Fusion 360 or......?

Maker Talk
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I’m interested in getting into VERY simple CNC and/or laser cutting projects. (mostly wanting to create custom router templates out of 1/4 or 1/2" acrylic.

I’m mildly competent in Sketchup but I don’t think any of the machines there (CNC or laser) can load Sketchup models, though I might be wrong?

Is there a specific software that will cover the MOST bases or are these machines all using different file types/applications?

I know absolutely zero about CNC or lasers and I’m trying to get a little bit of a head start before I take any classes.

Thanks in advance for any help!

-Michael

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Hi Michael,

The lasers are a good option for cutting acrylic templates. The big lasers are controlled using Lightburn software. Lightburn is also a vector editing program you can use to draw and modify shapes.

That being said, you can import most standard image and vector graphics from Illustrator, Inkscape, Fusion 360 sketch exports, or SketchUp 2D graphic exports.

You can design a flat 2D shape in SketchUp and export it as a 2D graphic which you can then import and cut in Lightburn. I generally export from SketchUp as a DXF 2D file.

Lightburn is covered in the big lasers class which you will need to use the big lasers. The small lasers will also work, and have their own class. They are controlled more like a printer and use Illustrator, Coreldraw, and others.

-Mike

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Thanks so much for the detailed response.

I’m definitely gonna sign up for the big lasers class and go from there.

For now, I’ll spare myself trying to learn new software.

Thanks again!

4

FreeCAD is the goat of all CAD softwares. It’s a FOSS[Free and Open Source Software] application with insane community support. Tons of information on youtube and multiple content creators have created tutorial playlists starting at a novice to CAD level walkthroughs to professional level design and manufacturing.

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FreeCAD is the only open source project I actively dissuade people from using.

The problem is that the geometry kernel in FreeCAD simply isn’t sufficient. This manifests in things like fillets that detach from your model, constraints that disappear or rehook themselves to the wrong place, etc.

Trying to learn 3D modeling at the same time as fighting FreeCAD bugs just isn’t worth it. Stump up for Fusion360.

If you don’t need to edit, FreeCAD is okay. It does a decent enough jobs of being a converter between formats if you need that. It’s also good for looking at 3D views as long as you generate the data outside of FreeCAD (KiCad does this).

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Overall, am I better off just sucking it up and learning Fusion?

I’m halfway competent in Sketchup and the things I need to make are fairly simple.

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Sketch up should be fine for what you are trying to do.

Fusion does have broader capabilities though.

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I’ve recently learned that modeling “Sheet metal” in Fusion allows you to flatten 3D shapes for laser cutting. That’s unlocked a whole new world for me.

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If the stuff you work with fits in SketchUp, don’t change. That’s perfectly fine. Using a tool you know is far better than jumping to a new one that will just serve up frustration.

Most projects die from lack of motivation rather than anything else.

When you feel frustrated with the limitations of the tool you are using, then make the jump to Fusion360.

1 Like
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That makes sense.

My main concern was to be sure that any work I’m doing in Sketchup can (more or less) be used in some capacity.

I’m not doing anything too involved, at least so far.

Thanks again for everyone’s help and input!