[Andrew22]

Fusion is giving me some more issues when it comes to selecting contours for 2D cutting. I got some great help here before when I was having trouble selecting a chain to cut letters, and in other cases projecting a sketch of the outline made it possible to select the entire chain easily. In this case I'm trying to cut out a 2D gear shape, and fusion will only select one segment at a time with 2D contour, or have a ton of lead ins and outs if I use a sketch.
Attachment 366870

I tried to do a workaround by making a custom waterjet toolpath with the right offset, and there's a much better geometry selection tool for the through cuttting tools. It also generates the exact outline that I need, but I'd have to manually modify the code to work for a router bit which I'd like to avoid.

I really wish they'd bring the select outline tool over from cutting to 2D contour, it is so much more efficient for simple shapes. In the mean time, any other ideas or workarounds you guys have found to make the selections you need.

[precisionmetal]

Andrew,

Any chance you could post the file?

I have had similar issues in Fusion that seemed arduous to work around. Other CAM software I've used over the years typically had a single command for "select chain" which always made things very simple. It either selected the whole chain, or if it stopped somewhere you knew that was the exact point of a mis-match in geometry. I have yet to find a method to do this in Fusion.

PM

[cygnus x-1]

Andrew,

Any chance you could post the file?

I have had similar issues in Fusion that seemed arduous to work around. Other CAM software I've used over the years typically had a single command for "select chain" which always made things very simple. It either selected the whole chain, or if it stopped somewhere you knew that was the exact point of a mis-match in geometry. I have yet to find a method to do this in Fusion.

PM

Yeah it would definitely help to see the actual part, or at least a dummied up version. Fusion is supposed to be able to auto-select chains but it doesn't always work depending on the specific geometry. This seems to happen when it thinks you want an open chain instead of a closed chain. One thing you can try is to select the first edge, then click on that edge again to bring up the open/closed selector. Make sure that the closed loop is selected and then it should let you pick an entire loop.

This screencast might be helpful even though it shows how to select an open contour instead of a closed contour.

Edge selection around fillets | Fusion 360 | Autodesk Knowledge Network


C|

[Andrew22]

I've tried that trick of selecting the first edge, then re-selecting and getting the whole closed loop, and that has worked great on other parts, but not here. I managed an odd workaround where I used a projected sketch, unchecked the lead in and out boxes, and check off the keep tool down box which seemed to fix the tool path. Then I went back and rechecked the lead in and out to avoid a straight plunge and it all worked fine.

I went looking for flaws in the geometry, but everything is fine, and auto select chains works for the water jet and laser menu, so I'm inclined to think its something buggy with the 2D contour paths and not a universal problem.

[C*H*U*D]

You can drive your toolpaths in CAM from sketches as well as part geometry. Either show the sketch that drove the outline of that part, or on the face you're working on, create a new sketch with a circle constrained to the OD of that gear. Then pick the sketch circle to create the contour.

Hope I understood your problem and this helps.