I'd heard about this software a while back but finally gave it a try and holy crap it's pretty dang slick.  I downloaded it last night, modeled a basic plasma table part, ran a sim and had it coded in about 2 hrs.  I thought meh, OK, it was a sheet metal tab with very basic features.  So today I downloaded a pic, converted it to SVG, and had it coded in about an hour.

It's free for qualifying users or $300/yr for the basic package, that's pretty reasonable for a medium quality CAD/CAM setup.  It's not SW or NX, but neither is the price.

If you get a chance, check it out.

What do mean by "coding" it? I use SW every day and I don't think I've ever heard that term.

I have not yet tried Fusion, but it looks promising. The price of SW for personal use is assinine. Or business use for that matter, lol.

F360 has a CAM package directly attached so once I am done with the drawing I click one button and begin to plan operations.  From there ya hit the post process and out pops however many lines of whatever code you choose.

I may not have used the correct term, I'm new to this.

I think he means he CAM'd it up, simulated it and exported/post processed the G-code for the plamsa controller to read it.

Fusion is a CAD and CAM suite, not just CAD as Solidworks is natively.

Ya, that!

I've fallen into a design engineer and process engineer by trade.
Over the past decade I've used Bobcad, Solidworks, and many others.
Fusion is now my go to program. Everything else is useful, but clunky and not as streamlined.

@criio1 is your first name Joe?  From the Tormach Operators Group on Facebook?

I bought Solidworks in 2004. When the market just died starting in 2007 SW was not earning its keep - or should I say maintenance agreement costs. So in early 2008 I let my SW expire.

About 2010 I bought Alibre Design Expert which was close to SW but did not have the great file format translations tools.

Alibre was bought out by 3D Systems which rebranded the product as GEOMagic and after the 2nd year 3D Systems all but dropped any bug work or updates, but were very adamant about collecting those maintenance fees.

3DSystems acquired GibbsCAM which made the prior Alibre/Geomagic+Mecsoft/Geomagic CAM product redundant.

A group of the original Alibre Design staff bought out the software rights and brought Alibre back to Texas and began fixing the damage to the product and reputation. Geomagic Design is still a software product of 3DS and is used to import 3d scans directly into SW or Gibbs.

I have the current Alibre Design Expert and the Mecsoft AlibreCAM plugin. It works fantastic for designing 3D prints.

For people who have not invested in another software platform or the training for one I point them towards Fusion 360 as a student/hobbist. Understand what can be done has to come before learning how it is done.

@Zach540

That's me. But this my pen name isn't my actual last name.  It's sort of an online alias that has never changed, not to get myself in trouble posting politics or unappreciated humour.

@RED_5
I downloaded this program, i made a drawing of what i want.... but i cannot for the life of me figure out how make my tool go where i want it to

I have never used cad and ive only used super simple cam. Otherwise i just G code right at the mill for most parts I make.
However, i would like to know how to use some of this cause future and all that. Any tips or knowledge you can send my way?

Lots of 5 axis Youtube shops use Fusion, more than a few still handcode.....when we switched to Mastercam we had a steep learning curve and more headaches than the simplicity of our parts dictated.  Solidworks student edition and HSMworks was by far my favorite, much easier to jump back into your model with HSM over the SW mastercam  add-in.  We will  be using Creo and its NC manufacturing, not looking forward to that.  For the home shop, 100% fusion.