New to the forum and hope someone can help me out. I’m using SC with a Tormach mill and am machining some rectangles out of 1/4" aluminum. What I would like to be able to do is cut one side of the rectangle first, move a clamp to that side, then machine the rest of the perimeter. I’m trying to get a better finish on the good piece by having the waste fall away.
I know that I could use tabs but would rather skip the tab “clean-up” if I could.
I thought that I read somewhere that you could seperate the segments slightly during the drawing phase and then SC would recognize them as 2 entities, but with Alibre PE, it won’t seem to let me create a DXF file with open segments.
John,
In my cad, I would put the entities on two separate layers and make
the cuts separate operations. Then manually edit the G-code file by
putting an M02 (optional Stop) in where your want it to stop so you
can move the clamp and then resume the operation. The other
alternative is to make two separate G-code files.
Art
AKA Country Bubba
At 05:12 PM 3/25/2011, you wrote:
Hello,
New to the forum and hope someone can help me out. I’m using SC with
a Tormach mill and am machining some rectangles out of 1/4"
aluminum. What I would like to be able to do is cut one side of the
rectangle first, move a clamp to that side, then machine the rest of
the perimeter. I’m trying to get a better finish on the good piece
by having the waste fall away.
I know that I could use tabs but would rather skip the tab
“clean-up” if I could.
I thought that I read somewhere that you could seperate the segments
slightly during the drawing phase and then SC would recognize them
as 2 entities, but with Alibre PE, it won’t seem to let me create a
DXF file with open segments.
If you get desperate you could create a large tab. Create a tab that covers the part of the outline that you don’t want to cut. If the tab height is greater than the rapid clearance plane then all moves in the tab are made as rapids.
I will be adding a function that allows you to specify both the start and the end of the cut but it will be a while before it will be ready.
Art, I think the optional stop may work for me. When the cutter will have completed its full-depth pass on the first side, I can put in the stop and then place a clamp.
Les, I’ll try the tab but would that mean to get the first side cut I would just manually write the code? Then have SC program the complete perimeter code with the big tab? I can’t have SC machine one segment of a closed drawing right??