Home

Setup and Operation Manual

1. We now have four identical signs Two of them need the text removed so they can be used as backing plates Click on the Contour properties button RC then click on the copy in the part list on top left hand side Click on the outline of the copied part Right click and select Move to layer New layer Type Outline and click on lt OK gt The outline has now been moved to a new layer called Outline Create a new layer name Enter the new layer name Dutine creel There will now be no paths generated for the outline but the text will be cut out This is the opposite of what we want so double click on the current operation in the Operations toolbar and change the Layer to Outline The outline will now be cut out and the text won t If you look closely at the duplicate of this part there are no paths shown for the text in the duplicate If you want the practice you can now click on the Run post processor button F to generate the G code 150 Frequently asked questions FAQ Q I have a circular pocket with a small keyway tangent to the outside contour Is there a way to machine the circular pocket then do a tool change to a smaller tool and re machine the keyway The easiest way is to use two contour operations First cut the shape with your larger cutter As the cutter won t fit in the keyway it will just leave a small bump where the keyway should be You can now create another contour o
2. Enable Autoload Enable Autoload Timing 8 i Check uncheck this box to es eee ea enable disable the Autoload plugin Last File changed 31 12 1969 19 00 00 Timing Delay before loading Autoload is triggered by a change in the file If it takes your CAD package a while to save the file it is possible that autoload may try loading it before your CAD package My enabled has finished To work around this there is a delay before the file is loaded Last file changed This is the time the last file changed Files with modification dates before this time will be ignored Reset time If you change your clock you may need to click on Reset time to reset this value Enabled This check box toggles the plugin on or off Edit macro Clicking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 121 Batch Update Plugin This tab controls the Batch update plugin Job batch i dat SE See the thumbnail images Enabled This check box toggles the plugin on or off Edit macro Clicking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the mA relevant location Calculator Plugin This tab controls the calculator plugin and adds the calculator toolbar button wus calculator sample based on the calc sample written by Marca Ghislanzoni Enabled This check box toggles the pl
3. located in the left hand vertical toolbar Cut path tab Cut ordering Optimisation Auto manual Select auto or manual path optimisation using the radio buttons Note If Auto is selected the cut sequence is calculated automatically SheetCam tries to minimise rapid moves while adhering to the rules shown under Cutting rules below If Manual is selected then you can manually set the cut sequence by editing the start points Optimise now This button optimises the cut path immediately This is useful to see the effect of any changes or to create a starting point for manual editing Start position This is the point where SheetCam assumes the cutter is when it starts calculating the paths Paths nearest the start point will be cut first while complying with the above rules Cut direction This adds a bias to the path optimisation For example if you set the slider toward horizontal H SheetCam will prefer to rapid left right rather than up down 69 Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Notes tab Basic Cut path Notes Notes Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands Comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Insert code Basic Notes This function allows for the insertion Code Snippet of code snippets
4. Create a new contour operation a Create a new pocket operation Create a new tapping operation Create a new jet cutting operation Create a new drilling operation Insert code directly into the output file I i w G SE Create a Move to operation Y Set processor variable Add new pocket Add new contour Clicking on this button will open the New contour set up window Note This can also be accessed via the Operation Contour menu item Clicking on this button will open the New pocket set up window Note This can also be accessed via the Operation Pocket menu item Create new tapping operation Clicking on this button will open the Tapping operation set up window Note This can also be accessed via the Operation Tapping menu item Create new jet cutting operation Clicking on this button will open the Plasma cut set up window Note This can also be accessed via the Operation Plasma cut menu item Create new drilling operation Clicking on this button will open the Drilling operation set up window Note This can also be accessed via the Operation Drilling menu item Insert G code Clicking on this button will open the Insert G code set up window Note This can also be accessed via the Operation Insert code menu item Set post processor variable Clicking on this button will open the Set post variable set up window Note This can also
5. Special options Tool colours Postion and time Update rate 20 Spindle offtiet off ES Din Rapid feed 78 7202 inches min Spindle Cwijet preheat _ GE 0 in Maximum FRO 500 Spindle CCWijet cutting B g em EELER Tool polygon detail 4 0 155 in v Tool diameter Scale size 100 TOs Note increasing the update rate makes movement smoother Minimum size Um but uses more CPL power Machine t Statkus Increasing the polygon detail Ge T makes the tool outline smoother wi E L Spindle TW but uses more CPU power i _ Spindle cow Flood coolant V Enabled ege Tool Special options Feed rate Update rate GE Enter the required update rate in the box Spindle speed 0 rpm Note Increasing the update rate makes movement smoother but uses more CPU power Rapid feed Enter the required rapid feed rate in the box 114 Maximum FRO Enter the maximum feed rate override FRO amount in the box as a percentage Tool polygon detail Use the slider to control the tool polygon detail Note Increasing the polygon detail makes the tool outline smoother but uses more CPU power Tool colours Click on a box next to an item to open the colour picker window then select a new colour Tool diameter Scale size Enter the scale size as a percentage Minimum size Enter the minimum size as a dimension Machine type Select the machine type using the drop down menu Enabled This check box togg
6. Use bottom left coordinates The part position boxes at the bottom of the screen normally show the coordinates of the centre of the part Checking this item changes them to show the coordinates of the lower left corner Use fast rubberband graphics Some temporary graphics can be quite slow on slow graphics cards for instance when moving text or when dragging a box around several items to select them Enabling this option can speed up the display but the graphics may flicker It may also actually slow down some fast graphics cards Negative angles are clockwise SheetCam shows the part angle with positive angles clockwise and negative angles counter clockwise by default This option reverses the angles Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 90 Units tab Linear units A This dialog box is used to set up the Angular units degrees V base or preferred units used by many of SheetCam s functions Feed rate inches min w Thread pitch TPL i i read pitch i Linear units WE Enter the linear units from the large drop down menu Angular units Enter the angular units from the drop down menu Feed rate Enter the feed rate units from the drop down menu Thread pitch Enter the thread pitch units from the drop down menu Time Enter the time units from the drop down menu Note You can use any units when entering values into any edit boxes with the exception that linear edit boxes mus
7. 8 87 LOON EE 77 103 SERIES T1 ZOOO Eeer 77 104 Zoom to fit current part 77 104 ZOOM to TI JOD EE 78 104 Zoom to fit mache 78 104 Zoom to Dtmatenal eee ee eeee es 78 104 Zoom to fit wimdow cece c ees eeseeeceeeees 78 104 Zoom toolbar DULIONS ocd cidendeidstcincieseunceeces ss 103 ZOOMING ANd pannmg 132 ZOOMING in and out 132 154
8. Milfrouter Note This page shows setting options for a new mber IS thread mill rotary cutter To see the other nore tool setup pages refer to their relevant sections snigth Rigid tap Thread mill SE Note See New mill for a full description of the various tool types Automatically generate name Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the lower boxes Tool number Enter the tool number here Diameter Enter the diameter of the tool here Number of teeth Enter the number of teeth on the tool here Flute length Enter the tool flute length here 1 e the length from the tip of the tool to the end of the cutting flute Tool length offset Enter the amount of tool offset here This should only be used if the machine controller does not have it s own tool length compensation 28 Note Tool length offset is the length of the tool from a particular reference point This may be the spindle nose or any other convenient reference point It is used to compensate for different length tools The post processor may use this value in one of two ways If the controller supports tool length offsets then they are used If not the offset is added to the Z position Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here Pitch Enter the thread pitch if you are using a metric machine or the threads per inch TPI if you are using an imperial machine Infeed per pass Infeed per pass contro
9. Notes tab Basic Notes Notes Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note Ifthe machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Tapping Basic tab Basic Cut path ee geet Note All units based on the selection Function Tap Kei None in the Options Application ayer B eu e ea hist options Units menu Tool T4 Tapping head 0 375 inx167PI Lc Oy Flood Start depth 0 in J Left hand f Cut depth 0 5 in Function Spindle speed 150 rpm Select the correct threading type from Min hole size 0 3375 in Material thickness 0 2362 in the drop down menu shown below Max hole size 0 4125 in Note This page shows setting options for a new tap To see the Thread mill setup pages refer to the relevant section below Layer Layer w Select the layer you wish to apply the tapping operation Ton TEXT to using the drop down menu shown OUTLINE Tool Tool T17 Tapping head 0 375 inch x 1 TPI e ed Select the correct tool using the down menu th T1 Tapping head 0 375 inch x 1 TFI shown PP Tig Rigid tap 0 375 inch x 1 TPI 54 Edit Clicking on the button to the right of the Tool box the one with three dots calls up the Tool Edit dialog box Start depth This function specifies the depth at
10. Operation Manual v3 1 17 Introduction Welcome to SheetCam an affordable but powerful 2 1 2 D CAM program SheetCam has been designed to fill a niche in the CAM marketplace by providing an easy to use application for machining sheet goods metal plates plastic sheets thin woods etc It will generate the required code for inside and outside contours pockets and drilling cycles and will work with milling machines routers engravers and plasma cutters SheetCam accepts data in the form of DXF files CAD drawings HPGL files line art SVG files G code drawings and Excellon files circuit boards and has several configurable post processors to meet the needs of the many control packages available Custom post processors can also be written to cope with non standard applications SheetCam will allow the nesting of parts and has features for copying duplicating rotating and mirroring parts to reduce wastage to the minimum SheetCam can also allow for parts that are not aligned perfectly along the machine axes by aligning the drawing to the actual part SheetCam will show cutter paths rapid moves layers etc and the part can be rotated in three dimensions in the view panel to check for errors prior to machining Document navigation This PDF file has been created to make navigation to relevant information easier for the user Please use the Bookmarks on the left to jump to specific chapters and sub sections Clicking on a line
11. The steps for using tabs are shown below Set up your contour operation as normal and then go to the Cut path tab and set the tab length and tab thickness Tab length is the length of the tab at the narrowest point Thickness is the amount of material left in the tab Once your operation is set up click on the Tabs button RT The cursor will change to an arrow with a T next to it if it is near a valid tab position Now click on the outline where you want to place the tab You can place as many tabs as you like To delete a tab point at it it will change to white right click and select delete To check if the tabs have been placed correctly click on the Scroll screen button X then rotate the display by holding the shift key and dragging with the mouse You will see the cut paths lift up where you have placed the tabs If you set the tab thickness to greater than the cut depth rapid clearance then the cutter will rapid when it moved from one end of the tab to another This is handy if you have a holding clamp in the way You can set the tab thickness so that the cutter will lift over the clamp even 1f this is higher than the rapid clearance If you are not using tabs it is recommend that you set the tab thickness to 0 zero When using a tab thickness greater than 0 zero SheetCam uses a slightly different cutting strategy which can be a little less efficient This is particularly noticeable if you use ramping in conjunction with
12. When you select Laser in the Type drop down menu of the Tool dialog box you get different options which are applicable to laser cutters only These are described below Tool Notes Name 1 8 steel Type Laser Yv C Automatically generate name Leadin type Tool number 1 O Normal Kerf width 0 06 ES Ramp Feed rate 75 ipm Update operations O wiggle Pierce delay 15 Wiggle size Pierce height 0 2 Plunge rate 10 ipm Cut height 0 1 Pause at end of cut 0 35 Power Some laser cutters have the ability to adjust the power of the beam via software Use this box to set the power setting if your machine uses this feature If your machine does not use this feature then set this value to zero 0 Plate marker options When you select Plate marker in the Type drop down menu of the Tool dialog box you get different options which are applicable to plate markers only These are described below Tool Notes ji Mame Fla Thine Plaka rake Automatically generate name Tool number E Diameter 0 0591 in Feed rate 100 inches min Update operations Cut height 0 1 in RES Pause at end of cut Diameter Enter the diameter of the tool here Start delay Enter the delay time here 148 Nesting tutorial In the previous tutorial we plasma cut a single part In this tutorial will cut a number of parts You need to have nesting enabled to do this Make sure that Options A ppli
13. o Cut eg Select auto or manual path optimisation using the radio db buttons Note If Auto is selected the cut sequence is calculated z automatically SheetCam tries to minimise rapid moves while adhering to the rules shown under Cutting rules below If Manual is selected then you can manually set the cut sequence by editing the start points Optimise now This button optimises the cut path immediately This is useful to see the effect of any changes or to create a starting point for manual editing Start position This is the point where SheetCam assumes the cutter is when it starts calculating the paths Paths nearest the start point will be cut first while complying with the above rules Cut direction This adds a bias to the path optimisation For example if you set the slider toward horizontal H SheetCam will prefer to rapid left right rather than up down Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Notes tab Basic Cutpath Notes Notes Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands Comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 60 Plasma cut Basic tab Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Bask Cut path Notes a eg Note If you need to use a
