Fusion Autodesk Help

[Dave Harmison]

I’m trying to draw up chassis drawings using Fusion and finding it tough going. AutoCAD back in the day was easy, but with parametric design they’ve made it very difficult. Yes, I’ve watched lots of videos (Lars #100 is about frames).
Anyone open to having a one on one dialog about this topic? Take it off Apex as it’s pretty specialized.
I’d like to have good enough drawings to share with the community to make repair and restoration easier.

[Rick Kirchner]

I’m trying to draw up chassis drawings using Fusion and finding it tough going. AutoCAD back in the day was easy, but with parametric design they’ve made it very difficult. Yes, I’ve watched lots of videos (Lars #100 is about frames).
Anyone open to having a one on one dialog about this topic? Take it off Apex as it’s pretty specialized.
I’d like to have good enough drawings to share with the community to make repair and restoration easier.

Do you have the free product or a paid one with some of the extensions? I think there's one for pipefitting, the free one has some sheet metal capabilities.

I may have to move to freecad. I had a licensing problem and lost my access. Can't get any help, its all bots, even trying to chat with someone in sales. I may buy a 1-month license just so I can export everything.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

join the EAA and get Solidworks ?

https://www.eaa.org/eaa/eaa-membersh...esource-center

I've been using FreeCAD. It gives me a similar aversion to CAD products at a much lower price

[Dave Harmison]

Having struggled with Fusion for some time, I know it isn’t very good at doing tube frames, but on the other hand:

- It’s widely used by the Maker community and in schools
- A free version is widely available so sharing work won’t require others to buy software

[Rick Kirchner]

Having struggled with Fusion for some time, I know it isn’t very good at doing tube frames, but on the other hand:

- It’s widely used by the Maker community and in schools
- A free version is widely available so sharing work won’t require others to buy software

The free version, to the best of my knowledge, does not allow sharing of STEP, IGES, etc. You can export STLs for 3D printing.

There are two free versions, the "hobbyist" version, and the student version. If you have the connections to get a student version it may have more capability.

[Mike B]

The free version, to the best of my knowledge, does not allow sharing of STEP, IGES, etc. You can export STLs for 3D printing.

Not sure about the student version but the hobbyist version allows exporting to STEP but not IGES. Frustratingly, it doesn't allow saving as .dwg or .dxf other than within a specific 2d sketch.

[Rick Kirchner]

I've been without it for about 3 weeks now. Mac OS updated at the same time as Fusion (which is pushing updates literally every time you open it up now) and something broke. Then my license shows up. as expired. I downloaded the new version from the expired tab, de-installed the old version, re-installed, still expired.

After days of waiting I get someone to call me up. Kind of freaky turning your machine control over to some guy in India. Told me I somehow ended up with two licenses, and I should be able to use it regardless of the expired warning. We checked it out by editing an existing sketch.

What I didn't check out is saving a sketch - which it won't do. Their bots are useless - here's the answer I got back:

1. Check for Multiple Licenses:
- Sign in to your Autodesk Account and check if you have multiple licenses with different expiration dates.
- Make sure to identify the correct license that you want to use for Fusion for personal use.


2. Deactivate Unused Licenses:
- Deactivate any unused licenses that are causing confusion with the authenticator.
- Ensure that only the correct license for Fusion for personal use is active.


3. Reinstall Fusion:
- Uninstall Fusion from your computer completely.
- Reinstall Fusion using the correct license for personal use.
- Make sure to download Fusion for Personal Use from the official Autodesk website.


4. Contact Customer Support:
- If the issue persists after following the above steps, reach out to Autodesk Customer Support for further assistance.
- Explain the situation regarding multiple licenses and the confusion with the authenticator.
- Provide any relevant information or ticket numbers from your previous conversations with support staff.


5. Request License Synchronization:
- Request Autodesk Customer Support to synchronize your licenses to avoid any further confusion.
- Ask them to ensure that only the correct Fusion for personal use license is active and recognized by the authenticator.


It's important to communicate clearly with Autodesk Customer Support about the specific issue you are facing and provide as much detail as possible to expedite the resolution process.


Well, there are no controls in my account to do either #1 or #2, i've done #3 four times now. #4, well, I have a case and now have to wait another 48 hours to converse with someone I can barely understand who won't have the authorities needed to fix my problem. Every time you get a new customer service bot or window you have to re-type everything in again. I have not had the opportunity to do #5 yet.

They used to be a pretty good company, but are now just another example of $#ittification. Evidently you cant even access their forums without a paid subscription.

[SWMyers]

You might look into Onshape. It’s a fully featured web based parametric design and solid modeling application created by some of the SolidWorks founders. There’s a free version available to individual users for non-commercial use, and being web based it doesn’t require any software installation or maintenance. The catch is that, for the free version, all your work is public. Of course this also means you also have access to other peoples public designs (read-only basis). I've seen lots of race car parts in the library. I even found a VD frame someone has created.

I’ve been using it for a while and found it very intuitive and easy to learn. There's lots of online training and it has a tool specifically for creating space frames. You sketch the skeleton then define the tube shape and dimensions and apply them to the skeleton segments. I haven't done anything complicated, but have modeled a bunch of 8020 assemblies.

[patman]

Check out solidworks 'for makers'. Currently $49/yr license. Setup is a minor pain but once set up it works just like the real thing. Which is infinity easier to use than fusion.

[Chris Livengood]

I just saw Solidworks on sale for a year membership for $30. That includes CAM which is a necessary thing for me. That said, I am entrenched in Fusion and will end up sticking with it for a while. I don't do much tube work though, and good CAM is a priority for me.