workflow when nesting

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jacala
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2013 6:18 pm

workflow when nesting

Post by jacala »

Hello!
I'm a fond user of sheetcam, first with a 130x130 cm machine, then a 260x130 machine and now a 12 tool atc 400x200 machine.

With the new machine we can process big slabs of wood.

I've got a project to cut 260 pieces (10 different shapes) out of 1 piece of oak.

I nest everything in sheetcam and then I change the cut order in the job options tab to my liking (well, to the liking of the vacuum bed). Selecting a part and placing it in the right order with manual optimization is quite tedious.

When I make an nest in autocad and import that I can very quickly select the workorder with the start points -> quick cut sequence. I can select the start point of the part and easily create a safe workflow to cut the entire slab.

Is it possible to nest in Sheetcam and still use the quick cut sequence? This would GREATLY improve my work speed.

Is this function not (yet ;) available or am i missing something?
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Les Newell
Site Admin
Posts: 3661
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 8:12 pm

Post by Les Newell »

I'm afraid that isn't currently available. Try this sort-of workaround. It is a bit messy but it may speed things up a bit. Load your first drawing and set up a no offset cut operation with zero cut depth for each drawing layer. Use a different tool for each layer. Now open the quick load plugin (Plugins->quick load). Turn off 'Show drawing options' and 'Load template'. Make sure 'Keep existing parts' is selected. Now use the browse button at the top to select your drawing folder and double click on each drawing to load it. The drawings will copy the operations from the first part.

Now nest your parts. Select the dxf post processor and run the post. Start a new job and load the dxf file you just saved. It will have your nesting in one drawing with the layers named after the tool number.

I know this workflow is ugly but you may be able to use some of these ideas to streamline your workflow.
jacala
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2013 6:18 pm

Post by jacala »

Hello Les!
Thanks for the fast replay (and sorry for my late replay).

See my question as a point of improvement then. Sheetcam is already great but this would improve the workflow for large nested sheets.
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