14. 101 24 mm 4 0 degrees Ss with the Show tool paths EI Show rapide and Show direction arrows D buttons to see what effect they have on the display You can drag the display around with the mouse and zoom in out by using the mouse wheel You can rotate the display by holding the shift key then dragging in the display area with the mouse double click in the display area to return to the top down view As we are only interested in cutting out the letters there is no point in cutting the line To stop SheetCam from cutting it we need to move it to another layer Click on the Edit contours button then click on the line It will be highlighted in white While you are in this mode you can scroll the display around by holding the shift key and dragging with the mouse or using the arrow keys Now right click and select Move to layer New layer and type anything in for the new layer name We will deal with layers in more detail in another tutorial 138 Generating the G code Now we have defined what is to happen we can generate the G code ready for the machine to run Click on the Run post processor button P to generate the G code If this is the first time you have post processed a drawing then you may be asked to select a post processor to run Try to choose one that best fits your machine You will then be prompted for the file name for the G code file you are about to create You have now successfully created your firs
15. Clicking on one of the radio buttons will quickly establish the machine origin relative to the dimensions entered in the Table size windows Clicking on the Enter coordinates button will allow you to enter coordinates in the coordinates windows Note Machine origin is usually taken as the bottom left corner of the machine but can be anywhere Note This item is purely for reference and it does not affect the G code in any way If you do not wish to use this feature set the sizes to 0 0 Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Save load tab Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Savefload 88 Load machine This button will load the settings of a previously saved machine Save machine This button will save the current settings to a suitable location Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Application options Display tab Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Start point size a 1969 in Tab size 100 Direction arrow size 100 Direction arrow Frequency 1 Circle marker size 0 15 75 in Pathe Start point size Rimm This function controls the size apid pa i Inside shape Use white scheme of start point markers The size UCSIOe Snape F Open paths ia eessen depends on the size of your Line en S drawing If they are too large Reverse mouse wheel EE reduce
16. Create a new plasma cut operation button located in the left hand vertical toolbar Cut path tab Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Basic Cut path Notes Cut ordering Cut ordering Optimisation Cutting rules Optimisation Auto all inside fi y All inside First Manual Shortest path Start position Keep parts together Auto manual O O 9 Minimise thermal distortion Select auto or manual path optimisation using the radio buttons Cut direction Note If Auto is selected the cut sequence is calculated automatically SheetCam tries to minimise rapid moves while adhering to the rules shown under Cutting rules below If V oP cancel Help Manual is selected then you can manually set the cut sequence by editing the start points Optimise now This button optimises the cut path immediately This is useful to see the effect of any changes or to create a starting point for manual editing Start position This is the point where SheetCam assumes the cutter is when it starts calculating the paths Paths nearest the start point will be cut first while complying with the above rules 63 Cutting rules All inside first Inside contours are cut first then outside This is the way SheetCam always used to work Useful for plasma or for milling routing when you are cutting all the way through Shortest path This option uses the
17. HPGL G code Excellon or DXF files The formats are selectable from the drop down menu Each particular format will open its own specific settings dialog window when you select the file and click on lt Open gt Note For tips on creating suitable drawings see the Hints and Tips section Open SVG options Scaling es EE Se SE Set the scale ratio in the box l O Drawing origin Centered on 0 0 ve Drawing position Click one of the position radio buttons or select the origin O O location from the following options Pa O Current position E Use colours as layer names o Drawing origin The origin specified in the drawing is used as the machine 0 0 position The position of the origin in the drawing varies between different cad packages Some use the page bottom left hand corner some use the page centre and some use the origin Sometimes called the datum as it 1s placed in the drawing Centered on 0 0 The centre of the drawing is aligned to the machine 0 0 position Current Position The centre of the new drawing is placed in exactly the same position as the current drawing Use colours as layer names Check this box to use colours in the drawing as layer names Note The Scaling and Drawing position items above are applicable to all drawing import dialog boxes Note For tips on creating suitable drawings see the Hints and Tips section 13 Open HPGL options Scaling Drawing p
18. It is used with the tap pitch to work out the feed rate Spindle rotation Select the spindle direction from the available choices Note These items only need to be checked if your spindle motor is controlled via software 24 Note The spindle direction also affects the cut direction For instance if climb cutting outside contours are cut clockwise if the spindle 1s clockwise or anticlockwise if the spindle is anticlockwise Update operations Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operation that use this tool For instance this will reset the spindle speed feed rate ramp angle etc OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create new rotary Tool button located in the left hand vertical toolbar New tapping head Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment New rigid tap Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu BAA Note This menu item is only visible if Rotary cutting has been selected i
19. Millfrouker 6 35 mm diameter Tool number 1 Automatically generate name Type Millfrouter w Spindle rotation E A As soon as you leave the edit box it will be converted to 6 35mm Mame Millfrouter 6 35 mm diameter Tool number 1 Automatically generate name Type Millrouter a Spindle rotation Diameter 6 35 mm cw E Nee The available linear units are Metric um mm cm m Inch mil thou in inch feet foot The available angular units are degrees deg radians rad The available feed rate units are Metric mm min m min mm sec m sec Inch IPM inch min IPS inch sec Finish allowance The finish allowance option forces SheetCam to leave the part under or over sized A positive finish allowance will leave some material behind for a finishing pass using a new operation This allows you to use a different cutter and or Z increment for the finishing pass A negative finish allowance will remove more material This is useful if you have a close tolerance hole and you need to make it slightly bigger Note that the biggest negative finish allowance you can use 1s slightly less than the cutter radius Note Leaving the allowance at zero 0 will machine the contour pocket to full size with no finishing pass 130 Machine and material parameters SheetCam can show the machine table and material outlines for reference purposes It also uses the material thickness and height above the table to work out if the c
20. Note If the view panel has a black background all the colours will be inverted to save ink Exit Exits SheetCam If you have any unsaved items you will be prompted to save first Edit Menu Undo Undo the last action View menu The view menu contains a number of viewing options Layer tool To turn a layer on or off double click on the check mark To rename a layer double click on the name To minimize the palette click on the arrow button To close the palette click on the X button Code editor Selecting this menu item displays an editing window that allows you to edit modify the generated G code The default location is at the bottom of the main window but the editing window can be dragged to any location the user prefers Drag it back to the bottom of the screen to restore it to its original position Clicking on the X in the top right corner will close the window Show input paths Toggles the input paths on or off This option can also be activated by clicking on the button in the toolbar Show segment ends Toggles the segment ends on or off This option can also be activated by clicking on the button in the toolbar 76 Show path ends Toggles the path ends on or off This option can also be activated by clicking on the button in the toolbar Note This can be useful for locating non joined lines which may cause erratic behaviour Show tool paths Toggles the tool paths on or off This option ca
21. Spindle speed Enter the spindle speed here Note Speed only needs to be specified if your spindle motor is controlled via software However the post processor will issue a warning if the speed 1s set to zero 0 Coolant Select the coolant type from the available choices Note These items only need to be checked if your coolant pump is controlled via software 52 Sharpen Overcut corners Note Sharpen corners will only appear if you have selected a V cutter while Overcut corners will only appear if you have selected a mill router Sharpen corners Note If you are using a V cutter on inside corners the radius of the cut is bigger at the top than at the bottom due to the taper of the cutter Turning on sharpen corners ramps the cutter up on inside corners so that the radius of the cut is the same at the top as it is at the bottom This is a benefit when engraving text or graphics This option is not available for mill router cutters The steps for using corner sharpening are shown below Angle threshold First define your tool It must be defined as a V cutter and you must enter the V angle Pocket the area to clear the majority of the material using a regular milling cutter Now do an inside contour using the V tool With the V tool selected go to the Cut path tab You should see a slider called Angle threshold and a check box for Enabled If you are engraving text or something that 1s made up of lots of short li
22. alter the units used in SheetCam In the Output folder section select your preferred location using the radio buttons In the Post processor section select the correct processor for your machine using the drop down menu Note While G code is supposedly a standard most machines speak different dialects of G code To get around this problem Sheet am uses post processors These are little programs that run inside SheetCam and create code customized for particular machines The Import post button allows you to import additional post processor files if required The Edit post button allows you to edit the currently selected post processor The Post documentation button opens a pop up window that provides information on how to write post processor files for those who need to make custom files Working envelope tab Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Savefload Size Origin eoem 0 o o um Enter coordinates x om vom For the purposes of this example let s assume our machine table is 2 feet square with a usable area of 22 by 20 and the bottom left hand corner of the usable area will be at coordinate 0 0 You should obviously substitute the correct dimensions values for your machine In the Origin box click on the bottom left hand corner marker This tells SheetCam that the origin is the bottom left hand corner The Working Envelope is the
23. lots of free versions available on the net to check for any errors 4 Once the code has been verified open the G code file in your CNC control package and run the program to create the part Creating drawings In order to create usable drawings m either a CAD or art application certain fundamental principles must be adhered to otherwise SheetCam will not be able to manipulate the resulting file Outlines must be properly closed A closed shape is any shape where the lines completely enclose an area A square is a simple example of a closed shape It has an inside and an outside so SheetCam needs to work out which side you want to cut A simple line is an open shape as there is no inside or outside therefore SheetCam treats it differently So what is meant by properly closed Let s take a simple example You draw a rectangle using four lines However two of the lines don t quite meet On the screen it looks fine unless you zoom in very close When you load the drawing into SheetCam it will recognize that two ends don t meet and it will assume that the shape is open so you can t cut it out All open lines will be shown on the screen in grey if you haven t changed the default colours If your lines are very close as defined under Options Application options Drawing import tab Import link tolerance Sheet am will automatically move the ends so that they touch Note This should not be used to compensate for poor drawings 11
24. requires a sacrificial board under it in order to machine it 1 e a through pocket or cut out in a sheet of material SheetCam will let you cut into the board but it will not let you cut into the table Note As with any input boxes you can enter values in any measurement system See Entering values for more information 131 Mouse wheel If you have a scroll mouse the mouse wheel can also be used to zoom in and out If the zoom directions are opposite to the way you like to work you can change the direction of zoom using the Options Application options Reverse mouse wheel option Zooming and panning Zooming in and out There are three methods of zooming in and out e The mouse wheel zooms the screen at any time e Use the zoom buttons OO OO Mu w on the toolbar e Use the lt Page Up gt and lt Page Down gt keys on the keyboard Panning There are two methods of panning the screen e Use the keyboard arrow keys to pan the screen at any time s Ifyou are in drag mode i e the N toolbar button is selected holding down the left mouse button and moving the mouse will drag the drawing Rotating the screen in 3D You have to be in drag mode 1 e The X toolbar button is selected to rotate the screen Hold down the lt Shift gt key and move the mouse to rotate the drawing Drag mode If the pointer button X is selected then you will automatically be in drag mode as soon as you press a mouse but
