are there any places to download test designs for Mach that are under 500 lines?? I have my mill running the roadrunner program and it looks good so far  but it would be nice to have some test designs that will run complete. maybe some kind of pattern or something??

Hi Zero Cool,

I think that is a really good suggestion.
I will have a look through some of my stuff to see if I can find anything. Perhaps other members could do the same.

Tweakie.

Boy is 500 lines a small file when using a cam program on a messy drawing.

Here is one I cleaned up to make it under the 500 line limit.

A little something to make the Missus happy with all the time you spend in the shop
It is a nice heart drawing that can be cut with a 45 or 60 degree engraving bit.  You could also cut it with a small endmill just use a shallower depth of cut. I have cut the original file with a ball end mill in a scrap piece or pine and it came out nice.

What I find cool with something like this is that you can use the Mach3 scale function and cut these in different sizes without changing the file size.


DISCLAIMER.
I have not actually cut this file yet. I am not a machinist but I play one on the Internet. I would suggest cutting air a few times to be certain that it will run on your machine.

Mike

Thanks i will try the heart design. I wonder how many lines a Smiley face would take? one round circle, 2 smaller circles and a curved line??



 At the moment I am not ready to cut.  what i did was cut a stub of a pencil down and drilled out the back side of it and spring loaded it on a dremel bit. that way i can mount it in my machine in place of a cutting bit (with the spindle off). I tape a piece of paper to the mill table. and have it DRAW the design. it's pretty crude but it works well enough to see that the machine is actually moving the way it should and that it runs within the machines limits etc.

 

Oh yeah P.S. FYI for those that are wondering WHY 500 lines. the free/Demo version of mach will only run 500 lines. which is enough to get a machine working and try out the software etc.

Glad to help.

Lots of people test their machines with a pencil/sharpie to make sure it works before breaking, I mean machine something.

Mike

P.S. How about a pic of the final drawing???

yeah sure! I can take a video of it! In the meantime here is a vid of it cutting 500 lines of the roadrunner program:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f07RIgyjpIc

So you can see what he created.

COOL!

I wonder how many lines a Smiley face would take? one round circle, 2 smaller circles and a curved line??

Not manny if the code generates G2 or G3. Draw the profile using arc's in CAD. It will greatly reduce the number of lines in the code.
IE; Manny etch a sketch programs break the arc into line segments thus creating a lot of movements or lines of code.

RICH