Sorry I am totally unable to get this to download where as all the others work. Any solutions welcome!
Thanks Jim

Don't worry, it is not just you. I can't  seem to view this video either. Some of the other videos are pretty good. Or if there is something I can help you do... just let me know. I've got LazyCAM pretty much figured out, but it is always good to learn something new.

Any way of getting the link repaired? I am having trouble working out how to set material thickness - it's mentioned in one of the other videos but it is for the earlier GUI. and I suspect that it is this video that covers it!
Thanks Jim

I noticed that the link was repaired, but it is still the old version of LazyCAM's graphical user interface.  May be I can help some too:

The way to set the material thickness is in the Layers tab at the bottom of the screen. If you click on that tab it will bring up a box. If you've set z=0 when you set up your CNC machine, then material thickness will just be the positive number of the "Cut Start" distance. The "Cut Depth" distance will be how far the cutter goes into the material. LazyCAM isn't like other CAM programs. There isn't a way to setup and show material dimensions. Sometimes I deal with lots of different thicknesses of material. I find in those cases, it is much easier to just set z=0 on the surface of the material using Mach3, and in that case cut depth becomes a negative number and I don't have to get out my calculator.

Next to the cut box is a box for tooling characteristics. If you tell LazyCAM your cutter will only go .02 into a material, but you need to cut .06, LazyCAM will generate three toolpath passes. It all works pretty well, but takes some getting used to.  I hope this helps.


Shane Sidebottom

I followed this, and it is working....  but each time it comes around to the starting point, where it made the initial plunge, it resets UP .010 and then does the slow creep back down (because I have the rates going slow) until it gets to the desired cut depth. Each lap we have to go through the reset. I have something wrong somewhere. 

thanks in advance

If it is reseting up 0.10 then I am wondering if you've got a positive number instead of a negative number in the "Cut Start" box.. If you've set the Z at zero at the height of the material being cut... then all cuts into the material will be negative numbers (like -0.10 for example). If you've already got it working like you like, but it is returning to the rapid height before plunging to make another pass, there are some ways to get rid of that too. I tend to minimize this time by setting the rapid height just 0.125" above the cutting surfaced. As another option, you could edit the G-code and remove the commands that make the cutter go up. I'd only do that if you have a program that works great and you want to productionize it because you are making many of the same piece or part.