Machsupport Forum
G-Code, CAD, and CAM => LazyCam (Beta) => Topic started by: advall on January 09, 2010, 03:48:04 AM
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I have searched the forum but tabbing references are quite old. What is current status of this function and is it bug free as it was supposed to be fixed up in 2007/8
I cannot get it to work with circles. Not tried other shapes as yet. Only the depth bit works but for the whole circle!!
Am i supposed to see a graphical representation of the tabs as i cannot see them?
This is a really useful function especially as I am cutting thin balsa.
:( :( Paul Hinson
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Doesnt work with rectangles either. Wamts to cut a diagonal path!!
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Seems to work OK here.
Create the toolpath first, highlight the path, then tab that path.
Let me know,
RC
Hold the mouse wheel down and pan in 3d view.
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Good thread,
Post more on it, since "How To Use Tabs" is not covered in the LC Manual. I only played with it briefly and lost the energy / interest to include it! Application of tabbing and listing know bugs would be appreciated.
Include a DXF in your posting if you can. You may be writing tutorial #8. ;)
RICH
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Hello overloaded.
Seems easy but i am still in a mess!! Here is the DFX i am using - made in progeCAM. I ask for 4 tabs for the square and end up with 4 tabs on one sde the middle 2 tabs being together. When i ask same tabbing for circle it transposes to a long line that i cannot resolve using the "hold down mouse wheel'
I must be doing something wrong but dont have a clue how one can mess up such a simple procedure! Must i set cutting depth first?
Your pics are just what i need and are brilliant! But how to duplicate?????
Am using version 3.00.2
Continuing to play now i know tabbing is possible.
Thanks for your assistance Paul Hinson
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Here is a screen shot following setting depth to 5mm for both layers and applying a 4 x 4 x 4 tab to both square and circle.
For some reason the depth of the circle could not be seen before tabbing in spite of data (5 mm cutting depth) send to both layers. I then resent data direct to circle but thickness not to be seen in 3D view!!!
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Here is another screen shot showing the 4 requested tabs of the rectangle showing as diagonal tabs!!
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Hi Paul,
Try saving your dwg as Autocad 2000 DXF (or R12), then bring it into LCam.
Select the profile,
select the tool, also select the tool under the layers tab and set the total depth,
create the offset,
delete the original profile,
HIGHLIGHT the new offset profile,
undre CHAINS tab, click TABS,
select 4 or 6,
click OK,
see what you get.
I dont think you can move the tabs around as you would like ... but not sure. If I dont like where they are, I just create a few more.
Good luck, let us know what you get.
Russ
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Russ
By now you reailse i am new to LC!
Silly question - How do i highlight the new offset profile having deleted the original when the original profile and offset icon have dissapeared.
Thanks Paul
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Paul,
I hope I'm not missleading you. I've been banging on LCam for a while...but am still a beginner too !
Just click on the new profile and it should turn red.
Then set ypur TAB info and hit OK.
This is what I get with your DXF...setting the thickness to 6, cut depth 2 and tab to 4x4.....4 of them, with a 5mm cutter.
Russ
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Hey Paul..I just noticed. If you have the tool path skewed in a isometric type view, you may not be able to select it to add the tabs.
Just double left click in the drawing field and the view will go back to normal (top view), then you can select the toolpath and add the tabs.
Russ
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G'day Russ
I am still getting nowhere fast but at least we can eliminate my DXF file which was incidentally saved as a AUTOCAD 2007 (ASCCI). So it must be me or the program. The tabbing on your last pic is good.
One mystery is your references to the NEW profile. You ask me to erase the original profile and highlight the new offset one. That is where either me or the program seems to fail. How can i highlight a profile that is no longer in view?
Also you refer to setting the thickness. Where do you do that? I can set the cut depth Ok and tool offsets are no problem
Could the problem be with my copy of LC? - V 3.00.2 or a bad download of that? Mine is not the PRO version.
Many thanks Paul
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This is the best help i can give ( since I never fooled with tabbing much).
Create a number of offsets, and then rename the offsets to tab1 , tab2 , tab3 etc.
Now unenable say all except Tab1 chain. Now do a tabbing to it, and keep a few notes on what happened.
Unenable tab1 and enable the next and do a different tabing. This way you will know the effects and can quickly
find out how the Tabbing behaves and see what the logic is.
FWIW,
RICH
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Russ
Yipee - I dont know what i was doing before but now I can get tabs working for the square. Several times in fact.
However the circle is not responding to same treatment!
Will play some more. Any ideas?
Paul
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Ok..you're getting there.
Here it is again step by step.
Your dxf is ok but here is a simple 6" circle. (yes, inch. I'm uncivilised)
I want to cut out this disc. 6" OD, 1/4" material.
Click on the circle,
On the left, select OFFSET/Outside, select 1/4" tool.
(I used a 1/4" tool, .100" depth of each cut so it takes 3 passes to a depth of .260")
Down below, LAYERS tab, select same tool and send to layer.
Now create the offset.
You will see the new path in green and the original dwg will still be red. You must delete the original (RED) or LCam will generate GCode to cut it.
Now pan with the held down mouse wheel and you will see the three offset paths generated to get through the material.
Double click left mouse, then select the tool path.
now go below to the CHAINS tab and set your TAB dimensions and how many...click OK.
Now pan the view with the mouse wheel and you will see the TABS applied.
Simple as ........a piece of cake.
Russ
Can you be more specific ?
Your cutter, offset in or out
Material thickness
Depth of cut per pass, or all the way through in 1 pass ?
