LargeFormatSlicerHelp Slicer
LargeFormatSlicerHelp Slicer
LargeFormatSlicerHelp Slicer
Table of Contents
What is Slicer for Fusion 360?......................................................................................................... 5
Now you can send a model from Fusion 360 to Slicer for Fusion 360 ....................................... 6
Navigation ....................................................................................................................................... 8
Navigation tools.......................................................................................................................... 8
Open/Import ................................................................................................................................. 10
Curve .................................................................................................................................... 12
3D Slices ............................................................................................................................... 13
Dowels ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Manufacturing Settings................................................................................................................. 15
Variations.................................................................................................................................. 15
2|P a g e
Delete a manufacturing setting................................................................................................ 15
Object Size..................................................................................................................................... 16
Variations ............................................................................................................................. 31
Hollow....................................................................................................................................... 32
Thicken ..................................................................................................................................... 32
Shrinkwrap................................................................................................................................ 33
Print .......................................................................................................................................... 35
Save ............................................................................................................................................... 36
Export ............................................................................................................................................ 37
Export to My Computer............................................................................................................ 37
4|P a g e
What is Slicer for Fusion 360?
Slicer for Fusion 360 is a tool to turn your digital ideas into something you can hold. It slices and
converts digital 3D models into 2D patterns you can cut out of any flat material. Slicer for
Fusion 360 also creates 3D instructions you can interact with, to help build a model.
5|P a g e
What’s new
Now you can send a model from Fusion 360 to Slicer for
Fusion 360
Create a model in Fusion 360 and with a few clicks you can send your model to Slicer for Fusion
360. Apply various slicing techniques to your model and create 2d plans in EPS, DXF or PDF
formats that you can cut using Laser cutter or CNC machine.
It’s fairly easy to send a model from Fusion 360 to the Slicer application.
6|P a g e
Important Terms
Slice: The cross sections you get by cutting straight through your model
at any angle. A slice can contain multiple parts.
Part: The individual pieces that make up a slice. They are assembled
together later.
Cut Sheets: The sheets of material your parts are cut out of to build the
model.
Slot Offset: Set the cut width to determine how wide the actual cuts on your cut sheet
are. The cut width is based on how much material your cutting tool (laser, saw, etc.) removes.
This makes assembly easier. A slot offset of "0" creates a notch that equals the material
thickness. Depending on the material you intend to use, a Slot Offset of 0 could make assembly
difficult to slide one piece through another. Decreasing the slot size will force slices to have to
squeeze together (fine for cardboard), increasing it allows for "breathing room" in the notches
during assembly (helpful if your material, for example plywood varies slightly in thickness).
7|P a g e
Navigation
There are three ways to change your view: with your mouse, the Navigation tools, and View
Cube.
Mouse navigation
Tumble: Right-click anywhere around your model and drag the cursor to
change your view.
Pan: Click and hold the scroll wheel and drag the cursor to sweep your
camera view in any direction.
Zoom: Roll the scroll wheel up and down to zoom in and out.
Navigation tools
Use the navigation tools to tumble, pan, zoom, and frame your content.
Pan: Click and drag in any direction to pan your camera view.
Zoom: Click the right side of the wheel and drag the cursor up and down.
Look-at: Click to center and frame your view on the current side.
8|P a g e
Using the ViewCube
The ViewCube lets you quickly and easily switch between scene views. It is the
cube that appears in the upper-right corner of the scene. Its faces are labeled
with the camera view in relation to the 3D scene.
Click a face to automatically adjust your view to match that face. Click the edges or corners of
the ViewCube to adjust your view.
There are 26 standard available views (6 face views, 8 corner views, and 12 edge views).
When you mouse over the ViewCube, regions of it appear highlighted. These are the areas of
the cube that will be selected when you click. Home appears, as well. Click it to return to the
default perspective view.
9|P a g e
Open/Import
Open and import from my computer
You can open 3DMK file locally. If you have STL or OBJ on your computer, you can import your
model by clicking on the import button at the top of the menu. Import button is explicitly used
for local files.
While importing an STL or OBJ, if you are coming from another application which has Z/X axis up,
then you can change the axis of your model within the system dialog, so that you get the model in
the right position. Please check the image below.
10 | P a g e
*Sometimes, if you haven’t used the application for a longtime, it may happen, that you send something
from Fusion 360 to Slicer, and when you try to open/save/export to Fusion team, these dialogs may not
contain any data. If this happens, sign out and sign in again.
11 | P a g e
Construction Techniques
With a project loaded, the next step is to preview the different
construction techniques to use for slicing.
