Hi All,
Just on the side trying to learn something about those "entities" which may apply to the turn part of lazcam.
So nothing to add in here, but, may ask a question while you guys are active. Hope you don't mind.
 RICH

 

No 8 isn't a problem. It's just a curosity why it needs to create them. If I use Autocad to create an offset in the origial dxf file it still imports into LazyCam as only 4 arcs.
 The extra entities are very small but I've had other files with them in and they create a very small pause and leave a small mark on the part. Luckily in this case they don't (not sure why) but it's a good thing because I don't really want bumps in the cam.

Sage

Sage

some of us started working with lcam from the first ver until now.it has always been a beta program.there is no instruction manual that has any real value.but for the price it has power.
after some user time it will get smoother for you.lcam is just a raw tool.you will also find that how you use your cad will change.

EXTRA ENTITIES: this is a cad thing.lcam sees the junction point that your cad created.if you did the same drawing longhand with g-code,the junction points would be perfect,and lcam
will act accordingly.when you do a offset lcam adds a entity to go around that trashy junction.the next drawing you do ,try a greater scale say 4 to 1, then scale to size with lcam.small arcs
generated with a cad can sometimes be trouble with lcam.

bill

Sage

i forgot to add this.when a tool goes around a junction point doing a outside offset it has to hold the cutting edge to that point.the center of the tool has to have it's own arc path to
do this.lcam will add a entity for this.

bill

SAGE

i looked deeper at your drawing .i zoomed in on the junction points without using clean and optimize first.when lcam joins these points you will be left with bumps in the road.you have to figure out
if the cad is doing this or you are.

bill

It's interesting that the disconnects show up in lazyCam because they are not showing in AutoCad. I am aware of this problem and corrected some disconnects using the extend line and trim line functions in autocad and they look clean. At least for all reasonable zooms in Autocad. So perhaps there is something amis in the mathematics of the DXF conversion that LazyCam has a difference of opinion on. Apparently this is an issue else LazyCam wouldn't have the conection resolution variable.

 Presumably clean and optimize are supposed to remove these problems from the file and it appears to do so, evidenced by the fact that after cleaning it is translated properly as 4 arcs for the whole cam. It's only when you offset it with lazyCam that the extra entities (presumably due to disconnects) show up again. As mentioned - if I do the offset in AutoCad before sending it to  LazyCam it imports into LazyCam properly as 4 arcs.
BTW after offsetting and moving the rapid point, I've seen extra entities added right in the middle of what was a perfectly good arc. So something isn't right.

Still. I agree with you. It is a powerful tool that I can't do without. It's all a matter of understanding the limitations and all of the work arounds and this thread will help in that regard. At least LazyCam generates the geometry - something my math limited brain appreciates. The rest of the code can be cleaned up and optimized by hand.

Sage

Rich:

I see you patiently waiting.

You had a question


Sage

Sage,
Not yet, just continue hacking away your doing great and educating me.
RICH

So something isn't right.

I could not have said it any better - 

Dave