Fabrizio Cimo is the author of Making Your CAM Journey Easier with Fusion 360, we got the chance to sit down with him and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Fabrizio: Packt reached out to me after watching one of my YouTube videos on Fusion 360, I was surprised since I would otherwise never tried such a hard challenge.
Q: What is the name of your book?
Fabrizio: Making Your CAM Journey Easier with Fusion 360: Learn the basics of turning, milling, laser cutting, and 3D printing
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Fabrizio: I’m a mechanical designer in the laser cutting market, I’ve always been passionate about 3D printing and I could count on machining courses from the university. I realized it is now time to refresh on formulas and some tricky concepts and I was good to go!
Q: What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away with from the book?
Fabrizio: Understanding the pros and cons of every manufacturing technology is covered by this book and how to approach a new project having machining potential in mind.
Q: Can you share any blogs, websites and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?
Fabrizio: I think that for beginners in turning and milling, Haas YouTube channel is a great starting point, it has many useful videos on best practices here: https://www.youtube.com/@haasautomation
Q. Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Fabrizio: Since this is a book aimed at beginners, the hardest part was to explain something difficult in simple words without compromising the quality. I overcame this by creating many simple pictures to graphically explain most of the concepts.
Q. How would you describe your author journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Fabrizio: I really enjoyed the experience with Packt, the team always worked in a constructive and positive way.
Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Fabrizio: I don’t think there are many similar books that cover almost the entirety of the Fusion 360 manufacturing module. However, in my opinion, the best selling point of this book is not CAM commands (which are by the way very well introduced and explained), anyone can learn to program a CNC without much effort. The true value of this book is suggestions coming from years of experience in designing new components with the most common manufacturing technologies. Experience is what every beginner lacks.
Q. What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?
Fabrizio: I’m a mechanical designer focused on manufacturing machines. During these years have worked with several technologies: mold injection, lamination, and laser cutting.
Q. What advice would you give to readers jumping into this technology? Do you have any top tips?
Fabrizio: Take a look at objects and mechanical components around you. Try to analyze their shape and try to understand they have the shape they have and how you may improve it further.
Q. What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Fabrizio: In my opinion milling and turning, despite being fundamental in the years to come are not going to improve much more. On the other hand, laser cutting and 3D printing have plenty of room for improvements and wider use.
Q. Do you belong to any tech community groups?
Fabrizio: I have my own YouTube channel and a small community centered on 3D modeling: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSOGu7vi2LInq0FebUirB1A, however, be advised, most of the contents are in Italian!
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Fabrizio: I work far away from home, therefore I stay in hotels most of the week, therefore, after 5 pm I had plenty of time to get the job done.
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Fabrizio: I have none, I mostly rely on online sources.
Q: What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Fabrizio: Be patient and prefer quality over quantity
You can find Fabrizio’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
