Fusion 360 CAM - Trace and Engrave

**Please note I forgot to change the text on the right so it says traced text when it should say engraved text***
This video will demonstrate the differences between the Trace and Engrave toolpaths and when to use each option. I'll also show the difference between single line .shx text and outline TrueType font text.

[@practicemakesbetter7132]

I was struggling to engrave texts, I watched a half dozen videos, then I watched your video and found the solution to my problem, thanks for sharing. 👏

[@MorganOliff]

You're a legend Kevin! Now I have somewhere to easily send folks asking about lettering. Thanks buddy!

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Thanks Morgan! Long time no talk

[@ericm9252]

Excellent video, I'm looking forward to digging through the rest of your uploads!

[@MikeSiegert]

Thanks a ton! The trace tool depth being in the Passes Tab is what was throwing me off.

[@madaxe79]

Oh man, why isn't this the first video I've watched on the subject... I've been trying to fix my engraving toolpaths, and I must have watched 50 videos by now, when all I needed was this one... I owe you a beer.

[@MrRctintin]

Another excellent instructional video, thanks for doing these Kevin

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Hey Rob. I'm glad you found it useful. I'll do my best to work tabs in the future too. I need you guys to help me to think of ideas! haha

[@BadPracticeAutomation]

You are a superhero for making this tutorial.

[@sumising]

Very well explain another great video from your series great job!

[@BlackSmokeDMax]

Great examples and explanations, thanks!

[@adj6296]

Bashed my head against a wall all day trying to figure this out, couldn't figure out what to search up. But now I know! Cheers!

[@bd9531]

Another excellent vid, thanks

[@eliabrunner8060]

This helped so much for me as a beginner. Thank you!

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Good. That is the hope for these videos.

[@EZ_shop]

That was a great explanation Kevin. Thanks, Marco.

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Hi Crivo. Glad it was helpful.

[@beyoungheouneoh]

The reason I want to know that function! It's nothing else but a "police mobile armored vehicle"! I asked this question because I want to model with this program, make the parts in 1/72, 1/24, or 1/35 scale and print them out as parts with a 3D printer! 8:02

[@cristianmica906]

Thank you very much for the help and intructions

[@southernjoes8372]

Thanks your info helped clear some things up

[@glennbrunson3406]

Great video. Thanks!

[@modernDEsignwithFusion360]

Great work Kevin!

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Hi Mickey. It took me a while to get through some other work that I have been helping Autodesk with, but I'm trying to get these out on a schedule now.

[@7alfatech860]

Very nice explanation. Thanks

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Thank you 7Alfa.

[@perryott4860]

Thanks, I was trying to engrave a line on my model now I know to use trace.

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Glad it helped. This is the reason I made the video. So many users I work with get confused. So I thought I would make a video to try to help clarify.

[@karvtek]

This is great info. Maybe I’ll be able to engrave/vcarve using fusion instead of the other software I have. Up to this point I use fusion for everything except my vcarved signs.

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

I think some of the other software that is dedicated for v-carve may still have the edge. Give it a try and see what you think.

[@mustang7845]

Thanks for that tutorial i understand what i was doing wrong now 5 stars from me

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Great. I work with so many people that get this confused so I decided to make a video.

[@brandonthompson5795]

Awesome Video! Def helpful, as for the islands with in the text and engraving. Do you have a good tutorial for that? Did a cutting board for the house and the text, believe I have an issue with the island letters as I have material left over in random spots with a 60 degree bit

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

In those random spots, is the space between the outside of the letter and the island wider than the diameter of the tool?

[@brandonthompson5795]

@@MechanicalAdvantage haven’t found a good way to gauge this. However I plugged in the degree into fusion. 60 degree 30/30 center and it populated the depth. I can send a pic to you if easier to see how I can correct it

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

The file would probably be more helpful. info @ mechanicaladvantage dot com would be a good email to send it to me at.

[@monzahunter]

Very helpful, i am having a ton of problems with logos, maybe this will help.

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

I hope so. Are the logos on a flat face, or a curved or sloped face?

