After the completion of the part that you have modelled up either in Fusion 360 or your preferred CAD package you can move over to the manufacturing environment right there in Fusion 360.
When setting up the stock to create the part out of you are presented with 3 options.
- Milling – the process of cutting away material with a tool. You can think of this tool as a type of drill bit with varying diameters. A larger diameter would be able to cut away larger areas of material while a smaller diameter would cut away less material to leave a more smooth finish. In this operation the stock is held in place while the tool moves around to cut away material.
- Turning – This operation rotates the stock and while rotating the tool is brought in from the side to give symmetrical look to the stock. Think of a table leg.
- Cutting – This operation is for waterjet, laser or plasma cutting. This is done for thin materials like sheetmetal.
The next option is to set your Work Coordinate so that the machine knows where to start cutting from. A work coordinate system or WCS.
You are able to specify the following.
- Z-axis/X-axis
- Z-axis/Y-axis
- X-axis/Y-axis
- custom co-ordinate system
To specify any direction for the XY or Z axis you will either choose an edge that aligns itself with the axis you are selecting or a face. The axis will then be set by the normal of that face.
On the preview of the stock box you will see white dots on each each and the middle of each face. This allows us to choose an origin point or 0,0,0.
The fixture button at the bottom allows the user to select a fixture that was drawn up so that you can see exactly what it will look like being machined while in the vice grip.