Stacked Slices
Cross sections your 3D model, cutting it into slices you can glue
and stack on top of one another. Use the Dowels option to
make it easier to line up and assemble your model. You can
recreate the model using any flat material you can cut.
Interlocked Slices
Cuts your 3D model into two stacks of slotted slices. Lock them
together in a grid, like when building a 3D puzzle. This uses less
material than stacked slices.
Curve
Cuts slices perpendicular to a curve, resembling ribs. Use this
for organic shapes, such as for modeling a brontosaurus. Also,
use the Navigation tools to help rotate your view to see the
curve.
12 | P a g e
Radial Slices
Cuts your 3D model into radiating slices from a central point. Use
this for a round symmetrical object, such as a vase.
Folded Panels
Separates your 3D model into 2D segments of triangular meshes.
These segments (panels) are folded multiple times, then attached
using one of ten different joint types. Use paper, cardboard, even
sheet metal.
3D Slices
Cross sections your 3D model, similar to Stacked Slices. Rather
than a stepped section for each slice, the section conforms to the
surface of the 3D model.
Dowels
Anchor your stacked slices in place, keeping your slices aligned
during assembly.
13 | P a g e
Dowels can be added and subtracted.
To add a new dowel highlight the dowel pane in the left nav
then click on the light blue 3D pane above the model.
A dowel will appear with a dashed line signifying its trajectory.
14 | P a g e
Manufacturing Settings
Now, set the size of the sheet your project is cut from. The
smaller your object is compared to your sheet size, the more
parts you can fit on it.
Changing settings
If you plan to use materials different from the presets, click to enter the units, slot offset,
and length, width, and thickness of the material in the field along the bottom of your screen.
2. Click , then name the preset and enter its manufacturing settings.
Variations
To create slight variations of a setting, click the setting to select it, use to make a duplicate,
and then tweak the settings.
15 | P a g e
Object Size
How big do you want your model to be? Set its physical size.
The larger your object, the more sheets you’ll need to create
your project. We put this step later in the process on purpose
because depending on your computer’s capabilities you’re
better off not scaling your object up right away. The larger
your object the more slices are generated and the more CPU &
is necessary to render.
Original Size
Eliminate any sizing changes made and revert to the STL size,
once you’ve set the units.
Uniform Scale
Uniformly scale your project in all directs (height, width, and length) when selected.
When not selected, scale your project in one direction at a time.
16 | P a g e
Slice Distribution
(Only available for interlocked, curve, and radial sliced projects.)
Each construction technique has some options unique to it.
Set the method for how slices will be distributed. Choose from
count, distance, or create a custom setting. Use the two options
found after Method to determine:
When working with large pieces, parts can rack and twist, making assembly almost impossible.
Also, by default, Slicer for Fusion 360 creates perfect squared outside corners on its slots. This
can also cause issues during assembly. Use Notch Factor and Notch Angle to eliminate these
issues by changes the mouth of the notches, flaring them.
Notch Factor flairs the mouth of the slot by a specific amount, relative to the width of
the slot.
Notch Angle sets the angles relative to the direction of slot the notch will be cut from.
Using an angle of 45 degrees should aid with easy assembly.
17 | P a g e
Relief Types
Set the type of notches used to connect your slices. This is particularly useful when cutting a
model using a computer controlled (CNC) machining device. They help eliminate issues during
cutting. It makes it possible to choose from the following:
Horizontal Use if the tool diameter in Manufacturing Settings has a value greater
than zero.
Vertical Use if the tool diameter in Manufacturing Settings has a value greater than
zero.
Dog Bone (also known as Relief) enables slices to fully penetrate one another, since
there are no inside rounded corners. Use it in areas with high tensile stress for stress
relief.
To control the creation of these, you can specify the cutting tool diameter.
In the Manufacturing Settings, tap . Create a custom setting, and then set the
Tool Diameter.
Note: If Tool Diameter is set to zero, no Dog Bone notches can be generated.
Tip: When getting your model ready for slicing, use Slice Direction in conjunction
with Slice Distribution.
18 | P a g e
When working with interlocking slices, you can click-drag any slice to change its position
and the spacing between slices. Use the tools in the toolbar to do the following:
Evenly Distribute
Duplicate
Delete
click .
19 | P a g e
Slice Direction
Click , then click on one of the two
rings to constrain the direction of the
slice direction to 5 degree increments.
Drag the blue handle and release to
update the slices.
Clicking Reset at the bottom will return the blue manipulator to the starting position.
