4th Axis CNC Milling Non-Cylindrical Parts Using Rotary Toolpath in Fusion 360

How to CNC machine non-cylindrical parts with a 4th axis! We had some hiccups on this part but we finally got it and we wanted to share what we learned along the way.
00:00 Intro
00:44 Non-Cylindrical Parts & Fusion 360 4th Axis Problems
01:32 Rotary Toolpath Styles (Circular, Spiral, Line)
02:52 WCS, Fusion 360 Geometry Constraints, Stepover Settings, and Surface Finish Considerations
04:27 NC Programs, Property Settings, & Troubleshooting
06:17 Simultaneous Motion & G93: Inverse Time Mode
08:32 Connector Pin Debacle
05:57 Tormach 8L General Thoughts
09:37 Outro
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Links for this video
Intro to Speeds and Feeds: bit.ly/2uCrf9b
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reach us / CNC Info:
Speeds & Feeds: provencut.com
Download Fusion 360: www.dpbolvw.net/click-9255839...
Online Fusion 360 Training: bit.ly/LearnFusion360
Hands-On CNC Classes: www.nyccnc.com/events
SMW Products: saundersmachineworks.com/
CNC Resources: www.nyccnc.com 5 Reasons to Use a Fixture Plate on Your CNC Machine: bit.ly/3sNA4uH

[@ErostheEpic]

It feels like anyone can truly be self sufficient with KZbin alone these days. Great stuff as usual.

[@andrejsgelins9296]

not quite ''alone'', i would like to ad

[@MakeTechPtyLtd]

Thanks for that G93 info. Very interesting.

[@jaredr2374]

I was super disappointed when I paid for the Fusion 360 Subscription only to find out that this toolpath was not included. Buying extra "cloud credits" to pay for this features almost made me wish I hadn't bought the software at all. I considered asking for my money back but ultimately decided to keep it.

[@Driver944S]

I did the same thing. Bought a three year subscription thinking I'd get this once I bought the program........ surprise!! NOPE pay another 1700 a year for one toolpath. uh nope

[@gu_on2694]

I'm a noob in CNC machining, I spent a lot of time to watch learn videos about how cool is free F360... I cannot describe how I was surprised when I tried to install this FREE software.....

[@Reach41]

Same here. Fortunately, hand writing Gcode isn't that difficult for most rotary operations. Honestly, other than the ability to use rapid advance, I don't see what else I got from the paid subscription. For hobbyists, I wouldn't recommend it.

[@TommiHonkonen]

Check any of the big cams to see how much 4th axis packages cost and then come back. It's like 2200 for 1 year of f360 with the manufacturing extension. They dont even say hello to you at that price with any of the big cams.

[@mannycalavera121]

@@TommiHonkonen but you're getting A LOT less CAM.

[@jaypierson5955]

Fantastic video! Thanks for the walkthrough, John.

[@heronguarezi6501]

One step closer to Peter from edge precision, the white hair :)

[@SirRootes]

LOL!

[@jadeedwards9732]

Thank you so much for making this vid, it helped allot!

[@johnspathonis1078]

Thank you John! I was wondering what inverse time meant. Your videos are always good value. Cheers.

[@witheredways4198]

this worked fantastically. thank you

[@ScottRedstone]

Fascinating video. I’m so far away from this - Inkscape and a laser - manual lathe and mill - but extremely interesting to see what is possible. A Tormach milling machine one of these days.

[@7alfatech860]

Thanks for this great video, John. This is the type of content that keeps us coming back for more.

[@mkegadgets4380]

It is great for us hobbyist that Fusion 360 is still free. Thank you auto desk.

[@lanner777]

At 5:10 you mention getting the rotation backwards. The reason for this, at least on my Tormach, was that PathpPilot already defines the direction the axis is pointing. It's one of the questions asked while doing the initial MicroArc setup. Thus, if you tell PathPilot the MicroArc is on the right, pointing left, and then tell Fusion that it is pointing in the X-, you get a double negative and end up with the direction inverted.

[@pixmooo1]

😳😳😍😍really, you are creative person, I confess that I envy you😀😄😁😅😂 Salam from iraq

[@loupitou06fl]

Great video, thanks for sharing. I am just disappointed that Autodesk priced Rotary outside of the hobbyist price range. My MicroArc is not getting the love it deserve

[@PeterBelfanti]

love this video.... More 4th magic videos please...

