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Fusion 360 file - How to edit?

marsheng

Member
I've just received a Fusion360 file in STEP format.

I'm trying to measure the distance between the center of the hole and an edge. The hole however is made of 2 x 180 degree surfaces.
So I'm guessing that this is not a hole/feature like I would expect in Alibre, and, as such, can't modify it.

This could mean that I can't modify files STEP to suit my CNC machining operations.

Any work arounds for this ?
 

Attachments

  • Hole.jpg
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DavidJ

Administrator
Staff member
Yu should also be able to use extrude cut to make a bigger hole, or extrude boss to fill in or reduce the hole (or fill it in and start again).
 

marsheng

Member
Selected one face of the pair of holes, all good, delete, whole part gone. ??
 
Last edited:

Dave H

Senior Member
Draw a line from each end of one of the 180 degree segments. Measure from the midpoint of that line.
 

simonb65

Alibre Super User
Draw a line from each end of one of the 180 degree segments. Measure from the midpoint of that line.
Just select the face and start a 2D sketch. Project to sketch the face. That will give the perimeter of the face and circular edges of the hole (plus hole centre point). The sketch can then be dimensioned (driven) and read those dimensions to extract the data and distances required.
 

DavidJ

Administrator
Staff member
You should be able to measure from one of the 'half cylinder faces to your target edge. Selecting the half cylinder should still find the centre of the hole. Have just tested it here with measure tool on a STEP import.
 

marsheng

Member
I don't appear to have the remove option ? Alibre Professional V24

Can anyone remove the 4 mm hole ?
 

Attachments

  • NWXDS-END-CAP.pdf
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idslk

Alibre Super User
Take the face where the hole is in and create a new sketch with a rectangle greater than the hole diameter:
(hint: for correct design the rectangle should be complete constrainned...)
1683444467004.png
close the sketch and extrude the rectangle sketch to the opposite face of the sketch:
1683444530036.png

hole is gone...

Regards
Stefan
 

marsheng

Member
Thanks for the reply. I see there is no easy way to make it back into a solid model again.
Where I'm going with this CNC machining.
If I get a model and want to change a feature so my CADCAM 'sees' it correctly, now looks like I have to remake the model.

The CAM package in this case will see 2 halves and and try to machine it that way.

If I fill the hole in and make a new hole, have no idea how that will be interpreted.
 

dwc

Alibre Super User
Thanks for the reply. I see there is no easy way to make it back into a solid model again.
Where I'm going with this CNC machining.
If I get a model and want to change a feature so my CADCAM 'sees' it correctly, now looks like I have to remake the model.

The CAM package in this case will see 2 halves and and try to machine it that way.

If I fill the hole in and make a new hole, have no idea how that will be interpreted.
It does depend on you CAM tool, but I have been making and modifying models using techniques such as idslk has suggested without any problems in my CAM for decades now.
I would suggest trying it out and looking at the code your CAM produces.
I would expect that even if the g-code is a bit different, there will be no change in the part produced.
There is more than one way to skin a cat, as they say.
 

marsheng

Member
I have a 'new' Yang machining center and so has been a long road in finding a path from customer models/drawings to making parts.

I have for 20 years used SheetCAM and interpreted the G-Code into my South Western Industries CNC Conversational interface.

Each operation I needed to do was a layer in SheetCAM called Outside_$T1_$D-5. Etc This included the tool number and depth.
It worked very well and used it almost daily for 20 years.

I would like the same control with the CADCAM but I've not got there yet. Looked at MeshCAM, Canbam, VisualCAM, SprutCAM. etc

SheetCAM is really good but a DXF package.

There are programs that will make the part, but I do want to control the type of G-code generation to some level.

Eg cutting to a depth in steps, leaving a finishing cut, and then doing the full depth finishing cut .

In SheetCAM that would have been 2 layers.
 

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dwc

Alibre Super User
There are programs that will make the part, but I do want to control the type of G-code generation to some level.

Eg cutting to a depth in steps, leaving a finishing cut, and then doing the full depth finishing cut .

Although it doesn't have alot of the bells and whistles of the big price CAM packages CAMBAM is very capable and the type of thing you mention there belongs to the basics.
A finishing cut in the depth is a part of every MOP. Finishing side cuts are not automatic, but easy to program,
I agree that CB is not really intuitive, but with your experience you should be up and going in no-time.
 
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