So after spending many, many months creating a 3D model of a poker table that I want to cut using my LR3, I find that the free hobby license version of Fusion won’t export the individual components in a format suitable to use in EstlCAM.
It will export STL files which I can import and convert in EstlCAM, but I want to nest two components on the same sheet, and so far I haven’t been able to figure out how to do that in EstlCAM. I had hoped to use DeepNest, but it requires a 2D drawing (SVG or DXF). Similarly teh “Update Drawing” function of EstlCAM requires a 2D drawing (will convert the first STL file to 2D, but won’t allow a second STL file to be added)
I’ve tried several different online file conversion websites, but their DXF output files just cause EstlCAM and Deepnest to freeze or crash. EstlCAM shows an error that the file contains a bitmap drawing rather than a vector drawing.
Does anyone have a tried and true method for converting 3D drawings into 2D vector drawings?
Alternatively, if a forum member with Fusion (full license) could help me out by importing my F3D or STL files (2 files) and then exporting them as DXF files I would be super appreciative. Please contact me by PM if this is something that you could do.
Free Fusion will export any sketch as a DXF. I do it all the time.
Solids get exported as meshes, which gets messy for drawings, since meshes cannot be curves.
What I’ve done for combining things is to put 2 objects into the same project and create a new sketch on the surface of one. The outline of that one gets put on automatically, then “trace” the other onto the sketch.
If you arw working from a mesh, free Fusion wont allow you to interpret curves well, but the “3 point arc” or circle.works well enough, but it looks like you’re working from a drawing, so should be good.
Hey, I totally feel your pain on this—I ran into the same wall when trying to export parts from Fusion’s hobby license for use in EstlCAM. It’s frustrating when you’ve put in so much time designing, only to get hung up on file formats.
Here are a few workarounds that helped me:
1. Use Fusion’s Sketch Mode (Even in Hobby Version):
If your 3D model is built from sketches (which it usually is), you can right-click on the face of a component, choose “Create Sketch”, and then export that sketch as a DXF directly—even in the free version. That’s what I ended up doing to get usable DXFs for EstlCAM and DeepNest.
2. Free CAD tools like FreeCAD:
If you have STL files, you can import them into FreeCAD, convert them to a solid, and then create 2D projections from the faces you want. From there, export as DXF. It’s a bit of a learning curve, but it works.
3. Fusion CAM workaround:
If you create a 2D contour toolpath in Fusion and post-process it using the generic GRBL post-processor, you can sometimes extract usable G-code directly for EstlCAM, skipping the nesting—but that doesn’t help with placing multiple parts on one sheet.
Thanks for the suggestion. I did use sketches to create some base parts of the model, but I had to use bodies to create most of the objects (holes through multiple layers, super-elliptical curves, mirrored holes created from a single hole at a variable point along a curve line, etc). For some of the simple components I was able to use the Sketch - Export as DXF function, but not for the larger more complex objects
LOL, I started with FreeCAD (v0.x), but gave up after a year and learned Fusion instead. I found the learning curve to be way harder with FreecAD than with Fusion. If I needed a last resort, I would try that, but…
This idea gave me a bit of inspiration. Instead of tracing a new sketch, I “Saved As” a different file name, then removed all components except the two that I want to have on the same sheet for cutting. Then I exported from Fusion as STL, and imported into EstlCAM as a single file. It looks pretty much how I need it to look.
I sometimes use the “Project” operation to create sketches based on Body objects’ profiles and features. Then, export the sketch as .DXF (am using Fusion 360 free). Then import .DXF into EstlCam. Are you familiar with Fusion 360’s Project feature?
There’s some great content out there, vaguely recall learning about ‘Project’ operation from the Product Design Online YouTube channel, no idea which video . A while back I tried to show how I sometimes ‘Project’ Body profiles to a sketch at 12:40 in https://youtu.be/zgrRdVjVnXc, at 10:10 I show how to project specific face triangles.
@charlenesays - Welcome to the Forum… Your answer sounds an awful lot like an AI generated response. I apologize if that is not the case, but perhaps you could let us know about your CNC and CAD experience, and that would help us to know that you are a real person.
There is a fantastic site called CAD Forum (www.cadforum.cz)
It is a free registration but it includes many many great CAD tools, including a converter from STL to DXF.
You will need to clean up the DXF generated in a CAD program. For example, circles are not really circles but are composed of line segments. In CAD, you can snap to any intersection in the DXF mesh.
I use it very often and have had great success.
You can see the CONVERTERS SECTION on the left side of the site’s menu
. A while back I tried to show how I sometimes ‘Project’ Body profiles to a sketch at 12:40 in 