[@shirothehero0609]

Checking the cables - in networking technology, we call that a "layer 1 problem"/physical layer of the OSI model. Whenever you troubleshoot, always start at Layer 1 and then go up. Shout to the network admins out there. W00t w00t.

[@TritonTv69420]

The graphics on this video game look good

[@max_eley]

I love fusion 360!

[@thomasw1906]

Good Video but I want the good old times back when you showed more of the machining

[@automan1223]

paid features that John can't even conjure to work right is another black eye for Fusion !! Been living the 4th axis learning curve the past month JS, its been kinda frustrating. Misery loves company though.

[@mortezarahimi6784]

Please do a tool and die shop. I have watched almost all of your videos. Factory tours are my favorite.

[@VladPalacios]

I made a similar piece using this technique. My screw was variable pitch, so I first modeled it on Solidworks imported it into fusion and machine it on my Fadal VMC

[@falsedragon33]

I find that defining the 4th axis in a machine gives you more options than defining it in the post processor. Then all you have to do in the NC program is select the machine (you don't need to define the machine in the setup). My 4th axis has a bit of backlash, so I like the option in the machine setup that allows it to prioritize one way directions.

[@Max_Marz]

Rotary toolpath is awesome because toothpick challenge, the work stays very well supported. When you showed the module works page with all the different partners Jaw drops: "Oh..."

[@MrDaniell1234]

You could off added to the post the bit of code that lets you set the toolpath WCS somewhere else other than the Setups WCS at dead center and the rotary is in the exstension is it not? Time of flight getting A and B to be at the same places at the same time.

[@jacobs68]

Have you seen any issues with the post processor switching to inverse time mode but writing the feedrate values as actual in/min values? Makes for the slowest feedrate ever. I was having this issue on my retrofitted Bridgeport with a Masso controller.

[@mischiefmachinellc]

Does the new fusion tormach post output G54.1P1 when I move past G59 offset and up now or will I have to edit my post again if I use the latest tormach post? I can copy and paste that In I guess.

[@movax20h]

The finishing pass for such part would be probably programmed by hand to follow the grove geometry exactly, but that requires quite a bit of math, skill and expirience to understand how to do it and do it on time without issues.

[@stonecraft745]

John, love the videos but in this and the last ones you look kinda grey and burnt out. Try another shirt, other lighting and camera angle, also I felt you rush through it, look at your other videos. Thank you for what you doing for us! BTW: great G93 description!

[@capnthepeafarmer]

If only rotary tool path wasn't a paid feature, I'd be all over it.

[@texasermd1]

Just wondering how much the rotary tool path feature costs. Cool programming if you need it, of course.

[@capnthepeafarmer]

@@texasermd1 you have to buy the machining extension, if you buy it monthly it's $200/mo. If you buy it for the year it's $1600/yr

[@bobabbott8370]

I see a lot of people complain about the cost of fusion 360 with the machining extension. I have yet to find a cad cam software that offers what Fusion does for the $2000 dollar price tag.

[@earendall]

I'm trying to figure out to do a similar thing in HSMWorks.

[@romeond]

Is it possible to do rough cutting by using rotary strategy?

[@m93sek]

Why isn't there one which cuts like a thread/goes along the spiral on moves deeper every pass?

[@darwaz]

You are a Sheldon Cooper of cnc machining.

[@davidfarmer]

pretty sure you could do this with a flow tool path. I used the rotary tool path quite a bit before they made it an additional subscription, but it really is just meant for wood routers with 4th axiis to carve out tiki torches. theres an option to check to force only 4th axis, you might need that to do the flow toolpath

[@ScottMoyse]

Flow is heavily geometry dependent. Rotary is not.

[@davidfarmer]

@@ScottMoyse true the rotary toolpath acts kind of like the simple surfacing tool paths, it just simplifies the geometry into a mesh and moves accordingly. the flow toolpath is much more complicated to get working correctly. I often find myself modeling surfaces just to make it do what I want, then tweaking those surfaces to get the desired results.

