Tool Table Brainstorm

Problems and questions
1

I need some help coming up with a better solution to my current tool table situation. We just got bit in the butt by a job because I do not have path rules set up to account for the corners and starts on our laser machine. The job on 1/2" stainless took about 2.5 times longer to cut than sheetcam predicted, not sheetcam’s fault, totally my fault.

The laser control interface handles all the corner controls, start controls, pierces, everything. I just need to make sheetcam mirror this so the report times will come out right. Each and every material and thickness we cut has 8 different power/feed settings as well as a pierce, a start, and two corner settings.

I currently have my tool table set up with a separate tool for every material and thickness. 50 tools right now. It currently only programs one of the 8 available power/feed conditions, but that hasn’t been a big issue. My issue is path rules… since every single material and thickness has different start and corner conditions so I would need 50 separate path rule sets as well. Which i guess would be okay if there isn’t another option, but it would be awesome if the path rule set could be linked to each tool.

I wish I could do something like select a tool, path rule sets be tied to this tool, and then select a sub-tool for any one of the 8 cutting speeds or etch. This would actually be helpful to our plasma machine as well. I would imagine this tool method would mess up the mill side of sheetcam though.

Does anyone have any other thoughts?

2

I don’t think I’m likely to add sub tools but linking path rule sets to tools is doable. You’d have a ‘path rules’ dropdown for the tool just like the operation one. SheetCam already merges the operation rule set with the default rule set so it wouldn’t be that much work to also merge in the tool’s rule set.

3

Yeah, i didnt expect sub-tools haha. The linked rule sets would be totally awesome if you can squeeze that in soon though it would be much appreciated. Thanks Les!

4

That latest dev has rules in tools.

5

Awesome Les! Thank you so much!! Can you give me a quick rundown of how to use/apply it? I’m not figuring it out on my own, i dont see any new boxes or anything.

6

Are you sure you are running 7.1.12? When you edit a tool the rules opton should be just under the tool number.

7

Okay, I see it now. I’m blind in one eye and cant see out of the other. So i create all of the individual rule sets and then they should be linked to the individual tools. I’ll give it a try in the morning. Thanks!

8

Hey Les, Could the overcut also be tied to the tools in the tool table like the leadin/leadout? I dont see a line in the tool table that is for overcut.

9

I’ll add it if anyone else asks for it. I added rules because a couple of others requested that as well.