So, I want to get into 3d printing...

[Jordan]

What do I need to do?

I downloaded Fusion 360 and have been playing with it a bit, but I'm struggling. I was hoping it would be like Autocad, which is something I'm somewhat familiar with, but its definitely not.

Any tutorials I should look at? Or is there a different program with a shallower learning curve?

Ultimately I hope to be able to 3d print stuff like my dual Ion adapter and pass said files on to anyone interested.

[bellicose]

To be honest, Fusion is the correct program. I can dig around for curriculum if you would like. I'm teaching Rhino3D at the moment, but have been getting pressure from the local Community College to switch to Fusion. I'm hoping to transition in about 2 months, so I need to brush up on Fusion myself. Many people I've talked to say Rhino is harder, but once you figure out that you can just start typing commands, I find it's not hard at all.

[Alexndl]

Personally I like Catia, I have been using in the past V5R10 and it was quite easy. But you wont get free license

Solid Work is a simplified version of Catia and I have eard its quite simple to learn

For free version you also have Solid edge https://www.plm.automation.siemens.c...ware/community

Nerver used it myself but it look simple enough to use base on some tutorial I have seen on youtube

I tried Fusion 360 too and I also find it not intuitive to use. Just different than other cad software I used in the past (Pro E, Inventor, Catia and autocad)


Which 3d printer have you got?

[Jordan]

No printer yet, I wanted to figure out how to create files before I got in too deep, money wise.

[Rainmaker]

Fusion is definitely one of the most user friendly and intuitive CAD programs out there. Another one is solidworks, but I don't think there's a way to get that one for free without a student account. Another option is Onshape, but it isn't nearly as feature rich as Fusion.

My suggestion would be to visualize and even hand sketch the object you want to make, and then try to think of what operations you will need to do in order to make it. The main ones are going to be Extrude and revolve, with Loft and sweep close behind. I try to avoid making standard shapes like boxes and spheres. I've seen people make a box and then combine it with another box, etc. It's just really primitive and unnecessary. Just make a sketch and extrude/revolve it!

I've been considering doing a Fusion/ paintball CAD type podcast. Like pick something I want to make and just record how I make it.

3d printing and CAD are two almost entirely different animals. Do you have a printer in mind already?

[KMDPB]

That podcast would be fire 🔥

[KMDPB]

3d printers are nice to have when you're getting into 3d printing. As for learning fusion 360 most people will recommend watching videos by lars Christensen on youtube. And they are very helpful but what made it "click" for me was reading the book fusion 360 for makers. Not a necessary purchase but it definitely helped me by laying everything out simply. After reading the book I had enough of an idea that the videos made more sense and I could better apply them to my modeling. But I'm probably not the best person to answer as I'm still learning myself

[XEMON]

I tried to get in the Fusion360 hype ... i could not figure out how to do anything ...
IU am currently using Solidworks 2018, its extremely powerful and has ton of support.
I am looking at upgrading to teh 2019 version as it has lots of new feature geared toward 3D printing like 3D skin texture.

That being said, no matter what software you use, it takes a lot of practice, trial and error, then start over from scratch because one of the thing you did first is screwed up ...
The same goes for the printer ... I have an ender 3 and love it) ... I spent more time improving it in the first year than i did printing ... Now i hit print and walk away ... (most of the time)

[bellicose]

To piggy back on this, yes lots of practice. Once you make a thing to learn and practice, delete it, then make it again. Then....delete it and make it again. You will engrain those skills and procedures, and make it faster and faster each time.

[Jordan]

Fusion is definitely one of the most user friendly and intuitive CAD programs out there. Another one is solidworks, but I don't think there's a way to get that one for free without a student account. Another option is Onshape, but it isn't nearly as feature rich as Fusion.

My suggestion would be to visualize and even hand sketch the object you want to make, and then try to think of what operations you will need to do in order to make it. The main ones are going to be Extrude and revolve, with Loft and sweep close behind. I try to avoid making standard shapes like boxes and spheres. I've seen people make a box and then combine it with another box, etc. It's just really primitive and unnecessary. Just make a sketch and extrude/revolve it!

I've been considering doing a Fusion/ paintball CAD type podcast. Like pick something I want to make and just record how I make it.

3d printing and CAD are two almost entirely different animals. Do you have a printer in mind already?

No printer in mind yet, although the Ender 3 seems to be a decent "entry-level" one to start with, from what I can tell.

Maybe that's my issue - I'm thinking through the design like I'm drafting something.

I'll check out some videos and keep plugging away, then... thanks for the tips, guys!

[Rainmaker]

If you want to spend money on CAD at all, Solidworks is the best (IMHO). Just throwing that out there

[Jordan]

I'll keep that in mind, but at present, I'm just looking to dip my toe in, not get completely wet.

I just watched the first two of 3 Lars videos on YouTube, and it's all much much clearer now... I was over-complicating things for myself because I was expecting to design it like a 2d CAD drawing. This will be much easier now. (Phew! )

[Cdn_Cuda]

Interested in following this thread. Been pondering a 3D printing and need to start researching the software side.

[Spider!]

Just make a sketch and extrude/revolve it!

^^^

Then, under the file menu is export. Export in stl format, which will go into your printer software (slicer). This is kind of slow, but free

It took me awhile to get from autocad experience to fusion. Ignore meshes at first of you can. The order of things takes some getting used to. There are lots of autodesk published tutorials.

I usually keep the timeline turned on in the preferences, and only turn it off for mesh body conversions. It's really nice to have and adjust dimensions on early operations after trying a print

Just make a sketch and extrude/revolve it!

After that, look at the construction menu, and the different ways to create new planes. Those let you make sketches for other details, which you extrude also. The rest are fancy features, which can be very cool.

[bellicose]

One thing you can do is create a CAD drawing, and then import the CAD file and create your 3D model in Fusion 360. I've done this with CAD files in 3DsMax.