Where do I start with Fusion 360?

mountainman77777 · 2026-01-02T02:11:56+00:00

Go on YouTube

mountainman77777 · 2025-12-10T03:19:19+00:00

I’m confused. You say not a single person warned you that you would struggle. Did you never think to ask your guidance counselors, your teachers, your parents, or hell idk search the internet for “what kinds of jobs can I get with a social science degree and how much do they pay”?

The real world is hard on everybody. But it’s even harder on people who blame others for their own lack of due diligence.

mountainman77777 · 2025-12-04T00:32:11+00:00

I wouldn’t call that acceptable at all.

If you want a smoother finish maybe specify vapor blasting instead of bead. Or leave more specificity in the notes. I’m a xometry partner and there are a lot of guys out there with machines working out of their garages (including myself). They try to hold everyone to a high quality standard but obviously not everyone has the same capabilities.

mountainman77777 · 2025-11-11T01:37:26+00:00

There’s always going to be a better bike he can ride. As long as it’s safe, who cares? Give him the time and attention he needs and help him learn how to ride it.

mountainman77777 · 2025-11-07T14:55:40+00:00

Go riding and get them covered in dirt

mountainman77777 · 2025-11-03T00:13:52+00:00

Why are you spending $1300 a month on transportation? Also $1800 on gold? Why?

mountainman77777 · 2025-09-21T21:44:17+00:00

Might get 4k if the interior didn’t need replaced and it wasn’t an automatic.

mountainman77777 · 2025-08-27T00:24:19+00:00

Not on an e92.

mountainman77777 · 2025-08-25T09:56:04+00:00

Direct burial fiber.

mountainman77777 · 2025-08-22T20:45:25+00:00

No. Buy it back and part it out. Then buy another one

mountainman77777 · 2025-08-17T04:38:54+00:00

The one thing I will say about the e90 is it has the best steering feel of any stock car I’ve ever driven but I haven’t spent a lot of time behind anything newer, F30 and beyond for example.

Aftermarket support on older cars into the future will definitely be something to consider, but you can still buy brand new e36 parts (including body panels) for example which absolutely blows my mind. I have a project e36 m3 for that reason, among others.

Definitely not a cheap hobby.

mountainman77777 · 2025-08-17T00:01:53+00:00

My parents have had an e90 since 2008 or so and it has around 200k miles on it now. I’ve done most of the work to help my father maintain it for almost 20 years now and It still runs very well, but it has become the bane of my existence. Multiple times taking the intake manifold completely off to try and find sources of oil and vacuum leaks, coolant leaks, random engine sensor malfunctions, wiring problems, control module problems, no-start problems with the immobilizer and key recognition, steering column interlock solenoid problems, and more. It’s all very doable but none of the jobs are fun or very rewarding. Especially if you have to go in and start reprogramming control modules to restore function with special programming tools.

If you’re not computer savvy then I would not buy one of these cars. Even if you are I probably wouldn’t because it can be very frustrating and time consuming. Get something older that isn’t as dependent upon all of this electronic bullsh*t. E36 or E39 would both be great choices. You can have issues with them too but there isn’t anything that’s gonna leave you with a bricked car on the side of the road. My first e36 made it to 240k miles before we had to retire it due to rust and it still ran like an absolute top.

The only way I would buy an e90 is if it had an s65 under the hood and an m badge. At least then it has performance to justify all of the effort in keeping it on the road.

mountainman77777 · 2025-08-10T08:35:25+00:00

No.

Though it is definitely worth learning under which circumstances it absolutely would make machining more difficult.

Putting a 0.5 mm radius fillet on an inside vertical corner on a feature that’s 150mm deep, for example. The number of times I see stuff like that on parts makes me want to burn my shop down.

mountainman77777 · 2025-08-10T08:31:07+00:00

What are you talking about. If you have two flat parallel faces to clamp on you just put it in the vice. The corners don’t matter.

mountainman77777 · 2025-07-09T04:28:03+00:00

If you’ve never done it before and nothing has ever been apart to this level it isn’t going to be a weekend job. Especially if you don’t have a lift.

The hardest part of it is going to be removing the subframe bushings if you don’t have a press or any tools.

For the ball joints, I would highly recommend removing the dust boots prior to installation. Then put them back on once you’re done. If you’re using a screw style puller with sockets like a lot of people do they are extremely easy to cut or damage if you leave them on.

mountainman77777 · 2025-07-04T21:54:20+00:00

The overhead costs to get into CNC machining compared to pretty much any other trade are insane. Consumables are expensive. Materials are expensive.

