I was not great as a student. It is really hard to hold my attention and unless what you’re teaching me is directly applied to real-world applications, I get annoyed. John Saunders from NYC CNC has managed to catch my attention, and teach me a ton about Autodesk Fusion 360 and CNC Machining. He does this, by sharing his machining process from concept to part, filled with tips, tricks and information, all the while remaining upbeat and approachable.
I’ll let John introduce himself via his youtube channel trailer:
John has been sharing his process since he was in a tiny New York apartment milling on his desk. His set up has grown and he’s moved several times since then. The entire time he has been committed to putting out videos that have an educational element to them.
From what I gather, CNC machining has changed immensely over the past few years in terms of control software. I’ve heard John remark several times on how amazingly easy things are now that there are programs like Autodesk Fusion. What John may also be contributing to, is that there are channels like his to turn to, in order to learn.
Throughout his channel you’ll find multiple examples of him taking a design sketch, showing you how to construct it Fusion 360, showing you how to create the tool paths, or instructions for the CNC machine, and then showing you how to create the part. He doesn’t shy away from showing his mistakes either, which is invaluable.
Here’s an example. This playlist has 7 parts, going from concept to product on a specialty clamp
Not all of his lessons go fully through making a part. At some point, he started the “Fusion Friday” series which simply teaches you about how to deal with certain things in Fusion 360. John is sponsored by Autodesk now, which I think is great. It keeps amazing educational videos like this flowing out into the public and supports an awesome maker in the process.
I had previously found Fusion to be a bit daunting. I’ve got a few projects I’m hoping to do next year, and up till now I kept defaulting back to tools that I was already familiar with. However, John’s fusion series has shown me how to get what I want to do, to actually happen in the software. Remember, all this is free!
There are also tons of random tips on running the machines, choosing tooling, even running the business side of things. This channel is just packed with information. He does have a patreon, where people can get additional stuff, like download the actual files to replicate these things, but I’m not currently a supporter. However, he’s taught me so much, I’m considering supporting him simply because he’s saved me time and possibly money by publishing all of this educational material.
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