[@saddlepointmachine73]

So , the best approach is to extrude the text in design? This makes sense I've been leaving it a 2d schetch in engrave and offsting the bottom height from model top..not getting consistent results...going to try your method today thank you

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Fusion is a 3D program for and it almost always works better then you work with 3D solids. As you have discovered; you can make it work, but it takes a lot of work to get it to do what you want that way.

[@saddlepointmachine73]

Tried trace command on some Castella font ...worked fantastic much simpler than what I was doing before. You posted that video literally minutes before I started generating tool paths for some engraving .good timing or alogarythm

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Look for an invoice in your mailbox soon 😋

[@ragnarhairybreeks]

Hi, Great vid as usual, thanks . I struggled with this same subject beginning a couple of years ago. Repeat customer would “ emboss” umber on the model and state in drawing typography my discretion . I tried engraving bits but never looked good. Machine I was using didn’t have high enough spindle speed ti cunt cleanly. Burrs etc . Finally ended up with a spring loaded diamond engraver and using the edges of the embossed number and trace tool path . Makes a clean engrave, but quite, how do i say? Fine line. This is in aluminum , Teflon, stainless , and steel. Haven’t found a suitable tool in fusion to mimic drag engraving. So I say it’s a narrow point engraver and edit the post for zero spindle speed. It’s not a biggie, but any insight into zero rpm spindle speed in fusion ? Again, thanks for the vids. Alistair

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

I haven’t tried in a while. What happens if you uncheck Liver tool on the post processor tab?

[@ragnarhairybreeks]

@@MechanicalAdvantage well, does that include onions ? :-) I haven’t tried but I will try tomorrow . Thanks Alistair

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Haha live tool! Lol

[@ragnarhairybreeks]

Hi, Tried Live Tool check box … no luck. Still posts an error post processing file. I don’t think the live tool check box is for this purpose. Pity there aren’t any other obvious options bar editing post. Probing routines obviously don’t spin spindle. Haven’t tried fooling fusion with a probe for a drag engraver :-) It’s not a big deal editing post, taking out “s” and “m” commands. But I would have expected fusion to accommodate a zero spindle speed option, perhaps with plenty of warnings as it could be a bummer if mistakenly selected. Maybe they can make a drag engraver, or drag knife etc tool option. Alistair

[@DCT_Aaron_Engineering]

Thanks for the awesome Pro tip Kevin. PS: However I couldn’t get it to work on my hand drawing on A3 paper 😉

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Hey Aaron. Thanks for dropping by. I sent you a fresh batch of leeches. Should help with all the blood letting you do in your shop! 😋

[@DCT_Aaron_Engineering]

@@MechanicalAdvantage hahah 🪱 🩸

[@Mortenmo]

How can i go deeper with engraved tool? Negative number in "Bottom Height" doesn't to anything

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

You have to make the text bigger. Engage works by the point of the tool rocking both of the edges of the outline.

[@HarmanRobotics]

2:50 Why did you switch from perspective view to orthographic? What advantage does that give you? "Perspective with Ortho Faces" provides natural viewing along with no distortion when viewing face-on.

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

I don’t fully recall without watching the video. When simulating, you can turn on show points and select a point and the tool will move there. That only works in ortho mode.

[@HarmanRobotics]

@@MechanicalAdvantage It works in perspective mode for me (Mac). Perhaps a recent update has enabled that ability?

[@db_looper5667]

I can’t get this to work. When I select the contour the tool path outlines the font, instead of going inside of it.

[@danielzombori8640]

I had the same problem. After I played with the engrave command it wouldn't work. For me the solution was to delete my previous engrave command and without touching ANY SETTINGS, just select the text/contours and it worked.

[@martybadboy]

I could not replicate this for the life of me; the cuts were too deep in the simulation. Finally it occurred to me that I had extra stock in the setup. SETUP>STOCK TAB>STOCK TOP OFFSET

[@entwerfman]

Thank you for this comment! That solved my issue as well.

[@Azi-Az]

Hey,how can i contact you

[@MrDaniell1234]

So traces/engrave and engrave/v carve there are many argument's over the name of these 2 tool paths it's not funny, you can flat depth the engrave tool path.