25. to corners 47 Holding Tabs Clicking on this button will open the dialog box shown below The tab length and tab thickness controls are used to specify the respective sizes of holding tabs 1 e the material left behind to hold parts in place To place Length 0 04 in Thickness 0 in Clean up exit ramp Auto tabbing Minimum number of tabs 2 tabs use the Holding tab tool Ton the tool bar Max tab spacing 7 874 in Fa Tabs an inside cute Note This button will be greyed out if no tabs are set Length a This control is used to specify the length of the Line angle 0 degrees holding tab Tabs can be any size to suit the Tabs on inside cuts application but generally longer tabs have a reduced thickness while shorter tabs are usually left at the material thickness Thickness This control is used to specify the thickness of the holding tab Setting the tab thickness to less than the material thickness will result in thin tabs that can be easily cut broken when machining is complete It is worth mentioning that tab thickness is based on the material thickness not the cut depth For instance if you have 10mm thick material and specify 2mm thick tabs you will need to cut at least 8mm deep to see the tabs at all Note By using the tab length thickness controls you can make SheetCam clear any clamps or fixtures as it cuts provided that you know where the clamps will be By making the thickness greater than the
26. 5937 news Upate SG Ramp Angle degrees Update operations Name 8 d SE Le operations 8 Manually enter the tool name if the Automatically generate name box below is not checked Type Select the correct tool type from the drop down menu shown below Note This page shows setting options for a new mill router rotary cutter To see the other tool setup pages refer to the relevant sections below Type Mill rouber w Mill rouber Tapping head angth Rigid tap Benner Note A mill router can plunge and cut sideways It can be used by the contour drill and pocket operations Note A drill can plunge but cannot cut sideways It can only be used by the drill operation Note A V cutter is offset depending on the angle and depth The deeper you cut the more the cut path is offset Note An automatic tapping head automatically reverses when you retract the spindle 16 Note A rigid tapping head does not reverse when you retract the spindle the spindle is reversed instead Note A thread mill is a single or multi point thread cutting tool Automatically generate name Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the lower boxes Tool number Enter the tool number here Diameter Enter the diameter of the tool here Flute length Enter the tool flute length here i e the length from the tip of the tool to the end of the cutting flute Tool length
27. New X position PERF Enter the actual coordinates of this point and click 7 lt OK gt Now click on the second point on the part in ST dll the view window and enter the coordinates of that point and click lt OK gt The drawing will be moved and rotated to suit the job Note Hold down the lt Shift gt key to scroll the screen with the mouse Double click anywhere in the view panel with the left mouse button to return to the plan or overhead view Note This option can also be activated by clicking on the Kai button in the toolbar 113 Right click options Right clicking while using the Alen selection tool will bring up the following menu screen zoom in Zoom controls zoom out aa l Zoom to fit part Clicking on any of these items will zoom the view as Zoom to Fit job required zoom window Zoom to fit material Measure Zoom to fit machine To use the measure tool click on the point you want to measure from Measure Run simulation Clicking on this item will run the Simulation plugin Simulation Note Hold down the lt Shift gt key to scroll the screen in 3D with setup the mouse Double click anywhere in the view panel with the left mouse button to return to the plan or overhead view FRO 19 er g Note This option can also be activated by clicking on the D button in the toolbar Single step Setup Clicking on the Setup button will open the following dialog box Simulation plugin
28. Options Application Leadin type Tool number 9 options Units menu Normal Kerf width 0 04 in Ramp Feediete roo chest _ eae gare Note This menu item is only visible if Pierce delay Os cet Wiggle size Jet cutting has been selected in STEE the Options Machine Machine Plunge rate 8 inches min t y pe menu Cut height 0 1 in Pause at end of cut Os Name Manually enter the tool name if the Automatically generate name box below is not checked Type Select the correct jet cutting type from the drop down menu shown below Note This page shows setting options for a new plate Flame Waterjet marker tool To see the other tool setup pages Laser refer to the relevant sections below Flate marker Automatically generate name Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the lower boxes Tool number Enter the tool number here Diameter Enter the diameter of the tool here Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here Cut height Enter the cut height here Start delay Enter the delay time here Pause at end of cut Enter the pause time here Update operations Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operation that use this tool For instance this will reset the feed rate 38 Leadin type Select the leadin type using the radio buttons Enter the wiggle size in the box Note Wiggle piercing moves the cuttin
29. appear in the g code as a comment Jet cutting tools New plasma tool a Note All units based on the selection Mame ie may H eo i HE l B e H D D E Plasma y E Automatically generate name in the O tions A lication m a Leadin type options Units menu 4 Normal kerf width 0 0591 in kane Feed rate 100 inchesimin Update operations wech Note This menu item is only visible if Pierce delay 0 5 s Ste _ Jet cutting has been selected in Ce ao iggle size 0 i EEN the Options Machine Machine Plunge rate G inchesmin t ei menu Cut height 0 1 in type Fause at end of cut o 5 emm EET EET Note If you need to use a plasma cutter to pierce holes at specific locations the Drilling operation can be used with a plasma tool setting for this purpose See the Drilling operation page for more information Name Manually enter the tool name if the Automatically generate name box below is not checked Type Select the correct jet cutting type from the drop down menu shown below Flame Note This page shows setting options for a new plasma or cutter To see the other tool setup pages refer to E the relevant sections below Automatically generate name Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the lower boxes Tool number Enter the tool number here Kerf width Enter the kerf width cut width here Feed rate Enter the required fe
30. boxes must have linear units and angular edit boxes must have angular units If you do not specify any units then the preferred units as set above are used If you specify any of the units in the list they will be converted to your preferred units as soon as you leave the edit box Example 1 If your preferred units are inches and you type lt 10mm gt into a cut depth box the value will change to 0 3937 inches as soon as you leave the box Example 2 If your preferred units are mm and you type lt 1 gt into a cut depth box the value will change to 25 4mm as soon as you leave the box Example 3 If your preferred units are mm and you type lt 1 inch gt into a cut depth box the value will change to 25 4mm as soon as you leave the box The third screen of the Setup Wizard deals with your machine type Note At least one option must be selected at all times Select your machine type Rotary cutting includes milling and routing Rotary cutting V Jet cutting includes plasma laser and water jet Checking this item will toggle the rotary cutting option on or off When checked the rotary cutting controls are available under the Tools menu and the Operation menu The respective buttons also appear on the various tool bars When unchecked these controls are hidden Rotary cutting includes milling routing drilling tapping etc Jet cutting Checking this item will toggle the jet cutting option on or off When
31. controls available under the Tools menu and the Operation menu 85 Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Post processor tab Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Save load aa Output file units Output file units Output Folder Selecting either Metric or Inch ae EE will determine the units used by CY Inch _2 Drawing Folder Job file folder the post processor Always use this Folder Output Folder we Se a Use the radio buttons to select Fost processor E the folder to be used when saving the post process file Wach post processor Non modal G codes Ee For the Always use this folder Comments enclosed with i and 4 Incremental 13 i 1 i uses G43 tool length offsets option Kee the navigation button on the right the one displaying three dots to select the relevant ES For the Output file extension option enter the required extension for your CNC controller txt cnc tap ne etc Post processor Select the correct processor for your machine controller using the drop down menu A brief description of the processor file will appear in the lower window if available Import post This button allows you to import a new processor file Edit post This button will open an editing tool which will allow you to edit the selected post processor Post documentation This button opens up a window expl
32. different length tools This will r either be done by offsetting the Z position or specifying the tool length if your machine understands tool length offsets As we are only using one tool just enter lt 0 gt here In the Depth per pass box enter lt 2 gt as this is the maximum cut depth per pass and enter lt 500 gt in the Feed rate box We will plunge the tool in at a slower rate so enter lt 200 gt in the Plunge rate box Leave the Ramp angle at 0 degrees Enter lt 10000 gt in the Spindle speed box Double check all your settings are the same as shown above and then click on lt OK gt to save your changes Define a cut operation Now we have defined the tool we need to use it to cut the letters out Press the Zoom to fit material button on the upper tool bar to show the drawing and material Now press the Create a new contour operation button to create a new contour operation We want to cut the letters out of the sheet so select Outside offset in the Contour method box Select the TEXT layer in the Layer drop down list Select tool T3 in the Tool list Doing this sets most of the parameters from the tool definition we did earlier We want to cut right through the material and slightly into the sacrificial board below so enter lt 6 25 gt in the Cut depth box 137 The box at the bottom right shows Cut stark Cut path Not l Cut start Cut path Notes how many passes the cu
33. drawing import features HPGL 1 import filter Enabled Does not handle text entities This check box toggles the plugin on or off Edit macro Clicking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Cx 124 Mach plugin This tab controls the Mach plugin If Mach is installed and it is a reasonably recent version you will see the message A compatible version of Mach was detected You will also see a toolbar button with a big M in it and the menu entry Plugins Enable Mach When the button or menu entry is selected and Mach is running it will be notified when you run the post processor If Mach 1s not currently running a program it will close it s current file and load the new one Enabled This check box toggles the plugin on or off Edit macro Clicking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the S relevant location Enabled 125 Simulation Plugin Simulation plugin nT gt pf Tool colours Special options Update rate E Spindle offriet oft O Rapid Feed 76 740 inches min Spindle CWijet preheat E Update rate Maximum FRO 500 Spindle Cou cutting Enter the required update rate in Tool polygon detail d TE A the box Scale size 100 Note increasing the update rate Note Increasing the update rate makes move
34. in Note Zooming can also be achieved by using the lt Page Up gt and lt Page Down gt keyboard buttons Note If you have a scroll mouse the mouse wheel can also be used to zoom in and out If the zoom directions are opposite to the way you like to work you can change the direction of zoom using the Options Application options Display Reverse mouse wheel option 103 Zoom out Clicking on this button will zoom the view out Note Zooming can also be achieved by using the lt Page Up gt and lt Page Down gt keyboard buttons Zoom to fit current part Clicking on this button will zoom the view to fit the current part in the viewing window Note Zooming can also be achieved by using the lt Page Up gt and lt Page Down gt keyboard buttons Zoom to fit job Clicking on this button will zoom the view to fit the job in the viewing window Note Zooming can also be achieved by using the lt Page Up gt and lt Page Down gt keyboard buttons Zoom to fit window Clicking on this button will zoom the view to fit the window dragged on the main screen Note Zooming can also be achieved by using the lt Page Up gt and lt Page Down gt keyboard buttons Zoom to fit material Clicking on this button will zoom the view to fit the material in the viewing window Note Zooming can also be achieved by using the lt Page Up gt and lt Page Down gt keyboard buttons Zoom to fit machine Clicking on this button will zoom
35. in the Options Application options Units menu besse Note This menu item is only visible if Name Jet cutting has been selected in Type Waterjet Bitte orate nems the Options Machine Machine Leadin type Tool number Oia type menu Kerf width 0 05 in pa Ramp Feed rate 80 inches min Updat ti EN eed rate Update operations O Wiggle e Note If you need to use a waterjet Lely Wiggle size cutter to pierce holes at specific Pierce height 0 2 in locations the Drilling operation Plunge rate 8 inches min can be used with a waterjet tool EE setting for this purpose See the Drilling operation page for more information Pause at end of cut 0 15 Name Manually enter the tool name if the Automatically generate name box below is not checked Type Select the correct jet cutting type from the drop down menu shown below Note This page shows setting options for a new Flame Waterjet waterjet cutter To see the other tool setup pages Laser refer to the relevant sections below Plate marker Automatically generate name Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the lower boxes Tool number Enter the tool number here Kerf width Enter the kerf width cut width here Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here Pierce delay Enter the delay time here Power Set your power level in this box if your system has G code controlled power
36. it s own tool length compensation Note Tool length offset is the length of the tool from a particular reference point This may be the spindle nose or any other convenient reference point It is used to compensate for different length tools The post processor may use this value in one of two ways If the controller supports tool length offsets then they are used If not the offset is added to the Z position Reverse multiplier Normally tapping heads spin faster in reverse than forwards If your reverse speed is 1 5x as fast as the plunge speed then use a value of 150 if it is twice as fast use 200 Pitch Enter the thread pitch if you are using a metric machine or the threads per inch TPI if you are using an imperial machine Axial travel An automatic tapping head e g TapMatic automatically reverses when you retract the spindle There is a small amount of backlash when you start to retract as the reverse clutch engages This value is that backlash Underfeed If you feed faster than the tap cuts you will either break the tap or strip the thread The worst that can happen if you underfeed is that the clutch in the head disengages for a short time It is customary to feed slightly slower then the theoretical speed to make sure you don t overfeed Normally 5 10 is enough If the tapping head chatters while tapping reduce the amount of underfeed Spindle speed Enter the spindle speed here Note Spindle speed must be entered
