Fusion 360 Personal Edition Changes Coming Oct 1

[tkbot47]

Would Vectric's Vcarve Pro or Aspire be a reasonable alternative to Fusion 360 for work on both Precision Mill and a Router or am I trying to compare Apples with Pears?

I own both, and IMO it depends greatly on what sort of projects you want to do. Fusion 360 is a full parametric 3D modeler. Vcarve Pro is mostly a 2.5D modeler and Aspire adds more 3D modeling but not to the level of Fusion 360. All have decent 2.5D machining capability, but Fusion offers more toolpath options. None of them have true 4th rotary axis capability, but have wrapped/indexed 4th axis support. One other thing to consider is that a 1 yr Fusion subscription is about 1/2 of the Vcarve Pro perpetual license, and less than 1/6 of Aspire. Also, Fusion can import step files, Vectric cannot.
I have found Aspire very easy to use for wood or board sheet type projects (signs, plaques, boxes, carvings for other projects, furniture pieces, etc.) I've found Fusion 360 better for designing full 3D models for both machining and 3D printing. If you already have a 3D CAD program that will output both step and stl files, you may want to consider DeskProto. It can do 2.5 and 3D machining similar to Aspire, plus supports full 4th axis including rotary, and 5th axis. It has a Centroid PP, support is excellent, and offers a hobbyist perpetual license for about the same as a year of Fusion 360, but has no CAD capability, only CAM.

[tkbot47]

Incidentally, I got an email reply from Lex (owner of Deskproto) confirming that full simultaneous 4th axis operation is included in the trial version of Deskproto. The limitation is that an embossed watermark effect is created on work created by the trial version. There doesn't seem to be a time limit as such. This should allow a reasonable trial of the features before you decide whether or not to purchase.

Muzzer,
I found the pics of the Venus bust I did after getting Deskproto. I did it on a 4th rotary axis on my pre-Centroid Shopbot, and it worked great. I haven't yet done another after changing my SB over to Centroid and Clearpath, but Deskproto has a fully implemented and editable PP for Centroid. It was machined from cherry using a 1/8" ball nose endmill. Took about 2.5 hrs total. What you see is fresh from the machine - no sanding.You can see the setup as well.

[Nigelo]

Would Vectric's Vcarve Pro or Aspire be a reasonable alternative to Fusion 360 for work on both Precision Mill and a Router or am I trying to compare Apples with Pears?

I own both, and IMO it depends greatly on what sort of projects you want to do. Fusion 360 is a full parametric 3D modeler. Vcarve Pro is mostly a 2.5D modeler and Aspire adds more 3D modeling but not to the level of Fusion 360. All have decent 2.5D machining capability, but Fusion offers more toolpath options. None of them have true 4th rotary axis capability, but have wrapped/indexed 4th axis support. One other thing to consider is that a 1 yr Fusion subscription is about 1/2 of the Vcarve Pro perpetual license, and less than 1/6 of Aspire. Also, Fusion can import step files, Vectric cannot.
I have found Aspire very easy to use for wood or board sheet type projects (signs, plaques, boxes, carvings for other projects, furniture pieces, etc.) I've found Fusion 360 better for designing full 3D models for both machining and 3D printing. If you already have a 3D CAD program that will output both step and stl files, you may want to consider DeskProto. It can do 2.5 and 3D machining similar to Aspire, plus supports full 4th axis including rotary, and 5th axis. It has a Centroid PP, support is excellent, and offers a hobbyist perpetual license for about the same as a year of Fusion 360, but has no CAD capability, only CAM.

Many thanks, that's exactly the feedback I was looking for - Will also take a look at DeskProto

Thanks again