With curve slicing, the curve lives on one plane. Making changes to the slicing direction makes it
easier to reshape the curve.
20 | P a g e
Simplify Form
(Only available for folded panel projects.) Changing the number of vertices and faces to simplify
a model’s shape serves two purposes: 1) If you have a model with tens of thousands of triangles
Slicer for Fusion 360 could potentially export complex strips that may be exceedingly difficult to
assemble once you are building the actual object. Reducing the number of faces and/or
vertices will make assembly quicker and easier. 2) Reducing the number of triangles (sometimes
called “decimation”) can create interesting results you may find aesthetically pleasing. For this
second reason we have added an item to the main menu called “Export Sliced Mesh…” so you
can keep the intact, decimated model.
21 | P a g e
Optimize Panels
Adjust the vertex count to reduce
the number of faces your
imported model is represented
by. In general, more faces can
make for a more detailed end
result and complex assembly.
22 | P a g e
Add/Remove Seams
Use Add/Remove Seams to interactively adjust the panels on your
model. Click on an edge to add a seam and separate large panels into
smaller ones. Alternatively, you may remove seams to create larger
panels for your project.
23 | P a g e
Joint Type
(Only available for folded panel projects.) Select a joint type to
determine the method used for connecting folded panels
together. If your model shows construction errors, changing the
joint type can solve some issues.
Tap to access the Joint Type toolbar. The options that appear
help you to eliminate model assembly errors, change spacing
between rivets, set the size of ticks, set the width of seams, and
more.
Diamond
24 | P a g e
Gear
25 | P a g e
Laced
26 | P a g e
Multitab
Puzzle
27 | P a g e
Rivet
28 | P a g e
Seam
Tab
29 | P a g e
Ticked
Tongue
30 | P a g e
Changing manufacturing settings
Click to access joint type manufacturing settings.
2. Click , then name the joint preset and enter its manufacturing settings.
Variations
To create slight variations of a joint type, click the joint type to select it, use to make a
duplicate, and then tweak the settings and click Done when finished.
31 | P a g e
Modify Form
To help solve “Output” issues, click to access Modify Form tools. Select a tool, adjust its
slider, and click done.
Important: Keep in mind; changes made with these tools are applied to the whole model, not
just the selected slice.
Hollow
Thicken
32 | P a g e
Shrinkwrap
For models that have details too fine to cut out,
use Shrinkwrap. It approximates and smoothes
the shape enough to create an object that still
resembles your model. With sharp T-rex teeth,
Shrinkwrap rounds and softens them. The end
result is a softer T-rex with teeth that more
reliably show up in the physical object you build.
33 | P a g e
Assembly Steps
To view an animation of how to assemble your model, click . Along the bottom of the
screen, select a material.
Drag the slider left and right or use and . Use the animation as the assembly
instructions when building your model.
To view an Assembly Reference sheet, click one in the panel to the right.
Print
Click the Print button to send the sheets to a system laser cutter or printer. You may preview
how the sheets look for the chosen printer or laser cutter.
Print Dialog
35 | P a g e
Save
Save to my computer
To save your work to Fusion Team select ‘Save to My Computer’ from the app menu.
To send an STL or OBJ file of the sliced mesh model (not the pre-sliced original), use Export
Mesh in the Appmenu.
2. Provide a name and then save the file under the Project/Folder that you want to save.
Remember that you need to provide the file name in English, otherwise the application
may not work properly.
3. We have a versioning system in place for the files. So if by chance, you overwrite a file,
you can still retrieve the previous version, on Fusion team.
36 | P a g e
Export
Export to My Computer
To export your 2D plans, click , select one of the following file types, then click Export to my
computer to save the file to your hard drive.
1. EPS Choosing EPS will create a zip folder with separate files for each sheet.
2. PDF Is a good choice for people who don’t possess an application that reads EPS
files. Choosing PDF will create a single PDF file containing everything on separate
pages.
3. DXF and EPS have the advantage of separating text on one layer and profiles on
another. This separation can be quite useful when laser cutting.
Use these files to print the slices you need for assembling your 3D model.
Remember, that your plans are always exported in a new folder each time. And you need to
name that folder. For eg: if you select EPS, create a folder by an appropriate name and all the
eps files would be saved in this new folder.
In case, if you want to delete a folder, you need to go to Fusion Team website and delete from
there. Folders cannot be deleted from Slicer for Fusion 360.
37 | P a g e
DXF files can be opened in Fusion 360. At present, though, we cannot directly open the DXF file,
which has been exported to Fusion Team from Slicer for Fusion 360. There is a work around
that can be used in that case.
