Cadassist & Trafford Fablabs present Fusion360 to Manchester.

If you hadn’t noticed Cadassist have been running some Fusion360 workshops in conjunction with Trafford Fablab in Altrincham. The way these workshops have worked is that Cadassist offered some training to the staff at Fablabs Altrincham and supported them through the process of learning the software. Fablabs then presented these workshops to approximately 30 of their customers/users over 3 separate sessions with some support from Cadassist.

By all accounts these sessions went really well.

“I would like to thank you again for the training provided on Wednesday.
My mind has been swimming with new ideas and possibilities.

After digesting what was said during the day I have a new idea to re-work a project I completed over 3 years ago. The time saved using Fusion360 with the integration of productions techniques (CAM) would now make this project affordable to any audience.

I am grateful for the spring board you and Simon provided in this workshop.

I have been showing off on Facebook and have had lots of people commenting on how impressive the work I have done so far looks, after only one training session! I am looking forward to blowing their minds when I really get into it.”

Phillip Bradley  (World OF Woodcraft)

Now these were not your usual training session, Simon from Fablabs created his own content with a view that people should leave the building with something in their hands. 2 hours on Fusion360, send to a 3D printer, of which Fablabs have 4, then assemble your personalised product. As you can see its a simple USB memory stick case but each user customised these items to be personal to themselves. Mass Customisation at its best.

Cadassist were there to support the delivery of this workshop, answering questions on advanced features such as FEA analysis tools and computer aided machining (CAM) capabilities. Whilst the 3D printers were delivering the custom products, Cadassist also presented some additional assembly, rendering and 2D drawing demonstrations showing the capabilities of Fusion360.

These demonstrations showed a fully assembled Stirling engine, and a snap together coffee table modeled independently then brought together into a singular design and rendered for photo realism.

Followed by some CNC Programming, assembly instructions and FEA analysis on a simple bar stool.

A tour of the Fablabs was available to anyone who wanted it and the ability to sign up to become a member. This allows you access to their capabilities on Friday and Saturday from 9am to 4pm for free, all you have to pay for is materials. My favourite machine is the 4 ft x 8 ft shopbot CNC router which you can see working here. Second on my list is the Epilog 600mm x 900mm Laser cutter again you can see working here.

Check out Trafford Fablab out for all your personal or commercial needs http://www.traffordfablab.com/ for everything from coding to prototyping they have the people, skills, knowledge and tools to make anything you can imagine.

If you have a project you’d like help with contact @Cadassist or Trafford Fablabs directly.

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