it can be a pain to clean the chips and shavings from milling off. Also, if you have a powerful "Earth Magnet" You might find it a pain to get your part off when done :-). That brings another possible concern; you better have a good surface for your magnet. If you have a surface on your raw stock that is all dinged and uneven, you are suddenly in trouble. One last thing, as I'm thinking on top of my head. You can also risk that you are pulling the part down if it is relative thin using a magnet. But all in all, not a bad idea either. Hope some other people share their 2 cents on this. Thank you so much for watching the video and take the time to comment.
+Lars Christensen Thank you for making these videos. I have another weird thing to ask. Do you think you could hold the piece with ceramic cast?. You pick up a wood box without the bottom or top and put it surrounding the piece. Next you put ceramic cast with is liquid at first and them when it hardens, you can turn the box around and you get a holding piece. So, what do you think about it, would it work?. This would be very cheap to do.
Well, I have never tried that. I guess something like that could work :-). A couple of questions; How are you going to clamp the part in the ceramic cast? I don't believe you can get away with just a mirror cast of the part. Something like a Face Mill will try to suck the part out of the mold, so something has to hold it down. Second, ceramic is hard but also very brittle. I could see it easily would crack when you try to clamp it. Third, this method might not work if you have multiple parts you need to machine. One reason we clear the round corners is so parts does not bind there, as multiple parts are never exactly the same size. You might be on to something here Pedro, just a few of my concerns that might not even be a problem. Have a great day!!
+HARLYLICHUZZ CAD CAM CORNER!! Not sure I totally understand. Are you asking if I did or if you can click once and select all tangent lines? if that is the case I don't believe you can, but I will look into that.
+Manuel Monroy Glad you like the video! On the Ribbon bar in the CAM mode you will find a tab named managed. Here you can access your tool libraries and if you right-click in the left collum you can create and organize all the libraries. Email me if you need more help. lars.christensen@autodesk.com
THIS IS EXACTLY THE TUTORIAL I WAS LOOKING FOR! - grounded in real world problems of setup for fabrication. If you dont own a mill it can be difficult for a beginner to know what things to integrate into the design so that it is easier to make.
I think this is really important otherwise costs of production can get out of control. Thanks for creating this video!
Thank you for taking the time to watch. I really appreciate it! You are totally right. It is difficult if you are a beginner. I'll keep posting.
It's friday nite and I had to get the popcorn out for this one. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Being green at the CNC business, I loved hearing about alternative holding ideas. Great stuff man!
Thank you Paul, Glad you found it helpful!!
Have an awesome day!
Fantastic tutorial! You have the best CAD/CAM videos out there!!! I love Fusion 360 and Inventor, so your channel is a favorite of mine! Thanks Lars!
Really great videos Lars. You have the best series Ive seen yet.
Thank you so much!
Have an awesome day!
The match shape in Fusion 360 is just what I have been looking for. Professionally I design plastic injection molds using Cimatron which is a pretty high-end software. However, for my home shop I have a small Tormach 770 and I now use Fusion 360. Extracting EDM electrodes from geometry might be a possibility with your tip! Thanks!
+Jay Catmull Yes! You are right on. I used to use the Combine function for EDM electrodes. There will still be some cleanup and edges that need to be either deleted or moved back for an EDM electrode, but it works!
BTW. One of my good friends owns a mold shop and they also use Cimatron for their high-end stuff :-)
Thanks for comment, and have an awesome day!
Hey Jay . Base in your experience, can Fusion360 compete with Cimatron in the injection molding industry?
Awesome, this is just what I needed to see. I've been struggling with a fixture for ages trailing and error has been a killer. I will try some of these tips and hope for the best. I can see a few tips there that will be a definate help. Thanks heaps Lars
Awesome! Glad you found it helpful.
Have a great day!
Thanks Lars. Great video. The parts in question are Steel (I think?). I'm wondering how would you do it if they were Aluminium? I guess the pitbull clamps would damage the finish? And an aluminium block: would that still works as a "soft" jaw if it has the same hardness as the part?
