Not only is Fusion 360 a great 3D design tool, it also has amazing built in fabrication tools like CAM. Before toolpaths can be added to the design, a CAM setup needs to be created. The CAM setup defines the stock that the part will be cut from, as well as where the origin of the program will be located. Let's look at some of the view orientation options that are available in Fusion 360. We'll also look at the steps required to create a CAM setup. This article is specific to Fusion 360. However, much of what is shown will also work the same way for the Inventor HSM family of products. There will also be some differences, so your mileage may vary.

Autodesk University 2015 is just around the corner. This will be my fifth Autodesk University and I look forward to it each year. It's a great place to expand your skills, meet new people, and catch the latest industry trends. I wasn't sure quite what to expect the first time I attended Autodesk University and I learned some lessons along the way. I thought I would pass on some of the things I learned to speed up the learning curve for new attendees.

One of my favorite "features" of Fusion 360 is the rate at which the product is updated. I remember learning a new version of Inventor was available and hunting down the What's New document to see if that feature I just couldn't live without had been added. The excitement when said feature did make it, and the dread of knowing I would have to wait at least 364 more days to see if that particular feature would make next year's release if it didn't. With Fusion, that cadence has been reduced from about one year to six weeks. And when a new update is available, Fusion 360 updates itself with no uninstalling or reinstalling required. HALLELUJAH! 

Splines and CNC programming software at times don't go well together. This seems to be more prevalent with software used to program plasma, laser, and waterjet cutters. It is quite common for CNC programming software to convert splines into line segments controlled by a tolerance value during the import process. The bigger the tolerance value, the larger the variation will be from the original spline profile resulting in fewer and longer line segments. The smaller the tolerance value, the smaller the variation will be from the original spline profile. However, this will result in many short line segments.

This week Mike Thomas is passing on some Inventor sheet metal lofted flange knowledge. Mike is the Technical Services Manager for Prairie Machine and Parts MFG.  Mike is an expert user of AutoCAD, AutoCAD Mechanical, Inventor, and Vault.

If you want to read more of Mike's work, head on over to Design & Motion .  You can also follow Mike on Twitter @aurbis.

Yeah, I know I'm way late to the game with this one. Why am I now writing about a feature that was added to Inventor so long ago? Because it has been my experience that many users I have worked with don't know the full capabilities of the marking menu. In fact, I've found quite a few people that have even shut if off. Often after I give those people a short demonstration of the marking menu the light bulb goes on and the marking menu becomes a feature they can't live without.

Autodesk University 2015 in Las Vegas is right around the corner. Where did the year go??? If you haven't signed up to attend Autodesk University, there is still time to save your company money. Register for Autodesk University by September 24th and you'll save $500 on the price of the conference pass. 

You've done your research, you've made your case to the boss, and hooray! The boss accepted and has agreed to send you to Autodesk University. What do you do next? 

Well, I have some bad news and some good news. Let's start with the bad news first. Fusion 360 doesn't have an emboss command. Yeah, I know, I'm sad about that too. The good news is that the Fusion 360 team does an amazing job of adding features and listening to user feedback. Head over to the Fusion 360 IdeaStation and vote for Emboss to be added to Fusion 360 here. 

Welcome to the Mechanical Advantage blog.

Here you will find tips and tricks, tutorials, and commentary related to the CAD and CAM industry. Most of the focus will be on Autodesk based tools, but posts may stray into other packages from time to time. You will also see topics related to computers and technology in general. From time to time you will also see guest bloggers here as well. I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of smart people in this industry that I now also get to call friends.