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Author Topic: Choppy Letters from Illustrator  (Read 8974 times)

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Choppy Letters from Illustrator
« on: August 23, 2015, 03:09:47 PM »
Hello there,

Any help on this issue would be greatly apreciated,

I need to create a GCode to cut a letter G in my CNC, I create the outline of the letter in Illustrator with no problems, I export  it to a dxf file then open it in LazyCam and thats where the problem happens, some sections get cut off, lazy cam opens the file but some anchor points are not consider for the outline.
I have attached a picture  and the dxf file, hopefully someone can help me.

a way to resolve this problem is to reduce the amount of anchor points in Illustrator, but this creates  another problem, the arc rather than being perfectly round they are a conjuction of straight lines making the curve, and i looks awfull when i cut it.

so any help would be greatly apreciated.

thanks

Offline RICH

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Re: Choppy Letters from Illustrator
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2015, 09:33:52 AM »
LazyCam is a dxf importer and is not the best importer so it is what it is.
WYSIWYG......What You See Is What You Get. :D

I quickly drew the letter in CAD and saved as a version 12DXF and did not have the problem you are
showing.

You can copy, move and join entities such that one can do minor fix's. It's a PITA sometimes to do.
It's covered somewhat in the LazyCam Manual. LC should not be used as CAD.

BTW, you did not say if you are cutting on the line as drawn or doing an offset based
on a defined tool.

RICH
Re: Choppy Letters from Illustrator
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2015, 09:23:20 PM »
Hello Rich

thanks for replying back so quickly.

I was afraid that was going to be the case with LazyCam, at the end of the day it is a Beta version.

I did read the whole manual while my CNC was arriving, and i really dont want to mess up with LazyCam utilizing it as a CAD, it must be painfull.

now, what do you recomend i do?, what program did you use to create the 12DXF? is it possible that i will have better luck creating the dxf file with CorelDraw?

regarding your question i want to cut the offset outside, i am already pretty good at that i learned how and practiced on Saturday  ;)

Jesus

Offline Vogavt

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« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2015, 11:48:04 PM »
Look for a piece of software called "eMachine". It's available at their website. It allows you to draw in CAD and view in 3D. Pretty slick. Of course they want you to send your file to them to cut your part for you BUT it currently allows you to freely export the file in DXF. You don't have to use their services but you can get to a prototype status for a "proof of concept" and later if you want to mass produce your widget... well... they can certainly help you with that.

I've haven't used their services yet as I'm still prototyping at this point.

Should also say I'm not affiliated with them in any form or fashion.

Offline Vogavt

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« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2015, 11:56:09 PM »
There's several other free CAD software out there too. Google around. Some are demos but you can take them for a spin for free. I've been doing CAD for over 30 years...yeah.. since the late eighties.  A piece of advice from my experience... they all draw lines and circles, etc.   Pick one, learn it and stick with it. Your productivity will start to come once you've mastered the basics. Some have more buttons and whistles but bottom line is to get the concept down quickly and move on to the machine to get it cutting.

Offline RICH

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Re: Choppy Letters from Illustrator
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2015, 08:26:19 AM »
You may want to have a look at Cambam as it has basic CAD, produces good gcode , and is economically priced.

All the free stuff is usually lacking in some manner. You may also want to consider AutoCAD Light.
I agree with what Vogavt since you can spend a lot of time trying different CAD products, but,  like the CAM side,
what one likes another dislikes.

At one time there were probably 100 different CAD products being used by different industries. Over my many years I just stuck with
Microstation and AutoCAD. I find most other products cluncky and actually irritable to use, but, can also say the same about jumping from
one CAD program to a different one. So I personally don't even bother with  other ones. The higher end CAD programs
are not cheap......over time I probably spent $4000 on just AutoCAD upgrades. I must say that for 2D work  CAD versions from
1970 are just as good as compared to the latest ones .......must be able to draw lines, circles, arcs and all the other stuff just provides for efficiency.

So pick say 5 different ones, whatever one seems user friendly to you use it, but, make sure it can save as a version 12 dxf and is vector based.

You may also want to think about the future. IE; Will you want to do 3D work ( a different consideration)?

Have Fun,

RICH  
« Last Edit: August 25, 2015, 08:30:59 AM by RICH »
Re: Choppy Letters from Illustrator
« Reply #6 on: September 16, 2015, 05:15:21 PM »
appreciate the advice.

i do want to make 3D in the future, i already made some wooden gears for a customer, he wanted to put them on his desk, they look neat and are somehow functional.

i will try CamBam, can i make 3D Gcodes with it?

cheers
Re: Choppy Letters from Illustrator
« Reply #7 on: September 28, 2015, 08:52:52 PM »
Hello There

i have finally moved  from cutting letters, i am now cutting new things, like crosses and religious figures, logos etc.. unfortunately i have to download these from the internet and trace them in Illustrator, which is not too bad but what bothers me a lot is that with this type of designs CAMBAM takes too long to create  the toolpaths and generate the Gcodes, sometimes even hours.

Why is that? is there a way to reduce that amount of time, i remember Lazycam taking a while but not too long as CAMBAM, is there another software that might take shorter time?

thanks

Offline ger21

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Re: Choppy Letters from Illustrator
« Reply #8 on: September 28, 2015, 09:02:38 PM »
I don't use CamBam, but you must be doing something wrong if it takes more than a minute to create your 2D toolpaths. It should just take a few seconds at most.
You might want to ask on the CamBam forum.
Gerry

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Re: Choppy Letters from Illustrator
« Reply #9 on: September 28, 2015, 09:33:16 PM »
ok, thanks

let me try there,

the part i am  workin on right now has a lot of Anchor Points, i am thinking this might be the problem.