HOw do you do it?

Community Support Fusion 360
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So I use Fusion as my CAD and CAM processor. All my designs are simulated to catch any errors but it is not at all unusual to screw up something or other. As a result, I tend to run the majority of my models on scrap pieces of wood. I am currently working on a new spoil board so it is impossible to run the whole thing in scrap so I end up running air cuts and a small section and cross my fingers before running a full size model.

I tend to make stupid mistakes such as forgetting to un-check the ‘stock to leave’ option, forgetting that I generally need to run multiple levels for a cut, forget to re-set z zero and things of that nature. Of course I also run into more significant errors.

I would like to see if anyone has made up a check sheet or something similar that you end up using before you run a job. This question applies primarily to Fusion as there are about a million things that need to be decided before you run a job. I have read about more generic check lists (like the one from IDC) but my question is specifically geared to Fusion.

I have been dragging my heals on cutting the new spoil board because any screw up ends up costing a lot of money.

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Practice and experience is the answer. If you want a check list, best advice I can give you is make your own based off all the mistakes you’ve made in the past, and add to it as you make more mistakes.

Another thing that might help you out is to look into toolpath templates in fusion. I make guitars. The geometry is often different, but the toolpaths are the same. Once you dial in a toolpath, you can save the settings as a template, and use it for later projects.

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Interesting, I did not know about templates. I will look into that. Thanks!

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Read up on manufacturing templates. It seems to be a very powerful way of working once I get used to it. It is certain to reduce my ‘ooops’ rate by quite a bit. Now I just have to start using it in my work.

I will also implement my own check list based on previous mistakes starting with the IDC list as a starting point.

Thanks

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it’s not really a , 1, 2, 3 step , it is usually program something, if it plunges in, you fuked up, find out why, scratch the head and spend time on getting better. don’t be afraid to make mistakes, that’s how you learn. sure it can get expensive, but that’s how it works in hobby / diy

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Hi Jens,

You have what is known as workflow anxiety, and I don’t believe you are ever going to overcome this. You might get comfortable at some time and that is probably around the time you make a stupid mistake and be put into your place again.

Working in electronics I’ve worked with a tool to remove and place Ball grid ICs. It was kind of a cnc robotic arm to be able to work with ics that have solder point at the underside of the component instead of leads sticking out of it. You cannot solder ballgrid ics with an iron.

Working with the robot was pretty straight foreward except for the profiles for removing and soldering the components. It’s a rather fine line to walk between a bad soldered component and a badly damaged or at least weakened board. The anxiety in using this machine is that there are no standardised profiles. It comes down to the operator having made enough fails to get a feeling with the machine, to generate a profile to solder a new ic while removing the old one. I have made tons of fails with this machine before I was confident enough to say yes when asked if something was doable. As long as you get to remove an IC, you can work out how te put one back. You get a feeling for it, you create a workflow and you stick with that, and in time your anxiety will subside into the back of your mind. Untill you are forced to deviate from your secure path and are thrown back to the beginning because..

I remember getting the order, not a question mind you, to place a $50k ic on a bare board because the pick&place machine could not handle the size of said component. There was no removing one to get a feel for the profile, the board was thicker -baring more layers of copper- than I had ever seen, and on top of that I had to makeshift a nozzle to fit this monster. I was thrown back to zero with only unknowns, I got only one go, and failure was not an option on a board that was worth several $100K when completed.

And that is sorthakinda the anxiety that you are feeling right now. It has to be done, you are the one that will be doing it, and the blaim will be all yours if you fail.

How to cope?

Be honest.
If you think you are not ready for that one failisnotanoption task, you are not ready. If you need to build more confidence, find a way to do so. FE- in stead of surfacing your badass wastboard, mount sacraficial waste boards or even strips and surface these as a way to gain more trust in yourself and your ability to get yourself to not make the mistakes you fear. Build that workflow checklist, get it into your muscle memory. But most of all, know, that anxiety is a healty emotion to have when you are about to hit start. It makes you think twice, dot all the I’s and keep you on your toes. Sure, the moment you actualy take the :unamused_face: plunge :face_with_raised_eyebrow: will still be a moment but with one eye on the mill and one hand on the e-stop, you will do fine. (mostly)

Be sure though that you know the difference between anxiety and fear. They are emotions that are almost the same with one huge difference. What you fear will happen, what you have anxiety about, you will prevent.

