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Question for Dolphin CAD/CAM users
« on: March 24, 2013, 11:03:03 AM »
Just got Partmaster v10 lathe (Thanks Hood!) and for the life of me can't get my TurboCAD .dxf's to load into DCAM consistently.  It worked a time or 2 but now I get a page with tiny little gibberish at what looks like random spots.  If I zoom in on one I get a part of the drawing with "Light_6" and "Light_4" next to it.  That sounds like 3D stuff but it was drawn in 2D.  I've tried all 3 available .dxf file save options (R2000, R14 & R12) in TCAD with same results.  Sound familiar to anyone?
Milton from Tennessee ya'll.
Re: Question for Dolphin CAD/CAM users
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2013, 11:33:33 AM »
Hi DICKEYBIRD,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7BGajAQwJc

hope that helps.

Alex


Re: Question for Dolphin CAD/CAM users
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2013, 01:55:05 PM »
Thanks Alex, That helped but now I'm getting the "Class not registered" & other errors that turn up ad nauseum in web searches.  I'm sure there's some some basic thing I'm not getting my head around; I never have been good at learning new software.  I'll get it working eventually.

I've wasted far too much of my day off putzing around and am heading out to the shop to make some chips. 
Milton from Tennessee ya'll.

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Re: Question for Dolphin CAD/CAM users
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2013, 02:09:14 PM »
I always just used very simple dxf's to import into DolphinCAD. You can use there own CAD programme to produce them but for me its very clucky so I produce them in one of the other CAD systems I have. What I do is save my dxf then open dolphinCAD then go to file menu then import then drawing then browse to where I saved the dxf. It should then open without too many issues, especially if its a very simple drawing which for Turn is all you need, an example of one is in the screenshot below. I have also attached a screenshot of what the part it (stainless end of these probe housings)
Hood
Re: Question for Dolphin CAD/CAM users
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2013, 02:18:20 PM »
Thanks hood, it's definitely a simple drawing and that's exactly how I'm doing it but there's some little kink I'm missing somewhere.  I'll find it when I get some more time.
Milton from Tennessee ya'll.

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Re: Question for Dolphin CAD/CAM users
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2013, 02:22:31 PM »
If you want to attach your dxf I will see if I can open it and if not maybe find the issue.
Hood
Re: Question for Dolphin CAD/CAM users
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2013, 02:44:39 PM »
OK thanks, will do later.  Gotta cut some metal and then go for my old folks' walk with SWMBO. ::)
Milton from Tennessee ya'll.
Re: Question for Dolphin CAD/CAM users
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2013, 03:22:17 PM »
OK, had a thrash with it during lunch at work and I seem to have gotten over that little hump.  I'm not certain but it looks like the hangup was the fact that I hadn't drawn a closed object or that there was something wrong with the quarter elliptical curve I had drawn.  Anyhoo, my new .dxf test files now go straight into DCAM and display correctly...as long as I remember to open DCAD & leave it running in the background first.

Now onwards to defining tools and climbing the other little humps needed before getting into the more mountainous terrain of Mach3 post processing. ;D
Milton from Tennessee ya'll.
Re: Question for Dolphin CAD/CAM users
« Reply #8 on: March 26, 2013, 11:18:36 AM »
Just to set the record straight in case somebody else finds this thread later, the problem was actually cured by ticking the "Import Available Geometry" box during the file import process in DCAM.  Duhhh. ::)

I'm still getting these 2 errors during the import process but after clicking the OK button on each a couple times the file opens and looks great.  Robert is (at least partially) my father's brother.



Milton from Tennessee ya'll.