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Setup and use plasma centre punch

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:42 pm
by regpye
I am fairly new to sheetcam and I have been trying to find out how to setup and use drilling or centre punch operations.
Couldn't find much doing searches, so I am asking here if someone can give me guidelines please.
I don't know how to setup a centre punch tool, my machine is a low amperage unit but cuts nicely, I am only using it to cut 3mm MS plate, but I need to drill some holes that require tapping, so a twist drill would be needed. The plasma should be able to mark where the holes should go.

Thanks

Re: Setup and use plasma centre punch

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 4:17 pm
by robertspark

Re: Setup and use plasma centre punch

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 12:38 am
by regpye
Thanks Rob, that explains it all very nicely.
Will play a few times to let it sink in and give it a go, looks like it should be simple enough.
8)

Re: Setup and use plasma centre punch

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 2:56 am
by regpye
Looked simple enough, but when trying it out I came to a problem.
I thought I followed everything as shown in the video, but when testing it out found that "no holes were found" message came up "check min holes size and max hole size"
Maybe I have done something wrong somewhere?
The drawing I have a pair of holes that are about 8mm in diameter and they show as a yellow circle with a blue cross in the centre when viewed in sheetcam. I have selected these holes and placed them on their own layer for centre punching. I have made the centre punch tool and when I have gone through the operation a warning triangle appears with the above message showing.
The only difference I noticed from the video was that the yellow circles were not showing in the video, just blue crosses.
What have I missed?

Re: Setup and use plasma centre punch

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 3:42 pm
by WyoGreen
Check your minimum and maximum hole size in your drilling operation dialog box. The hole you are trying to mark the center of needs to be sized between those 2 dimensions.

Re: Setup and use plasma centre punch

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:23 pm
by regpye
WyoGreen wrote: Sat Feb 15, 2020 3:42 pm Check your minimum and maximum hole size in your drilling operation dialog box. The hole you are trying to mark the center of needs to be sized between those 2 dimensions.
That worked, thanks.
The holes are 8mm, so I made the max holes size as 9mm and then it worked fine.