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3D printer at P.A.

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Would it work to paint it white and stencil "SINGER" on the side? lol

Unfortunately, not in my shop. My bride is a very accomplished seamstress. She would immediately confiscate anything labelled Singer, and then I'd be out digging that hole out back.

But you make me think...... It might be a damn good idea to paint it green and label it "John Deere - 3D Spatial Control System".
 

Crosche

Super User
Trying to learn Fusion 360 cooled my jets for getting a 3D printer.
Why the hesitation? Are you having trouble with Fusion 360? YouTube and Udemy have some really good resources for people getting started in Fusion. These two guys are among my favourites:


As far as using it for 3D printing, it's relatively painless since you don't have to generate tool paths or anything like that.
 

Johnwa

Ultra Member
$516 a year!!! :eek: I couldn't justify the price for the amount I do.
It’s free for hobbiests.
The free version limits the number of editable files. It’s a simple process to make extra ones read only but it is a bit irritating. I think there are a couple of other limitations but I haven’t run into any of them.
 
It’s free for hobbiests.
The free version limits the number of editable files. It’s a simple process to make extra ones read only but it is a bit irritating. I think there are a couple of other limitations but I haven’t run into any of them.
How long will that last? My understanding was they were planning to eliminate the free option soon?
 

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
You can get a free hobby version that has almost all of the features of a paid subscription.

It’s free for hobbiests.
The free version limits the number of editable files. It’s a simple process to make extra ones read only but it is a bit irritating. I think there are a couple of other limitations but I haven’t run into any of them.

How long will that last? My understanding was they were planning to eliminate the free option soon?

This is all sounding very scary to me guys...... I've never been a big fan of specialized software licences. I'm equally leery of student/personal use licences. They have a way of expiring at the whim of a bean counter or a share-holder.
 
It says on their website the free version can be renewed after 3 years. I would read that to mean it expires in 3 years and no one knows what the story will be in 3 years time. Still if they are true to their word and it's free for 3 years that might be enough to get me in.
 

Crosche

Super User
This is all sounding very scary to me guys...... I've never been a big fan of specialized software licences. I'm equally leery of student/personal use licences. They have a way of expiring at the whim of a bean counter or a share-holder.

I am not a fan of how most software is being sold on a subscription basis only; however that seems to be the direction the industry is going so taking advantage of anything and everything "free" makes sense to me.
 

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
I guess another way to look at all this is to look at my birth certificate. It basically says that another renewal is more or less a free lifetime subscription..... ;)
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
Why the hesitation? Are you having trouble with Fusion 360? YouTube and Udemy have some really good resources for people getting started in Fusion. These two guys are among my favourites:


As far as using it for 3D printing, it's relatively painless since you don't have to generate tool paths or anything like that.

And don't forget about me! :)

 

Fermic

Member
Not sure if it gonna help guys here but there's a low cost option for hobbyists with a single license at Alibre Atom3D for almost 100 usd at time of posting.

There's also a open-source option : FreeCAD for anyone wanting to be able to use it on Windows, Mac or Linux.
 

deleted_user

Super User
Trying to learn Fusion 360 cooled my jets for getting a 3D printer.

Craig, I understand where you are coming from. I used 2d cad software for close to 30 years before trying my hand at various 3D software. While it seemed familiar it also presented many barriers at first because of the way they chose to implement various tools. I started relying too much on complex sketches because that is what I knew.

Long story short, I learned to modify how I worked and it became much easier to learn.

Start designing simple parts. That usually requires you to learn a new skill to build upon your knowledge. I'd be happy to help keep you on an easy path.
 

Tomc938

Ultra Member
Premium Member
I have zero CAD experience. I watched "Learn Fusion 360 or die trying" on YouTube. (
).

The guy is a retired teacher and does an excellent job of walking you through the learning process. I watched the video in one window and did exactly what he did in Fusion as we went along. By the end of the first or second lesson (I don't remember exactly, it was years go) you have a functioning box for glasses or what have you.

Don't let the power of Fusion scare you off. One step at a time and you will soon be its' master.
 

deleted_user

Super User
A word about Fusion 360, renewals, and the limit of 10 editable files.

Firstly, Autodesk pondered eliminating the free hobbyist license and found that they'd lose their entire hobbyist market to other vendors all too happy to take over the gateway to commercial licensing.... autodesk quickly backed down and wont ever revisit this. Think of it as their "new coke" experiment.

Renewals can be a pain as my last one was, but it is worth it for free.

The new software as a service model sucks. I hate it and I will not support it. I've been buying commercial cad programs from autodesk for 3 decades and have spent thousands and thousands on upgrades. once they moved to software as a service they lost me. I started on CAD when the programs were still DOS based.

I maintain an XP desktop and a windows 7 (IIRC) desktop to use exclusively with my last paid versions of autocad.

One way to defeat the 10 file limit when designing new small parts for different things is to create a new project, entitled "The Universe" for instance, and then create a new file entitled "The Shop". Then just add components like "Lathe" and Mill" and sub components "spindle mount"

I have files for wood shop, metal shop, garage, household, ebike. I have hundreds of parts in these files. Screw their 10 file limit.
 
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