Fusion 360 Free version - work arounds

[Andrewg]

Like many (I assume) I had grown to love having the features of a full 3D parametric modelling available to me for my home projects, not that I often need all the power it provides. The removal of features from the free version has been a PIA to work around.

I tend to use Vectic V-Carve in the workshop for 2D work and generating G-Code quickly as it is so simple and user friendly. So the biggest pain was the removal of .pdf or .dxf export from Fusion 360, stopping the easy moving of 2D parts between the two. However I have found 2 fixes while searching

- Print to PDF
In Fusions 360 you can't export a drawing to pdf anymore, but you can print it and use the Microsoft Print to PDF driver (other free pdf print drivers available) to generate a pdf ready for importing into Vectric. On import you have to rescale the parts to full size, but with a reference dimension from Fusion and the dimension and scale features in Vectric that is simple and accurate to around 6 decimal places. I had some concerns about the resolution and complexity of the pdf file generated so i drew a 50mm cube, printed it to pdf, imported into Vectric, created a profile cut, exported the g-code. I then inspected that to confirm the files was clean and short, simple point to point moves of 50mm (not thousands of short segments for example) - not exhaustive but encouraging and so far has worked for me on simple outlines of parts. (I think the resolution is 600dpi by default for this print driver)

-Mapboard Pro
Recently been frustrated (and confused) by the Arrange (and Nest) features not being available, as taking parts from a Fusion 360 design and laying them out onto stock material is a common stage (even if I then rearrange them in Vectric at the machine to suit actual material available that day. YouTube made me aware of a Fusion 360 App Store App called Mapboard that not only recreates the arrange feature but also export of results in dxf and svg format! Feedback from users is excellent, the app only costs around $16 for Mapboard and $25 for Mapboard Pro. So I have bought it, and so far am very impressed.

Of course the idea of allowing third party apps that replace functionality disabled in the free version seems perverse way to manage a product and so who knows how long Autocad will allow this to continue or will impose further restrictions, but for now it works like a dream!

FreeCAD 0.19
Longer term the answer is probably to not rely on Autocad's fickle generosity, so I have started to use FreeCAD, the open source parametric modeller. Version 0.19 that came out recently is a huge step forward. Whilst nowhere near as sophisticated a UI, it does embody the parametric and constraint driven design approach I have come to prefer from Fusion 360 and so I have been using it for simple parametric box designs, getting it to spit out 2D dxf ready for CAM in Vectric. It does however also have an increasingly sophisticated CAM workbench so that might soon be an unnecessary step. Worth a look.