37. left hand m corner of the useable area is at Y 4foot oct SR E E coordinate 0 0 In the Origin box click on the bottom left hand corner marker This tells SheetCam that the origin is the bottom left hand corner Enter coordinates The Working Envelope is the usable area so enter 8 foot in the X size and 4 foot in the Y size include feet foot or to tell SheetCam these measurements are in feet as shown As soon as you exit each edit box the value is converted to inches for you Notice that the main drawing display changes as you change the dimensions so you get an idea what the table looks like 142 Click on the Table display tab You can define the table bottom left and size in this section if you want to show the actual size of the machine as well as the working area This can be useful if you have a small machine and can fit on larger sheets than the cutting envelope Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Sayefload Size Origin C Enter coordinates For simplicity in this example we will leave these values at zero Click on lt OK gt to save your changes Setting up the material Now click on Options Job options The display will zoom and rotate to fit the material We will be cutting this sign out of a 2 x 18 offcut of 1 8 sheet The sheet will be placed up against the 0 0 datum bar Enter the dimensions and position of the material as shown b
38. other so that all of the cut starts are identical Zoom controls Clicking on any of these items will zoom the view as required Measure To use the measure tool click on the point you want to measure from Note If you click near a vertex a join between two lines arcs or the centre of a circle the dimension will snap to that point When you move the mouse the coordinate display at the bottom of the screen shows the X Y length and the number next to the cursor is the distance from the start point to the cursor If you click on another point the measure start point will move to that location You can cancel the measure function by switching to another mode pressing lt Escape gt or by right clicking and selecting End measuring Edit tabs When clicked allows you to insert a holding tab on the part at a location of your choosing The mouse cursor changes to a pointer with a T and a white line will appear at the tab location Move the mouse around to move the tab location Clicking on the part in the required place will insert the tab Note Select the required operation in the Operations list before placing tabs Repeat for each required tab The size of the tab is defined in the Operation Contour Cut path dialog box ee Right click options Delete Right clicking while the mouse pointer is over a placed tab Line of tabs will bring up the following menu screen Horizontal line Vertical line Delete Clear all Clicking on
39. plasma a a m setts cutter to pierce holes at specific aver Loop size Unknown j ae on E locations the Drilling operation T Pl 0 05 in kerf Ho italia sl None can be used with a plasma tool RRE O Triangle setting for this purpose See the E EE J O Are Drilling operation page for more Offset open paths L Material thickness 0 information Reverse cut direction C Edit material it materia Lead in Lead out Contour method None BE Select the contour method required J arc are a using the drop down menu shown A Tangent _ Tangent O Perpendicular By PR an S below Length o in Length i l Note Inside offset will offset the cutter path to the inside of the contour by half the diameter of the kerf of the tool chosen below Use code snippet None Note Outside offset will offset the cutter path to the outside of the contour by half the diameter of the kerf of the tool chosen below Note No offset will set the centre of the tool on the contour line Note The above is for closed contours for open contours see Offset open paths below Layer Layer Select the layer you wish to apply the contour to using Tool TEXT the drop down menu shown OUTLINE Tool Tool S Reena at T1 Plasma 0 04 in kerf EK lr Plasma 0 09 in kerf Select the correct tool using the down menu shown Edit Clicking on the button to the right of the Tool box the one with thre
40. previously written in the New code snippet tool in the Tools menu The Use code snippet drop down menu will show any previously written snippets simply select the one you want to use If the drop down menu says Enter code then code can be entered directly into the lower window Click lt OK gt to apply it as a operation Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Insert code button located in the left hand vertical toolbar 70 Notes tab Notes Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Set post variable Basic tab This function is used to set post processor Basic Notes variables Sometimes a particular post may Variable name implement features that are not otherwise ee 4 available in SheetCam Set post variable is a way of passing parameters to the post processor to control these functions The variable names and functions are defined in the post Variable name Variable name is defined in the post processor Use the drop down menu to select an item if available Value Value is the value that will be applied to that variable Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog bo
41. settings Pierce height Enter the pierce height here Plunge rate Enter the plunge rate here 34 Cut height Enter the cut height here Pause at end of cut Enter the pause time here Update operations Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operation that use this tool For instance this will reset the feed rate Leadin type Select the leadin type using the radio buttons Enter the wiggle size in the box Note Wiggle piercing moves the cutting head back and forth to help prevent damage to the head OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location sat keng Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create a new jet cutting tool button located in the left hand vertical toolbar Note Pierce height plunge rate ramp leadin and cut height are only available for machines where the Z axis is controlled via G code Some machines perform these operations automatically New waterjet tool Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment 35 New laser tool Note All units based on the sele
42. shortest possible route between contours This is the one you would use for most milling routing jobs where you aren t cutting right through Keep parts together Like all inside first it cuts inside then outside If your drawing contains more than one part then each part 1s cut out completely before moving on to the next This is useful for plasma where heat distortion can cause problems if you cut all the insides of all parts then cut all the outsides By the time you get to the last part heat distortion of the sheet can result in the inside not lining up with the outside Minimise thermal distortion This option tries to avoid cutting outlines that are close to other recently cut outlines This helps to spread the heat over the sheet and minimize distortion Increasing Preferred distance between cuts controls the minimum distance between adjacent cuts Increasing this value spreads the heat more evenly but increases overall cut time because of the extra rapid moves between cuts Cut direction This adds a bias to the path optimisation For example if you set the slider toward horizontal H SheetCam will prefer to rapid left right rather than up down Holding Tabs Clicking on this button will open the dialog Length 0 04 in box shown below The tab length and tab Thickness 0 in thickness controls are used to specify the 3 3 respective sizes of holding tabs i e the material left behind to hold parts in place To place tab
43. store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands Comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment Help kees Help opens the help file at the relevant location 66 Drilling Basic tab Basic Cut path Not ee Eege Note All units based on the selection we oolan e le in the Options Application O Mist options Units menu Start depth 0 in Flood Layer Tool TL Millrouter 0 25 in diameter sl Cut depth D in Material thickness 0 2362 in Layer Peck depth 0 3937 in h h p z E E matera Peck retract 0 0394 in Se ect t Ee you WIS to app yt Cut sequence ol contour to using the drop down menu 1 cut of O in shown below Plunge rate 3 937 inchesfmin Spindle speed 1000 rpm Min hole size 0 0394 in Layer 1 WUIRgBIdIS w Max hole size 0 0394 in TEXT Too rT Tool Layer OUTLINE iy l SE Select the correct tool using the down menu shown Note A special case exists for using the drilling operation with a jet cutter See the Special case section below for more information Edit Clicking on the button to the right of the Tool box the one with three dots calls up the Tool Edit dialog box Start depth This function specifies the depth at which to start drilling Note This function could be used if you want to drill a hole into the floor of a previously machined p
44. text directly in your part It uses AutoCad shx fonts Font ARCHSLOLshe ov Note Hold down the lt Shift gt key to scroll the screen with the mouse Double click anywhere in the view panel with the left mouse button to return Height 0 136 in to the plan or overhead view Size Position Horizontal spacing 100 Se Note This option can also be activated by clicking on Vertical spacing 100 So T l the _ button in the toolbar Rotation D degrees Alignment Layer e e The layer the text will be placed on The quick brown Fox Font Select the required font from the drop down menu or use the button the one with three dots to search for a font folder Size Position Height The height of a capital letter This does not include descenders on lower case fonts Horizontal spacing Horizontal distance between characters 100 is the width of one character 50 is half the width Vertical spacing Vertical distance between lines 100 is the height of one character 50 is half the height Rotation The amount to rotate the text in degrees Alignment Select the alignment style using the buttons Text Window Enter the required text in this area Note The text can be dragged with the mouse to position it on the drawing Add to current part Click this button to generate the text and add it to the part Note You can undo this but you cannot delete or edit already placed text Right click o
45. the P button in the toolbar T7 Zoom to fit job Zooms the view panel to fit the job This option can also be activated by clicking on the Vi button in the toolbar Zoom to fit window Clicking on this button will zoom the view to fit the window dragged on the main screen This option can also be activated by clicking on the button in the toolbar Note Zooming can also be achieved by using the lt Page Up gt and lt Page Down gt keyboard buttons Zoom to fit material Zooms the view panel to fit the material This option can also be activated by clicking on the d button in the toolbar Zoom to fit machine Zooms the view panel to fit the machine This option can also be activated by clicking on the D button in the toolbar 78 Options menu Job Options Material tab Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Material Parking Nesting Remnant cutoff Tool change Notes The Material dialog box allows C Use drawing you to specify material parameters Use drawing TE a 7 Checking this box allows you Velie MRE E e to use a drawing to specify the as material shape rather than O having a simple rectangle Checking the box also O O 0O activates the two drop down Gei Enter coordinates menus below y 1 9685 y 1 9685 Note Very complex shapes will slow down the graphic display in the i ial 0 2362 Ba geb Thickness of materi
46. the tabs Clean up exit ramp When ramp cutting with tabs enabling this will clean up the trailing ramp on each tab This takes longer to cut but leaves square edged tabs With this option disabled the ramp is left so the entry to the tab is square but the exit is tapered Auto tabbing Auto tabbing automatically places tabs on every outline Min number of tabs The number of tabs needed depends very much on the material you are working with Generally the minimum number of tabs should be set to 2 This way even small parts will have two tabs 65 Max tab spacing The max tab spacing is the maximum distance between tabs This effectively sets the number of tabs on larger outlines Even on big parts you probably don t need more than 5 so the max tab spacing can be quite large Tabs on inside cuts Check this box to create tabs on the inside of the cut line These are useful to stop the waste piece you have cut out from moving and possibly getting caught by the cutter Clear all Clicking this button clears all tabs Place tabs Clicking this button places the tabs Line tabbing Line tabbing is used while manually placing tabs See the Edit tabs section for more information Line angle Sets the angle of the tab line Tabs on inside cuts Check this box to create tabs on the inside of the cut line Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Notes tab Basic Cut path Notes Notes Use this area to
47. the view to fit the machine m the viewing window Note Zooming can also be achieved by using the lt Page Up gt and lt Page Down gt keyboard buttons 104 Selection toolbar buttons Add text Aun simulation Scroll screen with mouse Place cut start paint Place holding tabs Align parts Edit contour properties Nesting Scroll the screen with the mouse When clicked allows you to scroll the view panel by dragging with the mouse Note Hold lt Shift gt and drag with the mouse to rotate the drawing in three dimensions Double click anywhere in the view panel with the left mouse button to return to the plan or overhead view Right click options Right clicking while using the Scroll screen selection tool will bring up the following menu screen Measure Measure Zoom in PgUp To use the measure tool click on the point you want to Zoom out Dom measure from zoom bo Fit job Zoom to Fit material Note If you click near a vertex a join between two lines arcs or Zoom to Fit machine the centre of a circle the dimension will snap to that point When you move the mouse the coordinate display at the bottom of the screen shows the X Y length and the number next to the cursor is the distance from the start point to the cursor If you click on another point the measure start point will move to that location You can cancel the measure function by switching to another mode pressing lt Escape gt o
48. this function deletes the selected tab Options Note You must have at least one tab before this menu item Zoom in appears in the list 200m out Zoom bo Fit part Line of tabs zoom to Fit job Clicking on this function adds a line of tabs at the angle set in Zoom window the Options dialog box Zoom to Fit material zoom bo Fit machine Horizontal line Measure Clicking on this function adds a horizontal line of tabs Vertical line Clicking on this function adds a vertical line of tabs 107 Clear all Clicking on this menu item will clear all the placed tabs Copy tabs from Hovering over or clicking this menu item will open a pop out dialog box allowing you to copy tabs from another operation using the same layer If no other operations use this layer then the Copy tabs from feature will be greyed out You need at least two operations that use the same layer for the option to become available Say you have two outside offset operations one to do a roughing pass and one to do a finishing pass You can copy the tabs from one pass to the other so that all of the tabs are identical Options Clicking on this function opens the Options dialog box See Jet cutting Cut path tab Holding tabs for more information Zoom controls Clicking on any of these items will zoom the view as required Measure To use the measure tool click on the point you want to measure from Edit contours Use this functi
