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lpcsales
03-13-2006, 06:00 PM
I need to cut a rectangle (region) ~.350 deep, 6 x 6 square, like a rectangle with a FILL. I don't want to use raster because of the time it would take. Instead I would like to walk a 3/8" or 1/2" straight cut bit around the inner dimensions of the rectangle to hog out the depression. This would be much faster. Is there any way this can be done? I can't locate anything in the software that would allow me to do this.

nicobie
03-13-2006, 06:34 PM
I'd be interested in this too.

Can we use this machine as a router for quick rabbits an dadoes?

cmorlier
03-14-2006, 10:29 AM
At this moment, there is not a single command which will do this. However, you can do it with the box and line drawing tools.

What I would suggest is to create a rectangle bounding the area that you want to remove. Don't forget to account for the bit size when sizing you box, as the box will be the centerline of the bit. Next draw a vertical line one bit diameter inside of the left edge of the rectangle. Set the orientation of the line to vertical and position the ends of the line one bit diameter from the top and bottom of the rectangle.

Now the hard work is done, the software makes the rest pretty easy. Just right click the line you created and select "Copy Offset". Select "Copy Horizontally", use one bit diameter for the spacing, and select enough copies to fill in your rectangle.

Finally, select the lines and rectangle and apply the desired bit and carving depth. Note that anywhere I mentioned one bit diameter above, you may wish to use something slightly smaller to ensure the passes overlap slightly.

Hopefully, this will get you what you want.

lpcsales
03-16-2006, 05:35 AM
Chris, I gave this a try last night and even though it worked it turned out be 'slower' than cutting it out using raster mode. The reason for this is that for each line being cut, the machine took 8 passes, each at a deeper cut. To make matters worse, when it reached the end of each pass, it would pull the router bit out of the work piece and move back to the start of the line to go again (why?)...instead of just plunging to the next level at each end of the line and going in the other direction. That little manuever alone probably made up for half of the time to finish the piece.

In raster mode it took 40 minutes to run the piece, doing it as you suggested took 56 minutes.

John
03-16-2006, 10:33 AM
Hi Chris, Rather than making individual lines, try try using the connected line drawing tool. If you are using a 1/2 bit set the grid to .45, use the sanp to grid and just weave it back and forth. After that I would turn the snap off and drag your original outlined square so it is centered around the weave pattern. Then select the box and weave pattern together and move them to the postion on the board you want. Should look lomething like this.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c348/johnluard/cwsquare.jpg

The CW software shows this to be 29.5 min. at .35 depth. I'm new at this too, so.....take this for what's it's worth.

cmorlier
03-16-2006, 10:42 AM
Hi Dave,
Sorry I didn't think about that. Currently, we only follow vector paths in one direction. This is mostly a limitation on how we have currently implemented the software, but there are some cases where you get higher quality by only following a path in one direction. However, what you are trying to do is clearly not one of the cases.

John posted his message as I was writing a similar idea. However, in my test case I was using a 3/8" bit and 1/2" depth, and the raster was faster. So there seems to be a depth, where the raster starts to be faster.

We will add both the "Hog" tool and improved path optimization to our list of desired features.

cmorlier
03-16-2006, 11:36 AM
One other trick you can use is to create a closed path. A closed path will carve continuously without lifting out of the board.

I tried to modify John's idea this way, but it adds a few seconds due to some extra paths needed to close the figure.

lpcsales
03-16-2006, 12:05 PM
Originally I thought of the 'Spiral' tool, but that got too messy fast, but your new idea may work. I'll have to give that a try.

Here is another question, what would be the best way to add..say a... .75" radius to the corners of this rectangle. I couldn't find a rounded rectangle function in the software. If there were one, a way for the user to enter a radius for each corner would be real handy.

Btw, I sent some pics of a problem I'm having in the output of 3d carving to Britt last night. Can you check with him and see if he has a solution? This was in regard to poor carving quality that I'm consistantly getting.

Thanks!

yenne
03-16-2006, 09:28 PM
Btw, I sent some pics of a problem I'm having in the output of 3d carving to Britt last night.
Dave, I'm on vacation this week. Can you re-send your e-mail to Chris at cmorlier @ lhrtech.com?

nicobie
03-17-2006, 09:48 PM
Dave, I'm on vacation this week. Can you re-send your e-mail to Chris at cmorlier @ lhrtech.com


On vacation and still replying to emails, :shock:

That's dedication.

From my experiences, these guys are really trying.