My CAD / CAM research

In Autodesk's words, the 10 editable documents is meant to add 'a little bit of friction', but it shouldn't stop you doing anything (just enable/disable designs as necessary). That said, yup...hard to forgive intentional annoyance.

Mud wrote:

In Autodesk's words, the 10 editable documents is meant to add 'a little bit of friction', but it shouldn't stop you doing anything (just enable/disable designs as necessary). That said, yup...hard to forgive intentional annoyance.

thin edge of the wedge principle.... sure there will be another change in the next 6-12m

hence why I decided to break with fusion, and start to use freecad...

sure it's better than freecad.... but as a hobbyist earning nothing from my hobby I can't justify the ongoing cost

I was going to say there were other changes that annoy me more, but I just checked and the simulation workspace seems to be back (at least for the quick static FE I just did)...so that's nice.

I'm still using it on and off because I have spent the time learning it and it's convenient, but I'm using it less and not following the changes, or relying on it or trying to learn more. I'm not turning my back on it out of principle, since for free it's an unbeatable deal, even if it used to be better...

Thank you for telling us about this feature from Autodesk

My 5 cents aboutFusion360:
- it works only with active internet connection. Sometimes its a problem
- few days ago i started a Fusion360 and cant open all my files. All files was marked gray and not accessible. I could neither open nor save my files locally
- Fusion360 don't have a file structure. He save your file somewhere and upload it to Autodesk servers. You don't have a control. For example my friend PC was broken and he lost everything in fusion was marked as Local. We cant find that files in SDD drive after reinstall. 
- collaborative functions doesn't work correctly. we can't use one file together.

If you want to use Fusion - you should export all your files and store in your drive. Because you have a chance to lose files in case of any problems. And not only your problems, but also the problems of Aгtodesk

I'm using Fusion360 because i don't see any free alternatives with the same functionality.

You can mark files to be available offline in case of loss of internet. In the data panel, right click on the file and select "add to offline cache". In preferences>general, you can specify an "offline cache time period". Mine's set to 360 days, which I think is the maximum. The downside of long cache periods is the local storage that will be tied up but I don't imagine that's an issue for most of us.

You can also export (save) them as standalone Fusion 360 files for backup. From the file menu, select "export" and select .f3d to retain as much content as possible. If you save as STP or IGS you will lose most of the content and just end up with simple solid bodies.

You should be able to see your work in the autodesk360 portal, if you know what that is. Open the data panel, select your team name (your use name) and click "open on web". Hopefully your work should be there in the browser window.

SOLVESPACE is a free (GPLv3) parametric 3d CAD tool. Applications include:

• modeling 3d parts — draw with extrudes, revolves, helixes and Boolean (union / difference / intersection) operations
• modeling 2d parts — draw the part as a single section, and export DXF, PDF, SVG; use 3d assembly to verify fit
• 3d-printed parts — export the STL or other triangle mesh expected by most 3d printers
• preparing CAM data — export 2d vector art for a waterjet machine or laser cutter; or generate STEP or STL, for import into third-party CAM software for machining
• mechanism design — use the constraint solver to simulate planar or spatial linkages, with pin, ball, or slide joints
• plane and solid geometry — replace hand-solved trigonometry and spreadsheets with a live dimensioned drawing

When I last tried Solvespace I found it surprisingly competent for a program that no-one talks about. The big stumbling block for me at that time was that it completely lacked ability to import 3D parts like bearings and rails. They seem to have added some capability for that now though (3D DXF), looking at the changelog. IIRC it also failed my standard test for new 3D CAD programs: modeling a stewart platform. But as I recall it was close (some kind of missing assembly constraint perhaps?). Perhaps someone has time to take a look at it and write a small review?

If you can live with just CAD (no CAM), you could consider Solid Edge from Siemens. It's the little brother of NX and is free for perpetuity for non commercial users. It's also a full blown professional application with a very wide industrial user base. Having said that, it's the CAM part that is usually priced beyond our reach, hence the attraction of Fusion 360 to CNC enthusiasts like ourselves.

I didn't see this one mentioned:

ECam www.e-cam.it/

I worked with it for a while a couple of years ago. Was pretty nice, but then I don't have tons of lathe-based CAD experience.

I remember it automatically unlocking on the weekends, so DIY users didn't have to buy it.

i bought ecam years ago and i am fine but a friend of mine said he has a lathe with linuxcnc, the lathe part is great even better than expensive cams.