We'll get r' done,
Russ
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Paul,
You may need to save as ACad R12 or 2000 for the arcs to work right in LCam. It's VERY picky about that.
Otherwise, it should work fine.
Good luck bud,
Russ
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Russ
Thanks for all yout time.
Now i see you are creating offsets in the offset function tab. My LC is not the pro version so that function is not available to me. That is the reason for the confusion as the only way i can create offsets in in the load function when the offset path is not shown - just the offset icon. Hence my questions about choosing an offset path that i cannot see!!!.
In the pleb version of LC if i apply tabs to a circle the path is deleted!
I can save in Autocad 2000 so i will try that and advise.
Was born imperial but now fully metric - no more 64ths!! Cutter is 1.3mm dia - single cut to up 5 mm thick.
Its begining to look the Pro version is required for tabbing circles and that is the reason for the confusion.
Cheers Paul
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Paul,
You can draw the offset in CAD along with the profile, assign each to their owne layer. LC will keep the layer names as chains on import. Unenable or delete the a chain you don't want to do anything to. Try tabbing and see if it works. Not sure if tabbing is an advanced feature of the pro version. ???
Russ,
Thanks for the step by step info. Povides a basis for a tutorial. ;)
RICH
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Hi Paul,
I keep forgetting to ask about the lic first.
I removed mine and cannot tab a circle.
Straight line shapes seem OK.
Didn't realise you were not offsetting.
I do like Rich, just draw the vector to allow for the offset.
Just select the vector, select the tool (in LAYERS tab below)
Set the finish depth.
Define the TABS.
DONE.
Rich,
This would be a very LOOSE basis for a tut. There's most likely a much better approach. This is just how I stumbled into making it work lol.
Russ
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Russ,
I would think of tabbing as the breaking line for bending something or maybe knife cutting marks in balsa
for breaking out shapes. On the other hand you could use it to get cuts on a third axis. I would need to look at the generated code. So what the user would need, based on the chosen settings of tabbing, is what to expect along
a line, shape, etc. and then apply that to whatever they may be trying to do. Of course you also can always do it a different way with just lines and assigning cut depths or offsets. Same old story, you have a tool to do something how do you want to apply it to the task. In that case it could be an automated way of doing something and no need to it in CAD.
This is the first post in a year that someone asked about it. I can probably sit here for 24 hours fooling with tabbing trying to find where it won't work or is flawed. Heck, only going to guess that 300 hours of my time went into the LC manual. So in that light, a "quick and dirty " basic tutorial on it's functionality would be easy and would leave the practical application to the user.
Think you said the magical word, namely "approach". It's a killer of a word, when you think about it. Since it implies how a user will utilize the software to do something and it's just not possible to anticipate. So "a way" is better than NONE even if it's not the best way. In fact that's the really hard struggle part in doing a manual / tutorial since you want a blend of here is how it works, here are the shortcomings, here is a tested approach, and then practical application at a low or advanced level.
So rather than rambling on and in consideration of the above, sometime in the future, I'll add a tutorial on tabbing use even if it's loose...........poet and don't know it.......... ;)
RICH
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That would be fine Rich. I guess any help is better than no help at all...eh ?
It works really well as it is but would like to figure out if they can be moved around to suit.
Looks like they are referenced to the start point....but that's it.
Still..as always, not bad for the price.
Russ
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would like to figure out if they can be moved around to suit
I don't know, Russ, would have to play around after the tabbing was created using other tools in LC.
You can't move a chain, not precisely since you need do it via a mouse move, the XY move dosn't work if i remember corrrectly. You can't move an entity.
So if you were to do partial chain moves, or selected deletions of a many tabbing entities which were created and join them, then they can moved around in a somewhat round about way .........easier to just draw the tabbing. Or if you wanted to have a tab start and end at some particular location, use lines on a seperate CAD layer move those created chains to the tabbed layer and join as you wish......again easier to just draw the tabbing.
Hmm........."LC IS NOT CAD PROGRAM" qouting myself !
RICH
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In the interim some interesting things have arisen.
After opening a DFX and invoking tool offsetting via the load option by hitting clean button then if the object can be selected ( turn red) then it can be tabbed,
It seems to apply to rectangles, squares, circles and straight lines.
However items inside another item cannot be selected directly. If one selects such interior items through chains the tabbing is accepted but no tabbing eventuates. At least the item is not deleted.
Selectiing items before offsetting may result in deletion (especially circles) which opps cannot retrieve.
i am happy about the location of tabs that LC generates and these does not seem an easy way to choose tab location.
I think the tab function in the non-registerd Pro version will do most of what i need.
Again my thanks for all your inputs to my original post.
Regards Paul Hinson
Here is a screenshot of tabbed shapes. (All tabs were 4/4/4 in mm) Note the interior circle is not tabbed. Also the generated gcode herewith.
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Looks like you are on a roll Paul....good job.
"Endeavour to Persevere" is the motto when working with LCam.
Regards,
Russ
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Forgot to mention - If you program two cuts then the first cut programs the tabs correctly. But the second cut is programmed at the deeper level without tabs so the "first cut tabs" will be cut out!
ie select material thickness/tool max depth to enable a single cut.
The is an observation from two different g code programs
Paul
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Paul,
Just post anything you find about tabbing even if no one repsonds.
I will have one place to look later on.Of course if you hit a stumbling block someone will respond.
Thanks,
RICH
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It seems that tool offset is not invoked function with tabbing function. ie finished width of tab is reduced by tool diameter.
Several tabbed files have worked out perfectly.