Milling Organic Shapes

[cknu...@gmail.com]

I would like to purchase a Pocket NC, but hesitant on the workflow to my end objects. My goal is to have the pocket nc utilize the 5 axis milling to cut out organic shapes of characters and mini figurines. What is the work flow to setup Fusion 360 to handle organic shapes. The tutorial / guide on the FAQ section only mentions setting up a simple cube. Are there many more steps to handle a more complex object? If so, what exactly are those steps?

Thank you

[Michael]

When machining organic shapes there are a lot of different ways that this can be done. One of the simplest ways to machine a part would be to use the same process used in the impeller tutorial. (http://www.pocketnc.com/impeller-training-series ) I like to call this process 3+2 projection milling. What you would do is create a bunch of 3 axis toolpaths that look at the part form different angles. 

You can also create 5 axis toolpaths that end up moving around the part with more organic cutting motions. These are more difficult to create and take some more getting used to. There are some good tutorials on this process on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJmb4vD53VA).

If you are just starting into CAM on Fusion I would recommend you start by working through some of their tutorials. (http://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=GUIDE3719BFB-5D75-46B6-9161-11A560C2D884) 

Hopefully this will get you started. Let us know if you have questions along the way.

Michael

[Robert Stein]

Hello cknu,

I bought the Pocket to cut organic shapes generated in ZBrush.
High density geometry, Decimated to reduce size, and exported as an .STL.

That was my intended workflow, but I wasnt really able to do That until recently.
When I got the Pocket a year ago, Fusion360 had a 10k polygon limit for imported geometry and it really didnt like .stl files.
They needed to be converted to T-Splines, and that conversion process was Iffy at best. Usually failed. (No surprise with Decimated geometry).

I thought I would need to use DeskProto. Randy Kopf, a user on this Forum, pointed me in that direction, as Deskproto would generate paths for .stl files lightning fast.

But recently, like a month ago, Fusion 360 can now import .stl file and generate paths without conversion to T-Splines.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWsxMIUg6xJ/?taken-by=robertsteiniii

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXgqynEgb1I/?taken-by=robertsteiniii

I still cant get the 5 axis features to work, as the 5 axis paths want a T-Spline curve to follow. It cant follow an edgeloop on a .stl file.

[Robert Stein]

Cknu,

I also ran into a limitation cutting organic shapes even when they did convert to t-splines.
Swarf and Multi-axis Contour really didnt offer a solution for this shape, so I tried Contour with Multi-axis Tilt.
No matter what I tried, even a Lollipop bit, I couldnt get it into the undercuts.

Autodesk customer support tried to help and took a look at the shape, but eventually said that the code could not "See" into the undercuts.
That was last December. There may have been updates that fix this, I just havent tried.

[cknu...@gmail.com]

Hello Robert Stein,

Thank you for sharing this information. Your work flow sounds exactly like my intentions. Some of my first projects will be mini figurine statues of family and friends modeled in ZBrush. How long is the workflow to setup the tool paths in Fusion?

Greatly appreciate the organic 3d models you shared. If you have any more I would be curious to see them.

Thank you very much

Chris

[Robert Stein]

Hello,

Just posting back some current results.

Modeled in ZBrush.
Exported STL
Paths in Fusion360
Laminated Royal Ebony (Katalox) and 260 Brass
Smallest bit; Harvey989725
Mounting Plate by Randy Kopf
Stained with Graphite.

[Tokyo Pav]

Fantastic