QCad CAM

BigJohnT wrote:

The center of the tool is the cut path, if you want the cut path to be the part size then you must move the cutter over by the radius of the tool.

Howdy - Yea, I realized that when I was trying to figure out what to SCALE the unit by.

BigJohnT wrote:

Let me know how scaling your drawing out works for you. I don't think I'll ever try that, I'll stick to what works for me. Also note that scaling a square drawing produces a larger square, but the ideal tool path is a radius around the sharp corner not move to the end then change directions. Also a radius around a corner will allow higher speed at direction change for most router type machines.

JT

Will do! I've scaled it, and in reading this, an idea came to me; I will also draw a bracket out, accounting for the offset of the bit, and see if the dimensions match up.

And finally....
Your comment of "Also note that scaling a square drawing produces a larger square, but the ideal tool path is a radius around the sharp corner not move to the end then change directions." I do not understand.
"radius around the sharp corner" ?? It is my understanding that when dealing with sharp corners (90/45/30, right?) the router travels to [point] then changes direction.

Thanx -

Sterling
Grab a book and a dinner plate. Roll the plate around a corner of the book and see the path the center of the plate follows.

Roll around sharp corners.

I spent over two hours trying to adjust size to the proper specifications. I tried the "rescale" method, I tried to add the width via the "2nd layer"...failure after failure.
So - I decided I needed to clear my head and start from scratch. So, I put the measurements in an excel spread sheet, and added the tool width and drew the bracket in QCad.
In doing so, I discovered what had thwarted me earlier...I had misplaced my decimal point. (hee-hee...oops!)

Once that was done, I moved on as, each brackets need two holes drilled in them, which I was able to program in using QCad, however....the drilling takes place AFTER the cutting. As you all know, this is not a good thing to have, as the bracket becomes free once it is cut out.

To make a long story short; I managed a work-around by cutting and pasting code. However, I see this becoming an issue later on so I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered this?
Is there a way I can have QCAD perform drilling first?

Thanx~!


Check that! = I think I found the answer...that nice little radio box that is asking if I want to cut 'inside paths' first!

Depth...Anybody know how to make the depth work?
Obviously, when cutting through a .75" piece of wood, I want to take it in several passes.
- I've tried making separate layers, and modifying the configuration, but it only cuts on one level.
- I've tried the 'Dimension' function, but it still only cuts at one level.

It seems the only way to do this is to cut-n-paste the code in the *.ngc file and manually modify the Z axis...

Thanx -

I had no idea what you were referring to so I did a search, and found this -->
www.cnccookbook.com/CCCNCGCodeIFGOTOWHEN.htm

I understand the gist of it (having dome some small BASIC programming as a lad). But not the full deal.
However, I've got more items to cut out to do for the same project, and once I figure out the measurements and the programming done and tested for them, I will try the looping procedure.

Thanx for the tip!

Groovy, thanx!
..I've just drawn out the side panels for the project and next I will try your method with the "2nd Layer" and add the 3.175" of the router bit.

Once that is complete, I'll reference your link. Thanx~!

>>> Sterl

On a semi-related note, does QCAD have an option that would allow you to drill a series of holes (points) in an arc?

I have approx 84 holes I need to drill in a 240 degree (possibly 270 degree) arc. Evenly spaced out, where center to center of each point is .25".