Thank you so much! Glad you liked it. You would have to be careful when tightening the pitbull clamps if you are using it on a softer material, but you are in control how much strength you are using :-). You could fold up a small piece of paper and place that between the part and the clamp; this will create a little bit of sponge effect that can make it easier not to over tighten.
I have used aluminum soft jaws to hold aluminum parts many times with great results. If you have to machine hundreds of aluminum parts, I would create the jaws out of steel. When using aluminum on aluminum you will see more wear and you can also have trouble with it binding if you having something like a circular fit between the two.Again, thank you for taking the time to watch the video.
You explained how to fix the part properly for multi-sided jobs. But, how do you set the origin on your cnc cutter with high precision? On the other side, If I understood correctly, you'd only need to set the origin once. If for some reason you turned off your machine and you need to execute another job, how would go about doing it?
Great video Lars! Great information.
Thank you so much +Jason Hughes
Excellent, excellent, excellent! Soft jaws have been my downfall. Great examples, clears it up for me. Thanks.
When putting stock in the vise, like you have shown here, how much is needed to securely clamp so it doesn’t move?
Very helpful. Thank you!
Glad you found it helpful! Have a great day +jfpinkston
Is there a relation you can use between solid bodies to ensure one of the edges are Parallel with the vise?
Hi Lars, great videos. Thank you for doing this for the CAD/CAM/Machinist community. I'm essentially relatively new to CNC machining and I have just started using Fusion 360. I have a number of "Wedge" shaped parts that I use a sine vice to produce. My problem is getting Fusion 360 CAM to orient the stock correctly to create a tool path that takes off the wedge shaped stock. The stock is rectangular and every time I go to setup the origin with the Z axis normal to the wedge shaped surface the rectangular stock shifts so it is also normal to that surface. How do I create a setup and tool path to make this work in Fusion 360? Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Scott, Can you invite me to your project so I can take a look? lars.christensen@autodesk.com
Hi Lars, at the second op of the pedal is there a way to tight the part with the Mitee-bite through the material? because it suppose to be stock material all over the part when upside down?. Thanks.
That is a great point. Honestly, might be one of those DUH! moments when you try to install the part the first time in the fixture :-). There might be a chance that you could still could tighten the Mitee clamp, but I could see that you drilled a couple of clearance holes in your first operation.
Thank you for taking the time to comment! Have an awesome day!!
I'm very familiar with Mitee-Bite and what they do (as we're the grand winners of their Top Dog contest that was held last year). lol In regards to the pitbull clamps being used how you illustrated, the pitbull clamp would tear up the finish on the spline of the part. Doesn't matter if it's knife-edged pitbulls or not...it will still compromise the part. Those little suckers are best when used when holding on at the carrier. However, I would have used ID expansions or XYZ Xpansion pins in this case. Nonetheless, thanks for taking the time to make these vids. You're never too old to learn something new. :)
Thanks for another very useful video! When doing the CAM setup do you set the XY zero origin to the center off the hole you put in the vise jaw?
Thanks again.
+Kerry Harrison Glad you like the video :-). Yes, the hole in the soft-jaw on the solid end is for the WCS. Now you can take your soft-jaws in and out and just pick that hole up, and be on your way.
Have an awesome day!
Hi Lars, new to F360/cam, am enjoying your vids. Seems obvious, but what do you mean by "pick up the hole"? How does the mill determine the hole location, assuming you've taken the part in and out of the vise? Thanks!
Hi vahpr, using either an indicator, edge finder or a tool probe.
Hope this is helpful!
Best,
Lars
Lars, I'm curious about the reasons for the pickup hole. Can't you just use the front left of that same jaw and skip milling the hole? If you pull the soft jaw and put it back in the piece is still relative to those edges. So I'm interested in hearing the additional advantages you see to the hole approach.
Lars,
I'm using a Lenovo W520 laptop for CAD/CAM and can't get the middle mouse button to orbit the part. I've tried a separate USB mouse with the same results. Lenovo uses the shift+middle button+wheel to duplicate the alt-tab function of showing icons of all the open apps on the page. I can change the assignment but don't know what to change it too. Any ideas?