49. this value if they are too C Use fast rubberband graphics small increase this value Negative angles are clockwise Tab size This function controls the size of the tabs Enter a value as a percentage of the current size Direction arrow size The size depends on the size of your drawing If they are too large reduce this value if they are too small increase this value Note This function is used to control the size of the direction arrows shown on the cutter path display and is a percentage of the tool diameter Direction arrow frequency This is used to control the frequency of the direction arrows shown on the cutter path display For instance entering a figure of 5 would result in five vectors between each arrow location while entering 8 would effectively space the arrows further apart Circle marker size This function controls the size of hole centre markers The size depends on the size of your drawing If they are too large reduce this value if they are too small increase this value Note Hole centre markers will only update when you next open a drawing Colours Click on an item you would like to change in the scrolling menu and then click in the Change box to pick a new colour Colour scheme Clicking on either of the scheme buttons will change the background colour of the main view panel 89 Reverse mouse wheel Checking this item will switch the way the mouse wheel controls the zoom in the main view panel
50. this works Triangle loops take up the least space but are relatively slow to cut due to the sharp corners Arc loops are smoother to cut but take more room If an arc loop would overlap an existing cut SheetCam tries a triangle If the triangle still won t fit the corner is not looped Note Loops will be left out if they would overlap an existing cut path Loop size The slider adjusts the size of the loop used above This is an arbitrary function and can only be established using trial and error methods as it is dependant upon flame jet size on your machine Set the slider make a test cut and adjust as required Use the radio buttons to select the type of loop Edit material Clicking on the Edit material button calls up the Material dialog box Lead in Select the type of lead in required using the radio buttons and enter the size in box Note Size refers to the length of the lead in Lead out Select the type of lead out required using the radio buttons and enter the size in box Note Size refers to the length of the lead out 62 Use code snippet Select the required code snippet from the drop down menu Note The code snippet needs to be previously defined using the Tools New code snippet function The snippet is inserted into the code at the start of the cut just before the cutter plunges to depth Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the
51. to cut a washer then Outside offset will cut the inside of the hole and then the outside of the washer in that order Note Note path tab Layer Layer TEXT we EE Tool OUTLINE 42 No offset will set the centre of the tool on the contour line The above is for closed contours for open contours see Offset open paths on the Cut Select the layer you wish to apply the contour to using the drop down menu Select the correct tool using the down menu Edit Clicking on the button to the right of the Tool box the one with three dots calls up the Tool Edit dialog box Start depth This function specifies the depth at which to start cutting Note This function could be used if you want to cut a second pocket into the floor of a previously machined pocket that is 1 deep Set the start depth to 1 a positive dimension and Sheet am will start machining at this point This saves a lot of ar cutting time CAUTION Improper use of this function could lead to tool part crashes Only change the value from zero 0 the default value if you are actually cutting a pocket within a pocket Cut depth Enter the cut depth here This function controls the total depth of cut Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of cut Some users expect this to be a minus figure Depth per pass Enter the Z increment depth here This function controls the dept
52. to tell SheetCam these measurements are in inches as shown Note As soon as you exit each edit box the value is converted to millimetres for you Notice too that the main drawing display changes as you change the dimensions so that you get an idea what the table looks like Table display tab The table is larger than the actual usable area so we need to enter the size and position of the table Let s assume the Working Envelope origin 0 0 is 1 x 2 away from the corner of the table Click on the Enter coordinates radio button in the Origin section and enter lt 1 gt and lt 2 gt for the X and Y coordinates of the table bottom left corner and enter lt 2 feet gt for the X and Y dimensions n the Size section as shown Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Sayefload Size Origin 8m OOO oe E D E O O O Enter coordinates i ES rari az 135 Note As soon as you exit each edit box the value is converted to millimetres for you Notice too that the main drawing display changes as you change the dimensions so that you get an idea what the table looks like When you have made all the changes outlined above click on the lt OK gt button at the bottom of the dialog box to save your changes Setting up the material Now click on the Options Job options menu item A pop up window will appear with several tabs that allow control of the various functi
53. to the chosen layer but leave Select all P A new layer the original contour s intact on the original layer Contour properties Choosing New layer will open the following window Enter the new layer name Enter a new name for the layer and click lt OK gt Contour Properties Clicking this function opens a dialog box that ea a cece shows how many contours you have selected From layer 17_ and which layers they are on Click lt OK gt to close the box Select options Hovering over or clicking on any items in this menu area will open the following pop out dialog box From all layers Select all From layer 17_ This will select all contours Select all closed contours From layer A new layer from the selected layer s Select all holes b Select all open contours This will select all open contours from the selected layer s Note If there are no open contours this option will be greyed out Select all closed contours This will select all closed contours from the selected layer s Note If there are no closed contours this option will be greyed out 109 Select all holes This will select all open holes from the selected layer s Note If there are no holes contours this option will be greyed out Zoom controls Clicking on any of these items will zoom the view as required Measure To use the measure tool click on the point you want to measure from Nesting This feature allows yo
54. usable area so enter lt 22 gt in the X size and lt 20 gt in the Y size include the to tell SheetCam these measurements are in inches as shown Note This item is purely for reference and it does not affect the G code in any way If you do not wish to use this feature set the sizes to 0 0 Table display tab The table is larger than the actual usable area so we need to enter the size and position of the table Let s assume the Working Envelope origin 0 0 is 1 x 2 away from the corner of the table you should obviously substitute the correct dimensions values for your machine Click on the Enter coordinates radio button in the Origin section and enter lt 1 gt and lt 2 gt for the X and Y coordinates of the table bottom left corner and enter lt 2 feet gt for the X and Y dimensions in the Size section as shown Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Savejload Size Origin d Enter coordinates vip Y 2 in Note As soon as you exit each edit box the value is converted to millimetres for you Notice too that the main drawing display changes as you change the dimensions so that you get an idea what the table looks like Note This item is purely for reference and it does not affect the G code in any way If you do not wish to use this feature set the sizes to 0 0 Save load tab Machine type Post processor Worki
55. which to start tapping Note This function could be used if you want to tap a hole into the floor of a previously machined pocket that is 1 deep Set the start depth to 1 a positive dimension and SheetCam will start machining at this point This saves a lot of ar cutting time Cut depth Enter the cut depth here This function controls the total depth of the tapped hole Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of the hole Some users expect this to be a minus figure Spindle speed Enter the spindle speed here Note Spindle speed must be entered It is used with the tap pitch to work out the feed rate Min hole size Set the minimum hole size here Max hole size Set the maximum hole size here Note Only holes that fall in the range covered by the max and min settings will be machined Note If holes have been specified as points in the drawing then SheetCam has no way of knowing the desired hole size Holes specified as points are always tapped Coolant Select the coolant type from the available choices Note These items only need to be checked if your coolant pump is controlled via software Left hand Check this box if you are cutting a left hand thread Edit material Clicking on the Edit material button calls up the Material dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create a n
56. So how do I find problems Turn off the show segment ends button and turn on the show path ends button S The start and end points of each line will be shown A closed shape has no start and no end so there will be no markers if the shape is fully closed If you see the end markers on a supposedly closed shape it means the lines are not joined at that location You can now go back to your drawing and fix the problem Note Snaps are your best weapon against problems like this Use end snaps and end snaps whenever possible They are the best way to create accurate drawings If you are not familiar with using snaps then look in the documentation for your CAD drawing program Virtually all CAD drawing programs have some form of snap capability Shapes must not self intersect A good example of a self intersecting shape is the figure 8 In the middle of the 8 the lines cross over each other Imagine a path in the shape of an 8 and you are walking along it At one point the outside is on your left and another point the outside is on your right There is no rational way to cut this shape SheetCam tries but the results will almost undoubtedly not be what you are after Explode text in DXF files DXF files cannot handle True Type fonts very well as there is no standardized format to follow To guarantee that the cut path is exactly the same as your drawing you need to convert any text into lines This is often called exploding If you are not fa
57. aining the Post language and functions Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 86 Working envelope tab Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Saveload Size A Ez y 20 in Origin CH CH E C Enter coordinates w vo This tab controls the size of the machine working envelope Size This is the area of the machine that the cutter can physically cut Origin Clicking on one of the radio buttons will quickly establish the working origin relative to the dimensions entered in the Size windows Clicking on the Enter coordinates button will allow you to enter coordinates in the coordinates windows Note Machine origin is usually taken as the bottom left corner of the machine but can be anywhere Note This item is purely for reference and it does not affect the G code in any way If you do not wish to use this feature set the sizes to 0 0 Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Table display tab Note All units based on the selection Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Savefload Size Origin x 24 in y 24 in EC my kd K Enter coordinates Am Y 2 in 87 in the Options Application options Units menu This tab controls the size of the machine table displayed by SheetCam Size Enter the size of the table in the X and Y directions Origin
58. al main window It is recommended EE that you have a reasonably Height of bottom of material above table 0 25 powerful graphics card on your Plunge safety clearance 0 0197 machine if you plan to use this feature Part Use this drop down menu box to select the part in the drawing Layer Use this drop down menu box to select the layer in the drawing Size Enter the size of your material in the X and Y directions Origin Clicking on one of the radio buttons will quickly establish the material origin relative to the machine origin Clicking on the Enter coordinates button will allow you to enter coordinates in the coordinates windows Note Origin is usually taken as the bottom left corner of the machine but can be anywhere Thickness of material Enter the material thickness here 79 Rapid clearance Enter the the amount of clearance you wish to apply during rapid moves Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the clearance amount and will be the height above Z0 which is always the top face of the material to the bottom of the tool Z axis travel below the rapid clearance plane can be at GO rate It only switches to G1 at the plunge safety clearance Height of bottom of material above table Enter the distance the bottom of the material sits above the table Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the height This is used where the part requires a sacrificial
59. arkina E EE 81 EE 74 Pisma CU eege 61 PIUS HG EE 121 SNCT 97 Pocketing torial resencsrnoreranenoi ak 139 EISE ENEE E 73 POST processor TAD EE 7 86 Eeer 5 Eege aot teste te ee 76 EE ee 103 PHOTIC EH ds 133 Rotary t00 geegent 16 Rotating the screen m3AD ececceeeeeees 132 RUN DOSE PrOCeSSOL araa 103 Run post processor toolbar buttons 103 Run simulati isna 114 SE l Save loaa taD a Ee ee 9 88 Scroll the screen with the mouse 105 Selection toolbar buttons eeeeeeeeees 105 Set post processor v r ble 119 GEES 71 Setting up the machme 6 Setting up the material eeecee eens 10 SCUD WIZAIC E 2 99 Shapes must not self intersect 12 129 SHOW Cut Start PONS ciseacdudicesieAcdediveieds 102 SHOW input d E 76 102 Show machine and work 77 102 Show path drecthong 77 102 SHOW EE 77 102 SHOW rapid move 77 102 Show segment ends 76 102 Show start e e CN 71 Show tool paths 77 102 Show true width 77 103 SA URIE ete RN EE 126 EE 69 DV Gr pC EE 27 Table display tabi EE 8 87 TAP PING eoid r r 54 Template EE 74 GU E 117 Ke ee EE 127 Ru Oe 58 TOOL Chan tabr OR E 84 JOOLS EE 16 Reie EE 41 elteren 118 Rei 102 Toolbars E 93 Tools toolbar buttons 118 TOGOISGU UE 74 Ree E EE 132 Er 9 pene ran emer aa Ene te ape rere en et 76 UDG Ce EE 9 lee EE gebeten deet 129 EE 76 View toolbar buttons cceeeseeeeeeeees 102 WOK TO EE 2 Work HoW eer re Il Working envelope ob
60. atch update Batch update Calculator Select the directory to scan LJ Desktop ES My Documents D My Computer E SA My Network Places Note Note Folder My Computer Make New Folder bel 97 This dialog box is used to set the Language used by SheetCam Click on the language of choice and then click lt OK gt Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Selecting this option opens a dialog window as shown below Use the directory tree to navigate to your required folder SheetCam will load each job in turn then save it with an image in PNG format If your directory has a lot of files you may want to go and have a cup of coffee while you wait This process puts a heavy stress on the SheetCam internal code so there is a possibility it may crash and some of the tool paths may not be generated on complex jobs Check your job file afterwards if there is any doubt Calculator Toggles a simple calculator on or off This option can also be activated by clicking on the Ee button in the toolbar Help menu Help Calls up the help file Tutorials Hovering over or clicking this menu item will open the following pop out dialog box gesend Select a tutorial from the available 7 Help window L L BTko H ET haces Tukorials V Introduction Setup wizard Operation Tutorials Setting up Sheetlam TMG F Debug log Reset pane layout About Install l
