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Convert a Fusion 360 tool library to FreeCAD (Beta)

Get FreeCAD CAM tool bits (.fctb) and a library (.fctl) from a Fusion 360 library, for FreeCAD 1.1 or 0.19 to 1.0.

Opens: Fusion .tools/.json/.csv, Vectric .vtdb, Carbide Create .csv, FreeCAD .fctl/.fctb, LinuxCNC/PathPilot tool.tbl, CSV, Excel
Saves: Fusion .tools/.json, Vectric .vtdb, Carbide Create .csv, FreeCAD 1.1 / 0.19–1.0, LinuxCNC tool.tbl, CSV, Excel

Convert

Tool library
Choose files… or drop them here
.tools, .json, .vtdb, .csv, .tsv, .txt, .tbl, .fctl, .fctb, .xlsx, .xls, .ods, .zip · up to 200 MB each, 500 files max
    Add more files

    A Fusion .tools/.json/.csv library, a Vectric .vtdb database, a Carbide Create tool .csv, FreeCAD .fctl plus its .fctb bits (or a .zip of the Tools folder), a LinuxCNC/PathPilot tool.tbl, or a CSV/Excel tool list. If you add several files, their tools are merged into one library.

    Options

    Keep each tool's own units where the target allows it, or convert everything. Tool tables always use one unit system: match your machine.

    More options

    Only used for files that do not record their units (LinuxCNC tool tables, bare spreadsheets).

    Your files are deleted after processing.

    FreeCAD's CAM workbench stores each cutter as a tool bit file (.fctb) and groups them in a library file (.fctl). It can't read Fusion 360 libraries, so this page writes the bits and the library for you from a Fusion .tools or .json file.

    How to convert a Fusion 360 library to FreeCAD

    1. Upload the Fusion library (.tools, .json, or a CSV exported from Fusion).
    2. Pick your FreeCAD version under Convert to: FreeCAD 1.1 is preset; choose FreeCAD 0.19 – 1.0 for older installations. The two use different bit formats.
    3. Download the ZIP and unzip it. It contains Tools/Library/Name.fctl and one .fctb per cutter in Tools/Bit.
    4. FreeCAD 1.1: use Import library in the CAM workbench's Tool Library editor and choose the .fctl. Keep the Bit folder beside the Library folder, since that is where FreeCAD looks for the bits. FreeCAD 0.19 – 1.0: copy the bits into your tool-bit folder and the .fctl into your library folder (both live in the ToolBit Library editor's working directory), then reopen the editor.

    Shapes

    End mills, ball and bull-nose mills, V-bits, chamfer mills, drills, slitting saws and thread mills map to FreeCAD's standard shapes. FreeCAD 1.1 adds tapered ball nose, tap, reamer, corner-radius and dovetail shapes. With the older format, a tapered ball nose becomes a ball end and taps and reamers become drills. Engravers and tapered flat mills use the V-bit shape. Every approximation is named in the notes.

    Feeds and speeds stay behind

    FreeCAD tool bits describe geometry only; spindle speed and feed rates belong to the tool controller you create when you add a tool to a CAM job. The Fusion presets are therefore not written into the bits, and the notes say so. Open the preview table, or convert the same library to Excel as well, to keep the vendor's values at hand while you set up tool controllers. Check them for your machine before cutting.

    Tool numbers

    A FreeCAD library needs a unique number per tool. Vendor libraries for Fusion often reuse numbers, so duplicates get the next free numbers and the notes list which tools changed.

    Laser heads, drag knives and entries without a diameter are left out. Each bit stays in inches or millimetres as in the source, or all switch to one system via Units of the output.

    More about what this tool reads and writes: CNC Tool Library Converter.

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