Hello,
I have completed my prototype of the $38 MCP and am happy with this and Mobiflight.
Now I am looking to move onto the "real" MCP. I have downloaded the free trial of Fusion 360.
In the meantime, I have bought the MCP fusion file from the shop. I can access this on the viewer and have successfully uploaded all of the files to a new project in Fusion360.
Now I am stuck, I can see the components, faceplate etc but this is as far as I can go.
So the 3 things I am looking to do :
How do I get the faceplate and backplates into a file that I could get somebody to CNC cut for me?
How do I separate items so they could be 3D printed - eg the VS wheel and housing / buttons?
If I wanted to 3D print the faceplate but then raise the lettering so it could be painted and use sandpaper to create backlit text?
Sorry if these are either stupid or difficult questions - I am trying to learn and play about but just can't get my head around it!
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Andy
Glad it helped. If you got any soldering tips (or anyone else) feel free to post. Definitely my downfall!
Woah! I am up and running.
I reloaded the MCP file into fusion as I seemed to have messed with it too much.
I followed your thinking and watched the videos and have been able to separate components and save to .stl files
Now I have to work out how to cut components : MCP faceplate and MCP backplate so they fit on the printer bed.
Or I need to find somewhere that will cnc produce those two parts.
Thanks once again for your help and the links. They have proved invaluable for the learning process.
Still working on my soldering technique especially with rotary encoders.
Thanks for your help with this. I am new to Fusion360 so it has been hurting my head!
Thank you for the link - II will investigate further.
In the meantime, I will follow your advice on hiding the components. I have now managed to select a part eg MCP backplate and it comes in 2 bodies. I seem to be able to select and save 1 or the other into a .stl file. For buttons, this doesn't seem to be an option. It's confusing and frustrating - I am sure I will get the hang of it.
The second part is how to make the .stl file fit the printer. Buttons all fine but the MCP faceplate and front plate are too large. The £38 MCP printed in 6 parts - 3 front and 3 rear panels.
I will keep reading and keep playing until I get there. Thanks for your support and guidance.
Cheers
Andy
I figured out how to make a large part an stl file for printing. (Select the part on the left, right click and select save as stl or on the top menu, under "file" click "3d Print") ...
So. I've been playing and searching and the first thing I learned is the little "eyes" on the left don't hide stuff, they turn them off. Second, I learned that searching through the list is important to find the part (and it's name) that you want to work with. Once you find the part(s), turn everything else off so you only see the parts you want. The problem I had was when I wanted to select multiple parts i.e., I wanted to separate out the buttons in the FMC file. I didn't want the base plate, top plate and electrical components, just the buttons. Basically, "turn off" everything you don't want with the little eye buttons and then right click on the title at the top of the list on the left, "save as stl."
There is likely an easier way to do this but it worked and I can manage to do it again. Separating parts depends on the construction and design and how it was created in fusion. I am still confused on components, parts, bodies, etc. and Fusion is complex. Help files and the Fusion website has been a good resource. Figuring out what to search for is the challenge. Good luck.
Andy H.
places I went to...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NkImG25syg
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-export-multiple-components-and-bodies-as-an-STL-from-Fusion-360.html
Hi Andy, I believe you have to convert the fusion piece to an file format that a cnc machine can read. I believe it is a G code format. Perhaps others more familiar with cnc machines could help.