Fusion 360

Fusion 360 – mechanical drawing software designed to replace Solidworks for the DIY crowd.

Solidworks is an old software that is indeed taught in most academies, but the main problem is that a license costs thousands of dollars and it is less suitable for the home audience.

Sketching is indeed important in the 3D world, but it is important to understand that 3D printing requires an understanding of Slicer.

By the drawing, the file is named and exported to an STL file, the machine does not know how to read the drawing file.

The STL drawing file is put into the slicer, which converts it into a Gcode machine command file.

Since the machine needs to know at what temperature to print, speed, where supports are, what percentage of filling (hollow, grid or full) etc.

All these data are determined in the Gcode file by the slicer.

Another advantage of the Fusion360 software is that you can convert to CNC and not just 3D printing.

To download the Fusion 360 software

The software is suitable for the more advanced, if it is children we recommend learning the Tinkercad software because it is simpler.

Tinkercad is less about creating engines or mechanical parts, but using the block method of adding and subtracting shapes, writing in Hebrew, editing a ready file and a wide variety of other things.

In many cases where they are in doubt, you can start both and see which is more convenient.

The free software:

1. Fusion360 only for personal and non-commercial use, you can check on their website what the definition is
2. TinkerCad – completely free with no usage restrictions

For the sake of differentiation between the degrees of difficulty of the study:

1. Solidworks requires several semesters in mechanical engineering or industrial design
2. Fusion360 – about 30 consecutive days (each lesson at least an hour)
3. TikerCad in just 2 hours (the simplest).

For those who are ready for the challenge, we recommend Kivan Kandy learning Fusion360 in 30 days, an excellent guide that does give most of the information to get started.

Sketching is indeed important in the 3D world, but it is important to understand that 3D printing also requires an understanding of Slicer.
A very high percentage of the 3D printers use the software, if the need is not a mechanic but the figures, the Blender software (also free) will be more suitable, but this software also requires a long learning time.

The best software for figures is Z-Brush but it is paid unlike Blender.
If you want to enrich your knowledge on other topics, we will be happy to help.