Drill tool vs. assign bit

[FWMiller]

Hello,

I have a dxf I have imported that has drill holes defined as 1/4 inch circles. I was attempting to use the drill tool to place through holes at the center of the circles however the software does not seem to have the capability for me to use the center of the circle as a snap point to align a drill hole. Does the design software not have this very basic functionality or am I just not looking in the right place? If it does I'd love to know how. I need to get them aligned perfectly with the circles from the dxf since they are alignment holes that will be used to assemble multiple pieces together with pegs. The position needs to be accurate and so does the diameter. So I thought I'd try assigning the 1/8 inch cutting bit to do the holes using an inset of .063. This works, however the holes on the visual display look like they my not give me the exact same results. This may just be a limitation of the visual rendering. Can someone tell me if these two options will give me the same result or will the drill tool be more accurate? I also have some 3/16 diameter holes I want to drill with a 1/8 bit. The only way to do these is with the drill tool since the software doesn't allow me to assign an inset on a circle this small.

Alignment in general seems driven by shapes aligning to either the edge of the board or the center in vertical or horizontal. When I add a new shape I can select one of the position makers to fix it relative to one of these. However I can't fix it relative to another shape. If I know their relative positions to the edge of the board I can have limited usefulness but with arbitrary shapes it becomes impossible. Is this a task that just has to be done in 3rd party software and imported via dxf? In most cases this works for me but the drill tool would be nice to be able to align to stuff imported via dxf.

I also have some 3/16 diameter holes I want to drill with a 1/8 bit. The only way to do these is with the drill tool since the software doesn't allow me to assign an inset on a circle this small.

Thanks,

Frederick

[fwharris]

Try toggling the perspective view off. It helps with viewing for better visual alignment. Unfortunately I do not think there is a way in designer for getting the alignments like your trying to do unless the line up to a grid.

[bergerud]

I also have some 3/16 diameter holes I want to drill with a 1/8 bit. The only way to do these is with the drill tool since the software doesn't allow me to assign an inset on a circle this small.

You can use the 1/8" cutting bit to make a 3/16" hole. Set the offset to 1/16". Try it again.

If you zoom in close and have the circle and the drill selected, you can move the drill dot to the circle center. That is the only way I know to align them without using the snap grid.

[FWMiller]

Thanks for the responses. Looks like I'm stuck trying to line them up manually. I also thought it might be simple to fix the dimensions to whichever edge/center the software decides it wants by matching the coordinates from the circle to the drill hole. However the software amazingly uses the edge of the circle for dimensioning rather than the center, while it uses then center for the drill tool which is pretty standard. It's easy math to get them the same but they may not end up being exact due to rounding error depending on the diameter. Given the overall accuracy of the machine I suppose it's more of just an annoyance to myself than something I'll notice when the carve is done. I get more envious of my buddies Vcarve Pro every day. I have a design he exported to dxf to share and I think by the time I'm done I'll have spent twice as much time importing it into the carvewright software and getting it ready to carve than he did creating the original design.

I did go back and retry assigning a bit to the 3/16" circle and was able to successfully add a 1/16" offset with 1/8" bit. When I tried last time the box was highlighted red and wouldn't let me change it from 0. Not sure what I was doing wrong. I think I'll test carve some circles and drills and see how close they end up.

[SteveNelson46]

Select both objects (drill hole and circle) by holding down the CTRL key and click on each. On the Layout, Align menu select "Align Centers Vertically". Then select "Align Centers Horizontally" from the same menu.

You can also zoom in close and right click on the center point of each object and select attach. Attach them to the same distances from the edges or the centerline of the board.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Select both objects (drill hole and circle) by holding down the CTRL key and click on each. On the Layout, Align menu select "Align Centers Vertically". Then select "Align Centers Horizontally" from the same menu.

WOW.... Never thought of doing that... Outstanding.... I know I will use that in the future.

See, this little Hobby Machine can do some pretty impressive stuff....

That perspective view drove me nuts in the beginning doing LED Signs.... Just needed to turn it off...

AL

LED Xmas Lights from eBay.

[FWMiller]

Select both objects (drill hole and circle) by holding down the CTRL key and click on each. On the Layout, Align menu select "Align Centers Vertically". Then select "Align Centers Horizontally" from the same menu.

You can also zoom in close and right click on the center point of each object and select attach. Attach them to the same distances from the edges or the centerline of the board.

Steve, Is the "Align Centers Vertically" available only in version 2? I have 1.187 and don't see these in my pull down.

Should the "attach" feature allow me to attach in both x direction and y? I tried using attach to the center point and got it to work in the y but does not give me anything to attach in the x.

Thanks.

Frederick

[SteveNelson46]

Steve, Is the "Align Centers Vertically" available only in version 2? I have 1.187 and don't see these in my pull down.

Should the "attach" feature allow me to attach in both x direction and y? I tried using attach to the center point and got it to work in the y but does not give me anything to attach in the x.

Thanks.

Frederick

Frederick,

I guess you are right. The "Align Centers Vertically" and "Align Centers Horizontally" features are only in 2.??. However, you can attach the center points horizontally or vertically to the edge of the board or to the center lines. If you can't see where the attachment will attach to after right clicking on the center point, try zooming in a little closer or a little further out. If there is a measurement already showing (in green), just left click on it to edit.

I have included an example in ver 1.187. Use the carving list to select each object to see the attachments in yellow.

[wlhtrain]

So sad that the software "wizards" deemed it neccssary to dumb down the free software. Prior to 2008 all alignment features worked plus much more. Copy offset is also a very missed tool! Now the "basic" software is just a teaser and you have to fork over several $200.00 to get back to more functional designer. I was one of the original purchasers of the first 200 machines and thoroughly enjoyed working with designer and "testing" different projects with the machine. I traded in my original "a" machine for a "C" machine then had to leave it in the box in storage after a move due to a death in the family. Very disappointed when I was able to unpack my machine again in 2012. Imagine my shock to find all the features I was use to using were gone after a "required" update to the software when I fired up designer.

[unitedcases]

Can't you just download an earlier version of designer?