61. ate for different length tools The post processor may use this value in one of two ways If the controller supports tool length offsets then they are used If not the offset is added to the Z position Reverse multiplier To speed up the tapping cycle you can use a higher spindle speed when retracting Make sure you don t exceed the machine s maximum rated spindle speed spindle speed x reverse multiplier Pitch Enter the thread pitch if you are using a metric machine or the threads per inch TPI if you are using an imperial machine Underfeed Rigid tap holders normally have some axial travel to allow for slight variations in spindle speed It is sometimes useful to feed slightly slower then the ideal to prevent overfeeding and breaking the tap Normally you would use 0 3 Spindle speed Enter the spindle speed here Note Spindle speed must be entered It is used with the tap pitch to work out the feed rate 26 Spindle rotation Select the spindle direction from the available choices Note These items only need to be checked if your spindle motor is controlled via software Note The spindle direction also affects the cut direction For instance if climb cutting outside contours are cut clockwise if the spindle 1s clockwise or anticlockwise if the spindle is anticlockwise Update operations Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operation that use this tool For instance this will reset the spi
62. ath Notes Select Tool 2 T2 for this job and set oolan Contour method Es the cut depth to 6 25mm because we SOM want to cut all the way through our 6mm O Food panel The box in the lower right corner Cut depth em eae shows you that the part will be cut in 1 Depth per pass pass of 4mm and one pass of 2 25mm Tool Start depth Finish allowance j Cut i Feed rate 400 mmmn p Start depth can save time when Plunge rate and 1 cut of 2 25 mm e machining an area that has already been Spindle speed Machined 1n a previous operation or instance if you are cutting a hole in a allze Jm _ ees pocket You can set the start depth to the depth of the pocket then SheetCam will start machining at the bottom of the pocket rather than cutting air to get to depth For this tutorial leave it set to zero Do not close this dialog box yet as we will need it on the next page 140 Lead in and lead out When the cutter plunges into the work it may burn and leave a mark To avoid this we can tell SheetCam to plunge the tool in close to the cut then move in and start cutting the profile This is Basic Cut start Cut path Notes Lead in Lead out C None Mone Arc Are Tangent Tangent Perpendicular Perpendicular called lead in Plasma cutters tend to make a messy hole when they start and finish so lead in and lead out can be very handy if you are plasma cutting Click on the Cut
63. awing origin Use points For drilling For Scaling and Drawing position information see Open SVG options above Use points for drilling Check this option if you marked the hole locations with points in your original drawing Note For tips on creating suitable drawings see the Hints and Tips section Recent drawings Opens a pop up window showing the last five drawings opened 15 Tool setup Once you have the machine and material information entered and a drawing selected you can define the tools you intend to use Tools are selected by clicking on the Tools menu item select the correct type of tool from the drop down menu Note The tools shown in the drop down menu are based on the Hew rotary kool Mew jet cutting tool New code snippet choices made in the Options Machine menu Note Tools can also be selected by clicking on the required tool Tool table button on the left of the main screen Rotary tools New mill motes S Note All units based on the selection Name router 0 375 in damet il in the Options Application h EI Automatically generate name options Units menu gagtawberHg Spindle rotation cw D i Diameter 0 375 in Note This menu item is only visible if Occw ee O oft Rotary cutting has been Tool length offset Din selected an the Options Machine Machine type Feed rate EES inches min Update operations menu poe ite
64. b options Material menu item You will still get a warning if you cut right through the spoil board Q Why would the lead in options be disabled They used to work but are now greyed out A You have Overcut corners or Sharpen corners on the Cut Path tab checked You cannot use lead in when overcutting or sharpening corners 152 Index PO OUI E 100 Add new code snmpet 118 Adad NOW TOMOU rdin 119 Add NEW HOCK EE 119 Advanced EE 96 ADO Erene eegen 120 Annoying dialogs ob 92 Application options 89 Autoload Pluemm 121 Bae Re 97 Batch Update Pluem cc eeseeeceeeeeeeeees 122 Calculator DURO gen 118 Calculator PIG soseen TO 122 Centre GrH EE 128 Codec re 76 Context sensitive bein iii 128 CODIO UP eeu teaielesnetnetoat 42 Copy and duplicate dfferences 128 e ue EEN 101 Create new drilling operaton 119 Create new jet cutting operation 6 119 Create new tapping operaton 119 Creatine EES i 11 Creating your dr wimng 128 CULSOL POSTUON eebe enee 120 Default director osta EE 95 DEDO CUl n OE N 129 DEVelOper TOO EE 101 Display fa E 89 Document navigation 2 Dae TEE 132 Drawing EI 74 Drawing import ob 92 Krea 67 DXF DIUS certe e E N 123 EE 108 Edit c tstart POMS eege dee 105 Edt WICH cesan as 76 FUG TADS E E E 107 Enter new X Y Jocapnon 120 EE Ee ee SE 130 EXCCMOM pUe Mira 123 E E AEN AETA I EO ives ES E ETAN 76 Explode text in DXF files eee 12 129 Eege 151 Fle Meni
65. be accessed via the Operation Set post variable menu item Move to operation Clicking on this button will open the Move to operation set up window Note This can also be accessed via the Operation Move to menu item Lower right toolbar 0 428 in 1 7901 in Pos 0 in yO in AO degrees Mirror d YC Enter new X location o Current cursor position Enter new Y location Information area loading bars hints ete Enter angle of rotation Check box to mirror on X or Y axis Information area Shows file loading bars hints etc Cursor position Displays the current cursor position Enter new X Y location Enter the location of the part centre in the X and Y directions to move the part Note Part centre becomes lower left corner if Options Application options Display Use bottom left coordinates is turned on Angle To rotate the part enter the required angle Note To rotate clockwise enter a positive value to rotate counterclockwise enter a negative value Mirror Checking the lt X gt box will mirror the part in the X plane Checking the lt Y gt box will mirror the part in the Y plane Checking both boxes will mirror the part in both planes 120 Plugins SheetCam features several plugins as standard and more can be written by outside developers The standard ones are as follows and can be accessed via the Options Plugin options menu item Autoload Plugin This dialog box controls the Autoload plugin
66. board under it in order to machine it 1 e a through pocket or cut out in a sheet of material SheetCam will let you cut into the board but it will not let you cut into the table Plunge safety clearance Plunge safety clearance 1s used when doing a rapid move to cut height When SheetCam moves to the top of the cut it stops slightly short and moves the remaining distance at feed rate This allows for inaccuracies in your setup and any chips that may be in the way The last thing you want is to slam the tool into the work at full speed By default the clearance 1s 0 5mm which seems to work pretty well in most cases Older versions of SheetCam have always had this hard coded to 0 5mm Enter your required distance in the box Save material Clicking this button will allow you to save the material settings to a suitable location Load material Clicking this button will allow you to load a previously saved material Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 80 Parking Tab Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu ETERS i Material Parking Nesting Remnant cutoff Tool change Notes The Parking dialog box allows use x you to specify parking position Ouse Y parameters Cluse z Parking position Parking position If any of the Use position boxes are checked then the machine will go to the position entered into the preceding box at the end of t
67. cation options Advanced tab Allow multiple parts is selected First we need to define a bigger sheet to place the parts on Select Options Job options Material tab and increase the size to 4 x 2 Click on the Nesting button E then click on the part select it Right click and select Duplicate A duplicate will be created and attached to the mouse cursor Drag it above the original part and drop it by clicking with the mouse The duplicate will appear m the part list in the top left hand corner If you need to you can press the escape key to cancel the operation If you are placing a number of parts it helps to have a grid to line them up Right click and select Grid options Enter U S in the X and Y boxes in the Grid size section Now when you drag parts they will snap to the grid You can also bump them with the cursor keys In the Bump increment section set the amount each bump moves the part To rotate a part enter the bump angle into the Angle box and set the keys you would like to use rotate the part clockwise or counter clockwise in the relevant boxes Duplicates and copies Switch to the normal mode by clicking on the View toolpaths button R While in View toolpaths mode you will notice that the original part called the parent is orange and the duplicates are grey as shown below Duplicates simply offset scale and D rotate the code generated from the AP original part Any changes to the
68. ch part is cut before the next one i e the opposite of the above This feature allows you to drag operations up and down the list You cannot change the order of operation in any one part For example let s assume you have two parts part 1 op 1 part op 2 part 2 op 1 part 2 op 2 You can drag part 1 op 2 anywhere in the list as long as it after part 1 op 1 Once you have moved it you can move part 1 op 1 as long as it appears before part 1 op 2 The same applies for part 2 Basically it is a manual version of Minimise tool changes Manual optimisation keep parts together This feature is similar to the one above but you can only move whole parts up and down the list In this mode you cannot move individual operations This is basically a manual version of Keep parts together 82 Cut Direction When optimising the part cut order this sets the preferred cut direction For instance if it 1s fully towards H the optimisation will prefer to move to the next part on the left right rather than up down Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Remnant cutoff tab Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu OO 1 MN Material Parking Nesting Remnant cutoff Tool change Notes The Remnant cutoff dialog Enabled C box allows you to specify Tool T2 Plasma 0 0591 kerf v parameters for removing scrap Feed rate 0 0394 ipm material fro
69. checked the jet cutting controls are available under the Tools menu and the Operation menu The respective buttons also appear on the various tool bars When unchecked these controls are hidden Jet cutting includes plasma laser flame water jet etc Note Check both boxes if you want rotary controls and jet cutting controls available under the Tools menu and the Operation menu The fourth screen of the Setup Wizard deals with Post processor selection Select the correct processor for your machine controller A brief description SEH of the processor file will appear in the utput File units Output Folder metric OL lower window if available Inch C Drawing Folder Job file Folder Always use this Folder Choose a post processor for your machine If you are not sure what post to select don t worry you can always change it later Output file extension tap Post processor Mach Mach post processor Non modal G codes Modal coordinates Comments enclosed with and 4 Incremental 1J uses G43 tool length offsets Import post Edit post Post documentation Thank you for answering these questions The fifth screen of the Setup Wizard Click finish to continue completes the setup process You can run this wizard again at any time by going to the Help menu Click lt Finish gt to continue lt Back Frish Cancel Now let s look at where you can enter the same in
70. ction in the Options Application options Units menu Tool Notes Note This menu item 1s only visible if Name Jet cutting has been selected in Type Laser w Automatically generate name ako the Options Machine Machine e Kee type menu Kerf width 0 04 in type Ramp Feed rate 100 inches min Update operations co Pierce delay 0 s Note If you need to use a laser to Power 0 ee pierce holes at specific locations EEN the Drilling operation can be ee eik used with a laser setting for this purpose See the Drilling operation page for more information Tool number 9 Cut height 9 1 in Pause at end of cut Us Name Manually enter the tool name if the Automatically generate name box below is not checked Type Select the correct jet cutting type from the drop down menu shown below Note This page shows setting options for a new laser To see the other tool setup pages refer to the relevant sections below Automatically generate name Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the lower boxes Tool number Enter the tool number here Kerf width Enter the kerf width cut width here Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here Pierce delay Enter the delay time here Power Set your power level in this box if your system has G code controlled power settings Pierce height Enter the pierce height here Plunge rate Enter th
71. d First define your tool It must be defined as a V cutter and you must enter the V angle Pocket the area to clear the majority of the material using a regular milling cutter Now do an inside contour using the V tool With the V tool selected go to the Cut path tab You should see a slider called Angle threshold and a check box for Enabled If you are engraving text or something that 1s made up of lots of short line segments you may find that SheetCam is sharpening some very shallow corners which wastes time and does not make much difference to the final result Increasing the angle threshold will remove these When sharpening corners you may not want to sharpen shallow angles This option controls how sharp an angle has to be to trigger corner sharpening Consider the letter C where the outline consists of a large number of short line segments You don t normally want to sharpen the join between every line Enabled Check this box to apply corner sharpening to corners Overcut corners Note If this is selected the cutter will cut into inside corners to allow room for a sharp cornered part to fit For instance if you are cutting a rebate for a square part to fit into this option will save manually squaring out the corners This option is not available for V cutters Angle threshold Angle threshold adjusts how sharp the corner needs to be before the overcutting 1s applied Enabled Check this box to apply Overcut corners
