Hi
I Wrote about this some time ago. I am still having trouble using a dxf file to generate a 2D tool path, particularly offsetting inside holes and outside of profiles. I have tried toggling directions and redrawing the profile. If you have time could you give me some pointers
Cheers
Aaron
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I am having a similar issue. I want to cutout a shape with 2 holes in it in a 1/4" piece of plastic. Tool path should go around the outside of the outershape and inside the 2 circular holes. I thought that engraving with a large enough depth would work well. If I am taking the wrong approach what is the correct approach? If I have the correct approach what might I be doing wrong?
What I have done:
Made a dxf in qcad, made sure all the line segments met (no openings), outer shape is rectangle with a concavity also has to circular holes inside the outer object.
Setup an engraving process and 20mm bound (20mm all the way around)
Been playing around with "Engrave Offset" and "model extensions" trying to figure out why the tool paths are not working out.
Without setting an offset: a path is generated that follows all the lines of the dxf (outside and two holes). This is what I expected.
When I set the offset positive: only the inner holes appear to be processed, generated path is on the inside of the holes as I want, but the outer path is no longer generated.
When I set the offset negative: the generated paths for the holes are as I expect they move outward into the object. And a path around 2 of the outer lines are created (offset to the outside), 2 of the sides are skipped, 3 sides have no offset and the 180 degree arc results in a cut of 180 degrees (offset outward from the arc into the object) plus a joining cut from 0 to 180 degrees.
Turning on show direction I see that the dxf lines have directions and they are not consistent around my outer object. Perhaps the directionality would help but? Will look into how to set directionality in qcad.
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Finally had some time to come back to this. My hunch about the direction of the vectors was correct. Using "Revise directions" in the model tab did the trick.
Anyways, awesome piece of software.
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yes - "Revise directions" is the proper way to solve your problem. It tries to analyze the inside/outside relationships of all polygons and adjusts the windings accordingly.
cheers,
Lars
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Hi
I Wrote about this some time ago. I am still having trouble using a dxf file to generate a 2D tool path, particularly offsetting inside holes and outside of profiles. I have tried toggling directions and redrawing the profile. If you have time could you give me some pointers
Cheers
Aaron
I am having a similar issue. I want to cutout a shape with 2 holes in it in a 1/4" piece of plastic. Tool path should go around the outside of the outershape and inside the 2 circular holes. I thought that engraving with a large enough depth would work well. If I am taking the wrong approach what is the correct approach? If I have the correct approach what might I be doing wrong?
What I have done:
Made a dxf in qcad, made sure all the line segments met (no openings), outer shape is rectangle with a concavity also has to circular holes inside the outer object.
Setup an engraving process and 20mm bound (20mm all the way around)
Been playing around with "Engrave Offset" and "model extensions" trying to figure out why the tool paths are not working out.
Without setting an offset: a path is generated that follows all the lines of the dxf (outside and two holes). This is what I expected.
When I set the offset positive: only the inner holes appear to be processed, generated path is on the inside of the holes as I want, but the outer path is no longer generated.
When I set the offset negative: the generated paths for the holes are as I expect they move outward into the object. And a path around 2 of the outer lines are created (offset to the outside), 2 of the sides are skipped, 3 sides have no offset and the 180 degree arc results in a cut of 180 degrees (offset outward from the arc into the object) plus a joining cut from 0 to 180 degrees.
Turning on show direction I see that the dxf lines have directions and they are not consistent around my outer object. Perhaps the directionality would help but? Will look into how to set directionality in qcad.
Finally had some time to come back to this. My hunch about the direction of the vectors was correct. Using "Revise directions" in the model tab did the trick.
Anyways, awesome piece of software.
Hi Odemia,
yes - "Revise directions" is the proper way to solve your problem. It tries to analyze the inside/outside relationships of all polygons and adjusts the windings accordingly.
cheers,
Lars