Fusion 360 - What are stock contours?

What exactly is a stock contour? Let's take a look at what they are, how we define them, and how we can use them to make our tool paths more efficient and aesthetic.
If you want help setting replicating your machining environments in Fusion 360 (Vises, machine tables, 4 axis, tool probes, etc.) Send me an email to [e-mail] and let's have a conversation about getting those created to minimize errors and make you more productive in your programming setups.
Want to learn more about Fusion 360 CAD and CAM? Visit www.nyccnc.com/events where you can sign up for hands on training classes and subscribe to online learning content!

[@MarcPilon]

The quality, completeness and efficiency of your explanations are way above what we typically find on youtube ; congratulations and thanks.

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Hi Marc. Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm glad you are enjoying them and hopefully I can continue to make videos that are worth your time to watch.

[@DCT_Aaron_Engineering]

Hey Kevin. It's good to see you posting weekly. That's some great information, thanks for sharing mate.

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Hi Aaron. It's been nice to be home for a while to make that happen.

[@michelrigaud9552]

Thank you, your tutorials are always helpful

[@automan1223]

Very helpful and practical information Kevin ! Thank you !!

[@SomervilleMetalWorks]

Great video that 2d contour trick is something i've been trying to figure out.

[@TMCmakes]

at first i was like "how can he talk about stock contours for 20 minutes?" and by the end of the video i was like "holy cow that was a lot of cool tricks!". the 2d contour cleanup with stock contours is amazing! thanks for posting these, i'm binge watching the whole series.

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Mike Carr haha I try to stay to about 10 - 15 minutes. Sometimes they go a bit long. Hopefully this and the other videos are helpful. I’ve been working on more videos. I also recently got a CNC mill so there will be a mix of CAD, CAM, and machine videos coming up. I want to do a garage tour this week.

[@TMCmakes]

@@MechanicalAdvantage this was hugely helpful as is. There was just a lot more than just stock contours, which is what threw me off at first. Can't wait for a shop video! What mill did you get?

[@geonkr]

Awesome! You use user parameter well. Thank you for share this video

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Thanks, I'm trying to get better at using them more often. This seemed like a great use for controlling the vise and stock size.

[@ragnarhairybreeks]

Hi, Every vid you produce I learn so much from. And this one no exception. Thanks for the tip for the nice regular floor finish, I will be using that. And I confess, I’ve had frustration with the horizontal op you mentioned. And the embarrassing thing is I never thought of adjusting heights to control which horizontal surfaces get machined. Doh! Thanks again Alistair

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Wow thanks for the comment. Glad you will get some use from this. One thing I didn't point out in the video was look at the cycle time for the 2D contour vs 3D horizontal.

[@ragnarhairybreeks]

Hi, Yes, the op times. I may be over simplifying and keep in mind I’m mostly machining aluminum, but sometimes I find the adaptive tool paths unnecessarily slow. More caveats, I timed to make my step down very conservative. But in another subject, suggestion for future vid, I’d love more guidance on engraving, either with the engraving op in fusion or simple contour. For some reason and I’ll admit it’s no doubt user error, I find the translation of typeface on a part to engraved result to be a winding road :-) Thanks again for your vids. You present them in a clear and understandable manner. Alistair

[@mudaserawan1457]

Hi, thanks for the tutorial. I am a beginner in CAM and the material was difficult for me to follow. Is there a series of videos which can take me forward step by step in the CAM. I would like a video which explains each drop-down option in the cam. Thanks

[@Repomam2000]

Thank you for this video! I learned a ton from this. Would you consider making a video showing how changing the stock parameters automatically adjusted the vise? I definitely would love to learn that in more detail.

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Hi Repoman. I'm doing a class on this at Autodesk University. But I'll be releasing a video that same day for those that can't make it to AU. So look for that video to be available November 19th.

[@RBravo82]

I maybe picked up on something when you was trying to rewind the simulation. Ar you aware that as its running you can click and hold the left mouse key and drag left or right to control the speed/direction of the simulation. Great video though

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Ryan Hi Ryan. Yep, I am am aware of that. If you have a look at the next video I posted after this, you can see I show that as one of things that can be done. Thanks for the comment.

[@samboles8796]

Good stuff

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

Thanks Sam.

[@corasalin6730]

i think 2d pocket its kind of the same like 2d contur with roughing passes.

[@corasalin6730]

2d contur with roughing passes its prety slow when needed to select multiple conturs or pockets on big complexity part, instead i prefer using Horizontal with manual stepover of 50%, it gets smooth surface without thin edges getting out, visualy its prety randomed toolpath, but its way faster on complex part

[@automan1223]

Idea on finishing edges, filets, chamfers, 2d / 3d. etc. struggling to get things to work the way I want. John just did a corner radius em but this is an under documented cam op. In fact in fusion they recommend that you DO NOT model chamfers but that does not work with certain ops depending on what you need to do.

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

When you say they recommend it, who is that? Here is my recommendation and what I teach in my classes. If the edge is being chamfered as a deburr, don't model it. If it is functional (how the parts fit together), or cosmetic (I want to see how this part looks with this feature) then model it for sure. If you have any parts that you would like to see fillets, chamfers, etc. placed on, I'd love to use them as examples.

[@automan1223]

@@MechanicalAdvantage Lars did a few CAM videos where he said not to model. I realized this when I was stuck trying to cut chamfers but fusion said no likey... so I had to back the chamfers out of the model. I have a coaster I am working on that I wanted to put a chamfer on but ended up modeling and featuring a filet radius. I have gone back and used trace but have not tried it on actual stock yet.