72. d the sequence number will be incremented by 1 If the sequence number reaches the total number of start points it will wrap round to 0 The Escape key cancels the command Reverse cut direction This reverses the cut direction for the current start point only allowing you to switch between climb conventional cutting for individual start points Reverse cut side Reverse cut side is only used when using No offset and appears as greyed out at all other times As there is no real inside or outside when using No offset leadins and leadouts can end up on the wrong side of the cut Reverse cut side will place the leadin leadout on the other side Corner snap distance If you try placing a start point within the specified distance of a corner an intersection between a line arc and another line arc then the start point will snap to that corner Enter the snap distance The Escape key cancels the command Copy start points from Hovering over or clicking this menu item will open a pop out dialog box allowing you to copy start points from another operation using the same layer If no other operations use this layer then the Copy start points from feature will be greyed out 106 You need at least two operations that use the same layer for the option to become available Say you have two outside offset operations one to do a roughing pass and one to do a finishing pass You can copy the start points from one pass to the
73. der as the job file Check this box to save an image Co Select the directories to use of the job in PNG format along IF a Folder is not checked it will remember the Folder wou last used e h h b fil Drawing CADocuments and Settings Larry Green My Documents Flight with the JO Le Job C Program Files Sheet am THS DevelopmentiLanguagesten Job report C Documents and SettingsiLarry GreeniMy Documents E LI Use the same folder as the job Material F C Documents and SettingstLarry Geer Documents file l i EP i Operation C Documents and Settings Larry Green My Documents B Click this radio button to use Part ClDocuments and Settings Larry aren Documents ig the same folder as the job file Tools C Program Files SheetCam TNG Development LI SC E Select the directories to use Remember last e EC Click this radio button to select Job file Folder the directories to use and then Al this Fold GE r select the directories using the menu items below Output file extension tap Directory locations These dialog boxes are used to display the default directory locations To change the default location click on the check box and then click on the button to the right the one displaying three dots and select a new location Note In practice each of the boxes shown above will contain information relevant to your particular computer installation If a folder
74. e Flute length Enter the tool flute length here i e the length from the tip of the tool to the end of the cutting flute Tool length offset Enter the amount of tool offset here This should only be used if the machine controller does not have it s own tool length compensation Note Tool length offset is the length of the tool from a particular reference point This may be the spindle nose or any other convenient reference point It is used to compensate for different length tools The post processor may use this value in one of two ways If the controller supports tool length offsets then they are used If not the offset is added to the Z position 19 Depth per pass Enter the depth here This function controls the depth of cut per pass Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of cut Some users expect this to be a minus figure Plunge rate Enter the plunge rate here Spindle speed Enter the spindle speed here Note Speed only needs to be specified if your spindle motor is controlled via software However the post processor will issue a warning if the speed 1s set to zero 0 Spindle rotation Select the spindle direction from the available choices Note These items only need to be checked if your spindle motor is controlled via software Note The spindle direction also affects the cut direction For instance if climb cutting outside contours are cut clockwise if the spindle 1s clock
75. e This is called a Length 0 2 lengot O leadin We can do the same when BR a the cut ends leadout Lead in Lead out Ey Mone O Mone Arc Arc Use code snippet Mere wi 7 ee Se pe 7 Ensure that your dialog box looks like the one shown Now click on lt OK gt to save the changes Editing start points Notice that some of the leadins don t fit properly This drawing was deliberately drawn to emphasize the problem Click on the Place cut start point button 4 Each start point is marked with an orange S Start points can be placed on any junction between lines arcs a segment end If you have the Show segment ends button down you will see these points marked with white dots The cursor changes to an arrow with an S when it is near a segment end Click on a segment end in the larger part of the loop part of the letter P to move the start point As the mouse button is being used to place start points you can t use it to scroll the screen Hold down the shift key and drag with the mouse to scroll The letter A presents some more problems There is simply not enough room in the left hand leg for the leadin out 145 Right click on the start point and select Properties Uncheck Use operation leadin leadout and change the lead in and out sizes to 0 15 in both cases Click on lt OK gt You can now position the start point so t
76. e lt 1 inch gt into a cut depth box the value will change to 25 4mm as soon as you leave the box Machine type Select Options Machine from the main tool bar and ensure the Machine type tab is active as shown below Note At least one option must be selected at all times Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Save load Rotary cutting fincludes milling and routing Jet cutting tincludes plasma laser and water jet Rotary cutting Checking this item will toggle the rotary cutting option on or off When checked the rotary cutting controls are available under the Tools menu and the Operation menu The respective buttons also appear on the various tool bars When unchecked these controls are hidden Rotary cutting includes milling routing drilling tapping etc Jet cutting Checking this item will toggle the jet cutting option on or off When checked the jet cutting controls are available under the Tools menu and the Operation menu The respective buttons also appear on the various tool bars When unchecked these controls are hidden Jet cutting includes plasma laser flame water jet etc Note Check both boxes if you want rotary controls and jet cutting controls available under the Tools menu and the Operation menu Setting up the machine Make sure the Show machine and work button is active the button is active when it has a grey lined bo
77. e and then click lt OK gt 139 Define another tool Now we need to cut the sign out Just because we can we will use a different cutter This time we will use a 0 25in diameter cutter Click on the Create a new rotary tool button and enter the settings as shown below Tool Mot E Remember that as soon as you leave the diameter box the diameter will be e S iodderettin converted to millimetres Now click on Diameter Bas i oom lt OK gt to save the settings A CCW off Name kil router 6 35 mg Type Millfrouter w M Automatically generate name Flute length 15 mm Tool length offset a mm Depth per pass 4mm TJ Update operations Feed rate 400 mm min Update operations Plunge rate 200 mmnmin Update operations Spindle speed 8000 rpm Update operations Cal Using layers Click on the Create a new contour operation button 8 to open the contour editor We want to cut around the outside so select Outside Offset from the drop down menu For the layer select OUTLINE as this is the profile we want to cut The layers TEXT and OUTLINE were created in the original drawing See your CAD package documentation on how to create layers If your CAD package does not support layers you can use the layers feature in SheetCam refer to the Help section but in many cases it 1s easier to set up the correct layers in the CAD package before exporting the drawing file Basic Cut start Cut p
78. e cutter is when it starts calculating the paths Paths nearest the start point will be cut first while complying with the above rules Cutting rules All inside first Inside contours are cut first then outside This is the way SheetCam always used to work Useful for plasma or for milling routing when you are cutting all the way through Shortest path This option uses the shortest possible route between contours This is the one you would use for most milling routing jobs where you aren t cutting right through Keep parts together Like all inside first it cuts inside then outside If your drawing contains more than one part then each part is cut out completely before moving on to the next This is useful for plasma where heat distortion can cause problems 1f you cut all the insides of all parts then cut all the outsides By the time you get to the last part heat distortion of the sheet can result in the inside not lining up with the outside Cut direction This adds a bias to the path optimisation For example if you set the slider toward horizontal H SheetCam will prefer to rapid left right rather than up down Reverse open paths Check this box to reverse the cut direction of open paths Note If this item is selected and you are cutting to depth in a number of passes then the cutter will reverse direction on each pass If this 1s turned off the cutter will lift and return to the start of the path for each pass It can give a better
79. e dots calls up the Tool Edit dialog box Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here 6l Max chain length Specify the maximum length allowed for chain cuts in this box SheetCam will then use this value when it calculates the chains between parts Piercing wears consumables so if possible SheetCam will try to cut from the end of one outline to the start of the next The maximum chain length defines the maximum distance to cut If the distance is further than this value the tool will lift and move to the next cut start as normal Offset open paths Open paths are always offset to the right of the start point That is if you were standing at the start point looking down the line the offset would be to your right To reverse the side of the offset move the start point to the other end of the line Inside outside offset make no difference as a line doesn t have an inside or outside Note If you have climb cut selected the cut will start at the opposite end of the path to the start point I know this is counter intuitive but it is the only way to maintain the offset to the right rule Reverse cut direction Check this box to reverse the cut direction Loop sharp corners When plasma flame water jet laser cutting the exit point of the jet lags behind the entry point This causes rounding of sharp corners To get around this problem the corner is cut in a loop instead Set up a simple jet cutting job on a square and you will see how
80. e name ae ee A Spindle rotation Es Te Diameter 0 375 in CH r a coy Im s Flute length CH Con Tool length offset Un Reverse multiplier 200 D Pitch 16 TPI Axial travel 0 15 in Underfeed 10 Spindle speed IEN rpm Update operations Type Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Note This menu item is only visible if Rotary cutting has been selected in the Options Machine Machine type menu Name Manually enter the tool name if the Automatically generate name box below is not checked Select the correct tool type from the drop down menu shown below J Type Milljrouter Note This page shows setting options for a new Mill router angth Rigid tap Thread mill various tool types Automatically generate name tapping head rotary cutter To see the other tool setup pages refer to their relevant Tapping head sections Note See New mill for a full description of the Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the lower boxes 23 Tool number Enter the tool number here Diameter Enter the diameter of the tool here Flute length Enter the tool flute length here 1 e the length from the tip of the tool to the end of the cutting flute Tool length offset Enter the amount of tool offset here This should only be used if the machine controller does not have
81. e plunge rate here 36 Cut height Enter the cut height here Pause at end of cut Enter the pause time here Update operations Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operation that use this tool For instance this will reset the feed rate Leadin type Select the leadin type using the radio buttons Enter the wiggle size in the box Note Wiggle piercing moves the cutting head back and forth to help prevent damage to the head OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location sat keng Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create a new jet cutting tool button located in the left hand vertical toolbar Note Pierce height plunge rate ramp leadin and cut height are only available for machines where the Z axis is controlled via G code Some machines perform these operations automatically New laser Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment Sg New plate marker tool Tool Notes al 7 Note All units based on the selection Type Laser v V Automatically generate name in the
82. ed rate here Pierce delay Enter the delay time here Pierce height Enter the pierce height here 30 Plunge rate Enter the plunge rate here Cut height Enter the cut height here Pause at end of cut Enter the pause time here Update operations Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operation that use this tool For instance this will reset the feed rate Leadin type Select the leadin type using the radio buttons Enter the wiggle size in the box Note Wiggle piercing moves the cutting head back and forth to help prevent damage to the head OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Fa Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create a new jet cutting tool button located in the left hand vertical toolbar Note Pierce height plunge rate ramp leadin and cut height are only available for machines where the Z axis is controlled via G code Some machines perform these operations automatically New plasma tool Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment 31 New flame
83. eeen ana E A 76 Finish Selm eege 130 Frequently asked ouestons 151 G code plugin 5 5225s hescdedcededdosabophanthesdieesceuates 124 Hints and TIPS EE 128 FAP GE E 124 PALOMA M OM ARCA E 120 ere KEE 2 OSER CO dO O 70 Sert G COl EE 119 stall licence EE 100 Introdu e EE 2 JECCUEING too EE 30 dee 141 JOD EE 73 dE HHN ee 79 JOO TE DOT EE 103 Languis E 97 bayer egene 76 Load least 75 Lower right oolbar 120 eege 125 Machine and material parameters 131 Machine Opon ee 85 Machine parameters eege 131 Machine SCID eneon 133 Nee 6 Machine Ype e 7 85 Material parameters cccccesecccceeeeeeseeeees 131 EE 133 Material Ge DEE 10 79 Ee 120 le ET E 132 WOW 610 EE 12 euer 119 WE 110 INC SUM Ke EE 82 Nesine Er E EE 149 New code SUID EE 40 New dreon 19 NewTame too EE 32 New Jet cutting button 118 New laser e EE 36 WEE 16 NGw plasinia too eegene Seene 30 Newletter ee 38 New poe kE EE 51 New Teid EE 29 New rotary tool button 118 New tapping bhead 23 ING Ct CAC T eiee cateitn cient aadnctae 28 ING WN EE ee 21 New waterjet tool 34 153 Open and Save optons 73 ise Ree E 15 Open Excellon optons 14 Open G COdS options eege 14 Open HPOL OPOS ir isciscscescaiceiacacinsstaceasiaededs 14 Open settings Tolder eeseeeeeeeeeees 101 Open aen 13 Opening drawimgs 13 ist rn GE 42 Operations toolbar button 119 COP UONS MENU DE 79 Outlines must be properly closed 11 Panni oenen n T O 132 P