3. Now open Fusion 360. Right click on the thumbnail in Fusion Data Panel and click on
‘Open as Fusion Design’.
38 | P a g e
Troubleshooting with Model Issues
If there are errors with your model, use the Model Issues tab info to see what they are and how
to fix them.
Error Explanation
This section displays explanations of the errors found in the
preview selected in Slices with Errors.
39 | P a g e
Troubleshooting with Cut Layout
In the Cut Layout tab, see a preview of your model output. Use it to troubleshoot, so that in the
end, your output is error free. No errors means, you’ll be able to assemble your model.
2 Cut Sheet: This shows the printed sheets with the slices
and parts spread across them. You cannot directly
change where your model’s parts are placed. Click a
sheet to see a magnified view of it.
3 Labels: The hyphenated combos, such as Z-6-2, indicate
the axis of the piece (Z), slice number (6), and part
number (2 - if a slice has multiple pieces). The elements
on a sheet are not in any order. Parts are automatically
fitted to use as much of the sheet as possible.
4 Colored Outlines: Blue outlines are the model’s outside
edge. Green outlines are cuts made inside of your model
to make hollow areas. Yellow outlines are the scored
guides for placing the next piece during assembly.
5 Errors: Red parts have an error making your model
difficult or impossible to build.
40 | P a g e
Perforate: (Only available for folded panel projects.) It provides ticks to indicate fold lines.
However, at first, the perforations may look like holes.
To see the fold lines, in Manufacturing Settings, tap . In the toolbar along the bottom,
decrease Thickness to a value around 0.005.
Thickness = 0.005
41 | P a g e
Troubleshooting Print Errors
Any sliced part in your model that are red have errors and can’t be
assembled.
Parts that are blue are detached from the model and will fall off.
General Tips
• Resize your model slightly.
• Change the angle you slice your model at.
• Shrink your model to fit the material.
• Change your material to a larger sheet size (this may affect cost).
• Reposition the highlighted slice that is causing the error.
• Remove the highlighted slice that is causing the error.
42 | P a g e
Part too small Part of the model is so tiny it will be difficult to cut out or
assemble.
Notches split part Part of the model was cut off from the main section by a
slice.
Part too narrow Part of the model is too thin and may break when printed.
You may choose to print with this error, at your own risk.
Stronger materials like plastic probably wont break.
• Use Thicken.
43 | P a g e
Parts too large for sheet Parts of the model do not fit within the boundaries
of the sheet.
Notch intersects hole A hollow area of your model has had a notch cut
into it. The notch is not required for assembly.
44 | P a g e
Joinery didn't fit For Puzzle joint types, the edge length is too small
and it fails because it can’t create a puzzle joint.
Border self-intersections For Gear joint types, the adjacent gear tooth
intersect with one another.
Hole intersects For Rivet joint types, the boundary is cut by the
holes, due to them being too close to the sheet
edge and their radius being too large.
45 | P a g e
Reinstalling Slicer add-in in Fusion 360
For Mac
If, for some reason, you remove the add-in from Fusion 360 and you want to add it again,
then you first need to ‘delete’ a file which resides in this path. /Users/<’Your
Account’>/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/<’Your
A360AccountID’> . Then try re-installing it again.
For Win
If, for some reason, you remove the add-in from Fusion 360 and you want to add it again,
then you open add-ins options and click on + in add ins tab. Now follow the path
C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\SlicerforFusion360.bundle\Contents\Slicer
for Fusion 360.py and double click on the file. It should get added under ‘Make’ option.
46 | P a g e
Unable to access Fusion Cloud from Slicer
If you create a new account in Slicer, then you need to take an additional step of registering on
A360 hubs. Until you register to hubs, you won’t be able to open/save/export any files to A360
(cloud) from Slicer application.
2. Now if you try to open/save/export something from/to Fusion Team, you won’t be able
to access it. You will get a message mentioning the same.
6. Check the verification mail in your inbox. And click on ‘Verify’ to verify your account.
7. You will be directed to A360 website and would be able to access the hubs now.
47 | P a g e
8. Now, in Slicer, sign in again.
9. You will be able to access the cloud now, if you try to open, using ‘Open from Fusion
Team’.
If you are a Tinkercad user or 123D user, you would still need to register to hubs on A360. You
can follow the above steps to do the same.
If you have an existing account in Fusion 360, you will have registered to on A360 hubs
automatically, so you won’t face any problem.
48 | P a g e