[@bcbloc02]

Yep not plugged in can sure be a problem! You would not believe the answer to how many times when people call saying something quit running is because it is out of fuel. Never overlook the obvious! Lol

[@heronguarezi6501]

white hair! I can not imagine the difficult it was.

[@mechonicdapais5730]

take a look at these cylindrical grinders from piedmont!😉

[@mechonicdapais5730]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYnVZJdserGNsJY

[@mechonicdapais5730]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4uYdHSXm8qNorc

[@eduardorodriguez9041]

What program do you use

[@hmmmmmmm11199]

Has anyone else had the forever unwrapping problem when programming with the tormach? When using the rotary tool path on the tormach micro arc I can't get it to take the shortest path. This would be great if you can make a video about it!

[@Bikerbilly0612]

Same issue...it's takes forever to unwind thousands of degrees. Really hope someone can share the fix

[@tommyheel2536]

Using Mastercam, I've made bone screws , 5 axis helix ..etc.....but it's impressive but not ideal

[@MrPlumberguy23]

📢📢📢 still looking for #5

[@notamouse5630]

Of course, skimming this with a form tool on a conventional lathe might take 1/4th the machine time.

[@alihassan1903]

lathe version is expected.

[@ma101c]

HI John, is it possible to program this part using similar technique to the one showed in movie from the link- kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGjMpouAf5pkeLc . I've seen some companies machning conveyor screws this way.

[@themaskedmachinist5516]

Fusion 360 is an over complicated cumbersome software program made by computer wizards with a significant lack of understanding in the term “ease of use”. Hypermill or OneCNC are better for just getting parts out the door. The wizards at Autodesk could learn a thing from these rival packages.

[@gredangeo]

You're comparing Fusion360 to Hypermill? Haha, ok. It's like a Go-Kart to an F1. They're unrelated markets. Hypermill is stupid expensive. Sure the team on Fusion could learn something, but they also don't want to pay for the Modules that can make life easier to do. So the coding has to have major workarounds. Thus it's cheaper.

[@themaskedmachinist5516]

@@gredangeo Unrelated markets? If you’re making parts in any sort of fashion they’re related. And as I said Fusion could learn from a package that does it right. OneCNC is considerably cheaper and also considerably easier to use than fusion 360. That coding remark is yawn, it’s a multi national conglomerate with significant resources behind it. If you’re paying for a service that’s promoting itself as a do everything CAM package and it falls short, pointing out some of its failings to Autodesk and it’s paid promoters shouldn’t fall on deaf ears.

[@Limosical]

​@@gredangeo Depends how you look at it, fusion is cheaper initially, Hypermill, Esprit, WORKNC, EDGECAM are cheaper in the long run since they're not subscription based. You buy it once and it's yours. Fusion 360 you pay a subscription and in a few years that subsciption might change what you own, then you need to start purchasing additional features like rotary toolpaths etc. Who knows how long it will be before they start charging extra just to use the 3D toolpaths, or they introduce machine kinematics and you need to start purchasing these too? The support also isn't great, with any of the other companies you call a phone number and an engineer who is an expert in that specfic product will call you back and guide you in the correct direction, most of the time, actually doing it for you and showing you how so you can do it in the future. With Fusion, there's no phone number, you might need to post on a forum or watch some videos. What happens if you end your subscription because they're now charging too much? You're already locked in that environment, it's an amazing business plan and it's working well. Fusion is great if you have a three axis mill and don't mind spending some time learning it yourself and modifying your own posts but apart from that it's not so great. A few examples from the last time I used it, there were no kinematics, so poor simulation. No kinematics means that five-axis cycles are not aware of the machine limts, which means it's likely you'll get overtravel or a poor approach to the cycle. B Axis turning is not supported. Turning needs serious work in my opinion. That's not to say Fusion is bad, there are some nice features, like the ability to edit a toolpath directly. Obviously this is pulled from delcam and the implementation is not as good as powermill but the base is there.

[@pixmooo1]

Really wish to know who the person's who put the dislike and why, cos it is really strange isue

[@shirothehero0609]

People literally go through and dislike videos even if they didn't watch it or was a "bad" recommended video or even if there was something about the person they don't like. Strange but true. People are bizarre.

[@pixmooo1]

@@shirothehero0609 really I am sad to see these people who not appreciate this work well, and maybe be the hate creative people because of Psychiatrically problem in their personality