CloudNC, the manufacturing technology company, today announces that its Soft Jaw Designer plug-in is now completely free for all users of Autodesk Fusion and Mastercam.

Soft jaws - custom aluminium or steel inserts used to grip delicate or complex parts so they can be machined - typically take machinists 30–60 minutes per set-up to model manually.

Soft Jaw Designer collapses that work into a few clicks: users position two blanks around the part model, select Generate, and seconds later receive complete soft jaw designs ready for machining.

Theo Saville, co-founder and CEO of CloudNC, said: “Fixture design shouldn’t keep a spindle idle. By making Soft Jaw Designer free, we’re putting instant, machinable fixturing in every programmer’s toolbox - accelerating their output and helping them focus on tasks that move the needle, while giving a small glimpse into how much time CloudNC technology can save machinists.”

Once installed, the plug-in transforms fixture creation. Instead of multiple sketches, booleans and clearance checks, programmers simply outline where the jaws should grip.

Soft Jaw Designer then creates the soft jaws - cutting negative geometry, adding precision allowances and drilling corner relief - all while keeping the model fully editable. In real-world testing, this reduces the time spent designing soft jaws by up to 90%.

Soft Jaw Designer pairs seamlessly with CloudNC’s CAM Assist. After generating the jaws, users can hand the model to CAM Assist, which automatically creates toolpaths for both jaws and part, pushing the assembly to the machine in minutes and further accelerating delivery.

The plug-in can be downloaded today from https://www.cloudnc.com/soft-jaw-designer. It is unrestricted and carries no time limit.