Jim
Hi Jim, Dang, I'm really not sure. I would try to ask the question on the Fusion 360 forum. Someone else there should be using the same workstation. forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360/ct-p/1234
Great video.
Thank you so much +GP Tech
Thank a Lot Lars .
Thank you sir!
Great video..... Made me sub.. Thanks for sharing
+RoboCNC Frees- & Graveerwerk Glad you like it!
Have a great day!
Thank you so much ❤️ god bless you
NICE VIDEO MABY SHOW THE PRAKTICAL PART TO WORKING WHIT MACHIONE AND FEEDS SPEDDS CALCULATION !!
+HARLYLICHUZZ CAD CAM CORNER!! You got it! Thank you!!
nice can you do a vid on using boundary's and drawn boundary's there are a few noobs that are having problems with there tool paths the main reason is there boundary's are wrong
+daniel lyall I will definitely but it on my list of "To Do" videos. Thank you!
cool thanks Lars
does anyone realize that the part hes creating a fixture for doesnt need a operation on that side? but rather on the "top" face for the hole be drill after the main side profile, other than that this exactly what i needed
brilliant!
Thank you so much! +Ben Smith
This might sound stupid, but couldn't you use a "donut" shape magnet to hold metal cylinders to hold the piece you want to mill?. There are magnets that are so strong you can't pull them apart.
For example, with your piece you could use 4 magnets, 3 for the 3 holes on the left and 1 to the one on the right.
Does this makes sense, or possible?. There would be a problem "maybe" with the drill itself. If its attracted to magnets you couldn't use this system.
+Pedro Gordinho Not stupid at all! I hope someone else also would share their thoughts on this. I have used magnets on the mill from time to time (Just borrowed one from the grinder) There are a few disadvantages. One, you better have a magnet that can be turned on or off. If not, it can be a pain to clean the chips and shavings from milling off. Also, if you have a powerful "Earth Magnet" You might find it a pain to get your part off when done :-). That brings another possible concern; you better have a good surface for your magnet. If you have a surface on your raw stock that is all dinged and uneven, you are suddenly in trouble. One last thing, as I'm thinking on top of my head. You can also risk that you are pulling the part down if it is relative thin using a magnet. But all in all, not a bad idea either. Hope some other people share their 2 cents on this.
Thank you so much for watching the video and take the time to comment.
+Lars Christensen Thank you for making these videos.
I have another weird thing to ask. Do you think you could hold the piece with ceramic cast?.
You pick up a wood box without the bottom or top and put it surrounding the piece. Next you put ceramic cast with is liquid at first and them when it hardens, you can turn the box around and you get a holding piece. So, what do you think about it, would it work?. This would be very cheap to do.
Well, I have never tried that. I guess something like that could work :-). A couple of questions; How are you going to clamp the part in the ceramic cast? I don't believe you can get away with just a mirror cast of the part. Something like a Face Mill will try to suck the part out of the mold, so something has to hold it down. Second, ceramic is hard but also very brittle. I could see it easily would crack when you try to clamp it. Third, this method might not work if you have multiple parts you need to machine. One reason we clear the round corners is so parts does not bind there, as multiple parts are never exactly the same size.
You might be on to something here Pedro, just a few of my concerns that might not even be a problem.
Have a great day!!
ant you select all tangent lines in one command?? when you projekted the lines??
+HARLYLICHUZZ CAD CAM CORNER!! Not sure I totally understand. Are you asking if I did or if you can click once and select all tangent lines? if that is the case I don't believe you can, but I will look into that.
+Lars Christensen yeas select all tangent lines att onnce!!
nice video
How can I make and keep mytools folder too
+Manuel Monroy Glad you like the video! On the Ribbon bar in the CAM mode you will find a tab named managed. Here you can access your tool libraries and if you right-click in the left collum you can create and organize all the libraries.
Email me if you need more help. lars.christensen@autodesk.com