So how did I get that expensive IC on that even more expensive board in one go without any pre knowledge? I didn’t. I refused the task and demanded to have the ability to practice. There were dummy ic’s made (prolly wort several thousands) and I got some boards that were out of spec, and with that I could extract a profile to confidently solder a $50k IC on a board worth a Ferrari.

I turned fear into anxiety.

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Thanks for that cheery thought 

 :frowning:

I did a lot of that and I am vastly more confident now. Alas, I seem to regularly find new ways to screw up. When I posed the question, I was thinking there was a ‘tool’ that I might use to reduce my error rate. While I didn’t find what I was looking for, @NewsVan provided me with a different way to hopefully reduce my error rate with templates.

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The tool is to make a template of your workflow that gives you the quickest way to know you’ve done the right steps.

I personaly want those steps highlighted at the final station. Not a paper thing I need ro bring, not something I need to open besides but something that is already open and will always be open when starting a toolpath.

Before setting xy0 I run my squaring routine. (Jog towards back of machine untill grunt.)

When I set an xy0, I put a dimple outside the cutout parameter of the project and write down its position to always be able to retrieve xy0 when needed. No matter what. After setting xy0, I try.. to.. no longer do small jog, I move increments of 100mm. These staps are taken after losing xy0 for stupid reasons like starting up and long click jogging somewhere and then realising you forgot to first click xy0. Sometimes, if I feel I will be extra stupid the next day, I tape screen with a cross and write down something like “XY0 you drunk bleep“ I sometimes throw scrap wood on project with insults aswell.

At gsender I have a few quick check markers I glance at when I get anxiety and even when I don’t.

I have a specific retract hight after z0 setting. If I do not see that retract number, I must set z0, even if I almost know for sure I did set z0 just moments ago. Does not matter, I failed to do the magic number retract, now make sure, proof that z0 is set, and retract magic number. No magic number, no start.

My toolpath file name is my checklist.

It includes toolpath type. (profile, pocket, drill, flute, etc) / name. (cutout, clockface, stupid picture, etc.) / bit type. (6mm35uc, ft12mm7ro, 3mm175dc, tbn16th, etc) / place to zero xy, almost always center project (zc, zdl, zdl, zdr, zur) and the last is where to zero z on. (top, bot, pock)

I upload all toolpaths from an external pc, 10m away from the machine. Unless it’s a toolpath that already ran (like laser toolpath that needed a small tweak), freshly uploaded toolpaths get started at the machine. That is a law in my shop.

Being at the machine I start the router and dile in the speed gsender shows.

Iglance x, y and z position. If I do not see 0,0,magic number, I delete toolpath (x at load toolpath), forcing me to go to other pc and upload again. I have to be, and am strickt with that. No correct numbers means I am cutting corners or am rushing things. That imports bleepups.

I check toolpathname with what I see at machine. Fe if toolpath is called profile “cutout 6mm35dc zc”, I can quickly check what mill I run (empty box), if xyz looks like center of project and at gsender visualizer I can rotate to check if toolpath is projected above or below the zero plane.

At this point I have ran my checklist and will rest my left hand on the estop and click start with mouse. Start will trigger a pause popup that needs to be oke. (I have clicked start by accident one time to many, triggering unsceduled bleepups, so I added the pause prompt in events, to make sure my bleepups are -at least – sceduled.)

I always design pocket toolpaths with a slowed down zigzag plunge move.

I always use spiral plunge (adjusted plunge speed to normal speed) with profile toolpaths. (Mainly to prevent entery point deflection marks.)

I only have machine bed zero (bot) at the beginning (specific thicknes flattening) or at the end (cutout) of a project.

If I do not see these design choises (laws) I abort and delete the toolpath, forcing me to go back to the design pc and fix.

I am a chaotic person in nature and need strickt rules to follow. Doing it this way, I have a checklist and the knowledge that if the mill is at the material surface, it will move in the xy direction. I have my hand on the estop and am trigger happy because I always feel anxiety. An estop pressed too early is a sign of fear and is clearly an indicator I need a break.

A bleepup after all these checks means I am not fit to run the machine and I need a break.

This is how I do it, because I know a paper list will not work for me. It’s a step to forget, or to feel you don’t need anymore. Gsender will always be there, the toolpath name will always be there just before you hit start.

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Thanks for this write-up. I will see what steps I can incorporate in my routine.

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