Small Part Workflow

[msimpson99]

I did a write-up of one of my workflows making small parts out of PVC plastic.


Its a small plastic end cap used to hold Christmas lights on a driveway marker.

You can see the full write-up here:
https://www.kronosrobotics.com/string-light-cap/

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[Biggs427]

Doesn't Inventor have Hsm Express? I was using it in Solidworks before I started with Fusion 360.

Great article !

[msimpson99]

I have an old version of Inventor (2015) HSM is not supported.

Inventor is crazy expensive so at $2000 per year, my old version does me just fine.
That said, for small simple parts, I will oftain just fire up Corel Draw and create my basic shape. I then export for Vcarve to make my tool paths. The whole process of idea to ready to machine can be as quick at a couple minutes. Much of what I machine is done this way.

I have also used Fusion 360 but for simple things, I come back to Corel Draw and Vcarve. I am not a big fan of Fusion 360, as I have had issues with large complicated projects.

[Biggs427]

To each his own.

I had problems too with big assemblies in Fusion. For this kind of project I'm using the SolidWorks license I have at work.

For CAM I prefer Fusion especially for the price. Lol

[msimpson99]

This is the machine from my CNC Construction Set book series.


This has every single nut, bolt, and washer modeled including threads. It runs like a champ in Inventor (even my older version). It brings Fusion to its knees.