{"id":21946,"date":"2021-06-10T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/?p=21946"},"modified":"2025-12-10T23:08:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T07:08:20","slug":"conturo-prototyping-fusion-360-machining-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/conturo-prototyping-fusion-360-machining-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"Conturo Prototyping Gets the Job Done With the Fusion Manufacturing Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A look at how Conturo Prototyping unlocks a vast array of advanced tools for CNC machining with the Fusion Manufacturing Extension.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you think of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, you may recall its identity as a blue-collar steel town. But the days of traditional manufacturing are changing faster than you think, especially at Conturo Prototyping<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 2016 in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Conturo Prototyping began as a 1,000-square-foot shop. It has quickly grown to a 17,000-square-foot facility complete with ten multi-axis CNC mills<\/a> and three CNC lathes, primarily because of its agile manufacturing workflow and world-class engineering customer support.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe work with engineers who have very complex goals and make very advanced mechanical assemblies and components,\u201d says\u00a0Andy Lawniczak<\/a>,\u00a0Chief Operating Officer. \u201cBut they\u2019re used to the old-school ways of manufacturing and machining.\u00a0So,\u00a0when we get back to them within a day with\u00a0a\u00a0design for manufacture\u00a0analysis,\u00a0they say, \u2018Wow, that was fast!\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"conturo-prototyping-shop\"
Conturo prototyping specializes in short production runs that support OEMs during product development cycles, allowing them to bring products to market faster. Image courtesy of Conturo Prototyping.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A\u00a0key element\u00a0of the shop\u2019s success is Autodesk Fusion<\/a>, which allows the teams to simulate\u00a0and automate\u00a0many of the initial steps that used to be done manually. And in the digital world, each of these steps can be accomplished much more rapidly.\u00a0
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\u201cAs\u00a0soon as\u00a0the customer\u00a0comes\u00a0to us with\u00a0a\u00a0problem, we load it in Fusion,\u201d Lawniczak says.\u00a0\u201cRight away,\u00a0we can\u00a0start looking at geometries, measuring different aspects, making slight changes,\u00a0and\u00a0putting\u00a0it in our\u00a0machines\u00a0to\u00a0see how it\u00a0will\u00a0fit and how feasible\u00a0the job\u00a0is.\u00a0What’s really important about these advanced tools is we can be so much more agile than\u00a0we\u00a0used to be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"conturo-prototyping-fusion-360-machining-extension\"
Engineers use Fusion and\u00a0the Fusion Manufacturing Extension to operate their 3- and 5-axis CNC\u00a0machines. Image courtesy of\u00a0Conturo\u00a0Prototyping.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A traditional job shop with a few CNC programmers and\u00a0a large crew of\u00a0operators might be able to program a handful of parts\u00a0in\u00a0a week. Conturo Prototyping, on the other hand,\u00a0can program\u00a0that many\u00a0parts in a single day.\u00a0From Lawniczak\u2019s perspective, the versatility of Fusion contributes directly to the shop\u2019s ability to solve customer problems more rapidly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had a client on a very short timeline making robots, and they wanted to cast a lot of the parts, but making a casting mold is really expensive and really slow,\u201d he says. \u201cThey asked us if we could CNC the geometry so they could get to market sooner.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A typical prototype component produced using 5-axis machining. Image courtesy of Conturo Prototyping.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Conturo\u00a0Prototyping ended up programming the entire part in Fusion.\u00a0The\u00a0level of complex,\u00a0intricate geometry\u00a0meant it\u00a0would\u00a0have been almost impossible to\u00a0produce\u00a0using 3-axis machining. Instead, the\u00a0Conturo\u00a0engineering team decided to\u00a0purchase the Fusion Manufacturing Extension, which unlocked\u00a05-axis<\/a>\u00a0functionality\u00a0inside their existing Fusion software,\u00a0meaning they could quickly\u00a0produce the NC code<\/a> they needed to\u00a0run\u00a0their 5-axis mills.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were able to get the prototype back to our customer in a few weeks as opposed to six months or more from a casting vendor,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is how we end up solving so many client problems.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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