I haven’t found a definitive answer on Google. Can the personal (free) version generate GCode for the Avid CNC?
You can find updated CAM (“Manufacturing”) features for the personal-use edition here:
It says, “No multi-axis milling, probing, automatic tool change, rapid feed.” Further down, it says, "With Fusion 360 for personal use, you’ll still be able to create 2.5-axis, 3-axis, turning, and water/laser/plasma, and FFF additive toolpaths and post to your home-use CNC for non-commercial use. "
You should be able to install the Avid post-processors and generate GCode for Avid machines with F360 for personal use.
Thanks! Even though it’s free, it is still time to learn it.
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You can use it to create the gcode, however with the personal use (free option) it will not let you do rapid speeds. the rapid movements will move at your feed speed. I started using fusion360 when i got my machine back in 2020 and it was great, but they changed it in early 2022 to try to get more people to pay. I probably wouldnt have started using it if i knew that, but i have too many files that i have created to jump ship now.
Question: For rapids, does it put in an “F” code on the G0 lines, or does it actually put in the G0 codes as a G1 code with/without an “F” code on that line?
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Well that’s a deal killer.
For the “rapids” F360 actually uses G1/feed rate moves. One workaround for this is a fairly simple piece of external code to post-process the output gcode file that recognizes where rapid moves can take place and changes the gcode. This is what I do and it works fine. Additionally, the free version will not allow you to output code with more that one tool change. You can output individual file per tool and then just combine them into a single gcode file. Overall it is a great package and is amazingly powerful for a free piece of software. Better cam output than Vectric products but the two are complementary…
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There isn’t anything even near the price range with the feature set of Fusion 360. There are many folks trying, there are like 30 new CAD/CAM offerings out there all trying to do what Autodesk has done.
The biggest innovation that makes F360 so much cheaper is that it is in the cloud. That means that nobody can steal the software, piracy is 0% now. They can drop the price and even offer “rent for a day” high end features like 5-axis milling without losing control of their IP. Back in 2019 I was quoted $50k/yr for that feature for a single seat from Autodesk’s only real competitor.
As a side note, I am part of the group testing the new 100% browser version of F360. Exciting stuff. It is all of the features, nothing missing, on your phone or tablet.
PS. I guess I am technically a paid lacky for Autodesk 
They have frozen what I pay for my subscription for as long as I keep the account open. I am also the one who started the pushed for a single subscription rate but with “rent-for-a-day” high end features. You can thank me later 
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Wait… does this mean F360 will finally support Linux? 
Anything that can run a Webkit browser, sure.
@barunita, Oh yes, that would be extremely easy to do. I’ve already got code that reads in tracks and modifies G-Code file for doing a number of manipulations between my legacy CAD system’s post processor for both my CNC mill and also the AVIDcnc. It would be pretty easy to recognize a z move to retract height, traverse to new location and change those both from G1 to G0 as well as break the following plunge into a G0 + G1 to come down to XYZ amount and feed that last user specified amount.
It is highly similar to what I am doing now for tracking and inserting rapids followed by G31 touch-off’s for the plasma torch, re-setting the Z0, moving to ignition height, the moving to cut height and inserting an M-Code to enable the THC for the plasma cutter.
Thanks for the input and sorry that I took so long to see the reply.