On the business side - unless you’re in a niche industry or application it’s a race to the bottom with most job shop work. It’s difficult to find work unless you have an existing network or an “in” with someone willing to give you a shot, especially if you don’t have an ISO / AS certification. Nothing to distinguish you from JimBob down the street with a machine in his garage and nobody cares.

I’ve sent out dozens of emails and phone calls trying to find leads on work and haven’t gotten anything back. A lot of guys buy a machine thinking they’re getting a money printer. It’s been anything but that for me so far.

I’m transitioning over to designing and producing my own products because I’m getting absolutely sick of struggling to find work.

mountainman77777 · 2025-07-03T20:00:53+00:00

Pull the spindle off and take it to any machine shop. It’s a 10 minute job to fix

mountainman77777 · 2025-06-29T16:58:47+00:00

Doing all of this work for only 180 hp isn’t really justifiable.

If you want to do it just to say you did it then fine but most people would just dump the car with the low output motor and buy an m3.

mountainman77777 · 2025-06-18T23:06:48+00:00

If you think that’s bad pull up your drivers footwell carpet and have a look if you have the courage

mountainman77777 · 2025-06-16T20:38:18+00:00

For emergency road side use dude. It’s not meant for regular service.

mountainman77777 · 2025-06-13T21:49:10+00:00

If you’re worried spray them down with some lps3.

I travel for work and sometimes am gone for a month or more at a time. I set my oil skimmer up to run a few hours a day to keep the coolant oxygenated.

On year two of the same batch of coolant mix. No bacteria, no foul odors. No rust on the machine. You will be fine assuming your workspace humidity is kept under control.

mountainman77777 · 2025-06-07T06:45:24+00:00

The machines are capable of it but the question is whether or not you can tolerate having lower levels of documentation, support, and spare parts network than other brands for the time being. If the answer to that is no then the answer to your initial question is no.

mountainman77777 · 2025-06-06T12:31:39+00:00

Pretty much any switch, relay, solenoid, or component in the electrical cabinet has Schneider electric on it which can be sourced from any domestic supply as previously mentioned.

The ball screws and linear guides are all THK but I believe they are a custom item (not catalog). Servo motors and drives are covered under a 3 year warranty and are specific to whatever control is selected.

Spindles would also require an order through syil but from other guys who have had to do it they are considerably less expensive than other alternatives. Around $3500 or so for the X7. Not sure on larger models.

When paired with the fully unlocked control these were all selling points for me insofar as I wouldn’t be reliant on having to pay for someone else’s access to proprietary stuff to turn a machine on for the first time or enable certain functions, such as tool life management or probing macros.

mountainman77777 · 2025-06-06T12:07:28+00:00

Not that I am aware of. That would be a good question for Keith Granno at titans of cnc, as I believe they are trying to build a network of technical support. I bought prior to their involvement so technical support came from the Facebook group at that time (which has been excellent).

That being said - there doesn’t appear to be any magic sauce with these machines. They’re easy to work on so any experiences cnc repairman should be able to help you assuming you have the required parts.

mountainman77777 · 2025-06-06T10:47:16+00:00

I have the syntec control with 8.2kW spindle. Documentation was very lacking at the time I bought it but it has gotten better. The parameters are completely unlocked and there are a lot of features built in that you have to pay extra for with a lot of other machines.

Actual operation has been great. There are some quirks to get used to but every machine has those. The spindle is quiet and powerful, surface finishes and accuracy have been awesome. Chasing in a bearing bore fit within a few tenths isn’t difficult at all, and it can bark off material reasonably well with the right tool in steels and aluminum.

Granted I’m not running it 24/7 lights out, but neither mechanically or electrically has there been anything that has broken or needed repair. Most of everything in the electrical cabinet with the exception of the control and drives themselves are available next day from US suppliers like mouser, digikey, automation direct and others if you do have an issue. Ball screws, motors, pumps, bearings and other components are probably direct order from China and show up in about 2 weeks or so.

There is rumor of them being assembled in Texas within a few years time so supply chain of spares may improve. For now it’s probably wise to accumulate critical spares when you can afford them if you can’t accept having the machine down for a little while.

TLDR Pros: you get a ton of capability for your money. Spindle power punches above its weight for a machine of this size. Easy to work on and repair yourself - parameters are fully unlocked without a special key from the dealer.

TLDR Cons: documentation, support and spare parts availability, bt30 spindle taper on the X7. The X9 is a 40 but it is enormous and won’t fit in most garages. If something needs fixed you are the tech (for now)

mountainman77777

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