84. elected then X and Y represent the space between the duplicates Note To calculate the spacing the parts are assumed to be rectangular with the rectangle being the smallest that will completely enclose the part For some oddly shaped parts you may well end up using a negative X or Y to minimize wasted material If Grid is selected then X and Y represent the horizontal and vertical increment For instance if X is 2 then the duplicates will be placed every 2 in the X axis Offset even rows If you are laying out irregularly shaped or circular parts then simply placing them on a regular grid would be inefficient Instead you can offset alternate rows to pack them in more tightly If an array does not come out the way you want it to you can always undo Edit gt Undo or Ctrl Z the operation Enabled Clicking the Enabled check box enables the Offset even rows function Dimensions can be left in the boxes and used as required by simply toggling the Enabled check box on or off Disable Enable A disabled part will not be cut Using the right click menu is the same as using the check box next to the part name Lock Unlock When in nesting mode the part tree shows a padlock symbol next to the part name see below Parts This symbol indicates if the part is locked or not vim untitled Locked parts cannot be moved while in nesting mode Lock Unlock appears in the right click menu in the part tree and the main graphics windows in nest
85. elow The main display will re size to show the material as you enter the values To be safe we will run the cutter 0 5 above the panel when moving between cuts so enter 0 5 in the Rand clearance box Leave the last Material Parking l Nesting Tool change Motes C Use drawing O O O Enter coordinates A QE Thickness of material 0 125 Rapid clearance 0 5 Height of bottom of material above table 0 Plunge safety clearance 0 0197 Load material 143 value as zero because this is not used for plasma cutting Plunge safety clearance is used when doing a rapid move to cut height When SheetCam moves to the top of the cut it stops slightly short and moves the remaining distance at feed rate This allows for inaccuracies in your setup and any chips that may be in the way The last thing you want is to slam the tool into the work at full speed By default the clearance is 0 5mm 0 0197 which seems to work pretty well in most cases Older versions of SheetCam have always had this hard coded to 0 5mm Enter your required distance in the box Now click on lt OK gt Defining a tool Now we have set up the machine we need to define the plasma cutter settings i Click on the Create a new jet cutting tool icon to bring up the plasma cutter dialog box For the Type select Plasma in the drop down menu Enter 1 in the Tool number box Tools are always displayed in numerical order so
86. ence agreement Install licence file Locate the file license camlic and click lt Open gt This will register your version of SheetCam Note This requires a restart of SheetCam to complete the registration 100 Create a support file This will create a support file that can be sent to the creators of SheetCam for analysis Please enter any information you think may help Enter your email address if you wank a reply Files that will be sent vw SheetCam TNS Development ml process context description vw SheetCam TNS Development ini Settings vw Mach3 scpost Post processor vw DE tmp Backup of current job vw og txt Log Create File Create and Upload File boxes and click lt OK gt Once saved you can access that file and attach it to Note If possible you should have the problem job open when creating a support file Enter a brief description of the fault encountered in the upper text box Enter a valid email address in the middle text box You cannot receive a reply if you do not supply an address Use the check boxes to select which items are to be included with the support file Click on lt Create file gt to save the support file to your hard drive as a zip file Enter a suitable name location in the appropriate an email for support Click on lt Create and upload file gt to automatically send the package You must have an active internet connection at the time in order for this
87. ere Pierce height Enter the pierce height here Plunge rate Enter the plunge rate here 32 Cut height Enter the cut height here Pause at end of cut Enter the pause time here Update operations Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operation that use this tool For instance this will reset the feed rate Leadin type Select the leadin type using the radio buttons Enter the wiggle size in the box Note Wiggle piercing moves the cutting head back and forth to help prevent damage to the head OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location ae l l a Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create a new jet cutting tool button located in the left hand vertical toolbar Note Pierce height plunge rate ramp leadin and cut height are only available for machines where the Z axis is controlled via G code Some machines perform these operations automatically New flame tool Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment 33 New waterjet tool Note All units based on the selection
88. essor Non modal G codes Modal coordinates Comments enclosed with and Incremental 1J uses G43 bool length offsets Import post Edit post Fost documentation 134 Select the Metric radio button in the Output file units section and Mach 3 in the Post processor drop down menu as shown Note The units selected in the Output file units section only affect the generated code They do not alter the units used in SheetCam Note While G code is supposedly a standard most machines speak different dialects of G code To get around this problem SheetCam uses post processors These are little programs that run inside SheetCam and create code customized for particular machines You should select the correct post processor for your machine using the drop down menu when making your own files but for this tutorial select Mach 3 Working envelope tab Let s assume our machine table is 2 feet square with a usable area of 22 by 20 The bottom left hand corner of the usable area will be at coordinate 0 0 Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Savesload Size Origin ss Joo o O O O O O Enter coordinates gee In the Origin box click on the bottom left hand corner marker This tells SheetCam that the origin is the bottom left hand corner The Working Envelope is the usable area so enter lt 22 gt in the X size and lt 20 gt in the Y size include the
89. ew tapping operation button g located in the left hand vertical toolbar 55 Cut path tab Cut ordering Basic Cut path Notes Optimisation Cut ordering Optimisation Cutting rules A J l CH Auto Optimise now Gei All inside First uto manua Manual Optimise now Shortest path Select auto or manual path ee Keep parts together optimisation using the radio Cut direction buttons Wes re Note If Auto is selected the cut sequence is calculated automatically SheetCam tries Q to minimise rapid moves EE following rules 1 Open contours are cut first 2 Inside contours are cut next 1 e the hole in a washer 3 Outside contours are cut last If Manual is selected then you can manually set the cut sequence by editing the start points Optimise now This button optimises the cut path immediately This is useful to see the effect of any changes or to create a starting point for manual editing Start position This is the point where SheetCam assumes the cutter is when it starts calculating the paths Paths nearest the start point will be cut first while complying with the above rules Cutting rules All inside first Inside contours are cut first then outside This is the way SheetCam always used to work Useful for plasma or for milling routing when you are cutting all the way through Shortest path This option uses the shortest possible route between contours This is the one you wou
90. f you need to run a block of code after a tool change it can be entered here Examples are e X Y Z where is a suitable location to start the next operation e Code to reference zero the tool Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 84 Notes tab Material Parking Nesting Remnant cutoff Tool change Notes A Notes Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the Job options settings Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Machine options Machine type tab Machine type Post processor Working envelope l Table display Savejload Note At least one option must be Rotary cutting fincludes milling and routing selected at all times Jet cutting includes plasma laser and water jet Rotary cutting Checking this item will toggle the rotary cutting option on or off When checked the rotary cutting controls are available under the Tools menu and the Operation menu The respective buttons also appear on the various tool bars When unchecked these controls are hidden Jet cutting Checking this item will toggle the jet cutting option on or off When checked the jet cutting controls are available under the Tools menu and the Operation menu The respective buttons also appear on the various tool bars When unchecked these controls are hidden Note Check both boxes if you want rotary controls and jet cutting
91. feature to work Click on lt Cancel gt to close the window Open settings folder Opens a pop up window showing the SheetCam settings folder Developer tools Hovering your mouse over the Developer tools menu item will open the following pop out menu list Help window RT Lac jm A Setup wizard Debug log Reset pane layout About Install license File Create 4 support File Developer tools Compile Lua macro 101 Compile Lua macro Selecting this item opens a pop up window Select the file you require and click lt Open gt Used mainly by developers Plugins can be written in the Lua macro programming language Normally these are plain text files If you want to hide your code you can compile the plugin so no one can read the code Toolbars There are a number of toolbars within SheetCam and the following section details their various functions Note All toolbars can be dragged from their default locations by clicking and dragging on either the three dots to the left of the toolbar or by clicking and dragging the header bar in the case of the Parts Tools and Operations toolbars Click and drag to replace them at the default location Note SheetCam includes a Toolbar Editor that allows you to make custom toolbars It can be found under the Toolbars tab of the Options Application options menu item View toolbar buttons BEEBE true width Show cut start points Sho
92. finish but obviously takes longer Offset open paths Open paths are always offset to the right of the start point That is if you were standing at the start point looking down the line the offset would be to your right To reverse the side of the offset move the start point to the other end of the line Inside outside offset make no difference as a line doesn t have an inside or outside Note If you have climb cut selected the cut will start at the opposite end of the path to the start point I know this is counter intuitive but it is the only way to maintain the offset to the right rule Leadins on open paths Check this box to apply leadins to open paths Climb cut Check this box to select climb cutting Note This will reverse the cut direction on closed paths 46 Sharpen Overcut corners Note Sharpen corners will only appear if you have selected a V cutter while Overcut corners will only appear if you have selected a mill router Sharpen corners Note If you are using a V cutter on inside corners the radius of the cut is bigger at the top than Note at the bottom due to the taper of the cutter Turning on sharpen corners ramps the cutter up on inside corners so that the radius of the cut is the same at the top as it is at the bottom This is a benefit when engraving text or graphics This option is not available for mill router cutters The steps for using corner sharpening are shown below Angle threshol
93. formation 1n the Options menu Preferred units Select Options Application options from the main tool bar and ensure the Units tab is active as shown below Eg r e BEER This dialog box is used to set up the base or preferred units used by many of SheetCam s functions Angular units degrees W Feed rate inchesjmin ci Thread pitch mm v Linear units Enter the linear units from the large drop down menu Time s yt Angular units Enter the angular units from the drop down menu Feed rate Enter the feed rate units from the drop down menu Thread pitch Enter the thread pitch units from the drop down menu Time Enter the time units from the drop down menu Note You can use any units when entering values into any edit boxes with the exception that linear edit boxes must have linear units and angular edit boxes must have angular units If you do not specify any units then the preferred units as set above are used If you specify any of the units in the list they will be converted to your preferred units as soon as you leave the edit box Example 1 If your preferred units are inches and you type lt 10mm gt into a cut depth box the value will change to 0 3937 inches as soon as you leave the box Example 2 If your preferred units are mm and you type lt 1 gt into a cut depth box the value will change to 25 4mm as soon as you leave the box Example 3 If your preferred units are mm and you typ
94. g a rapid move to cut height When SheetCam moves to the top of the cut it stops slightly short and moves the remaining distance at feed rate This allows for inaccuracies in your setup and any chips that may be in the way The last thing you want is to slam the tool into the work at full speed By default the clearance is 0 5mm which seems to work pretty well in most cases Older versions of SheetCam have always had this hard coded to 0 5mm Enter your required distance in the box For convenience you can save your material setup for later use if you use a lot of the same type size material Click on the Save material to call up a save dialog box or Load material to load a previously saved file Now click on lt OK gt to save your changes 10 Work flow procedures New users are sometimes confused as to the correct way to get SheetCam to manipulate their drawings files The information below is intended to be a guide to the optimal steps in the process from drawing to compiled G code There are normally three or four steps in any CAD CAM process 1 Create your part design in either a CAD package or an art application like Corel Draw 2 Open import the drawing as a DXF HPGL or Excellon file into the CAM program and set up your material sizes tooling sizes and cutting processes Once these are set run the post processor to generate the required G code 3 Optional but very worthwhile Run the generated G code in a CNC simulator
95. g box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create new code snippet button x located in the left hand vertical toolbar New code snippet Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment 40 Tool table Millfrouter y cutter Drill Thread mill Rigid tap Tapping head Plasma Flame Waterjet Laser Plate Plate marker Diameter Flute length Tool length offset Depth per pass Plunge rate Ramp Angle Spindle speed 0 25 in E in H 1 in e inches rnin 2 inches min D degrees 1000 rpm Automatically generate name ok JI og Il me Selecting Tool table opens a window that allows you to edit the tools that have been created Use the tabs at the top of the table to navigate to a tool type and click once in a highlighted white box to select it and click again to edit the value double clicking also works Automatically generate name Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the boxes OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the tool table window Help Help opens the hel
96. g head back and forth to help prevent damage to the head OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Fa Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create a new jet cutting tool button located in the left hand vertical toolbar Note Pierce height plunge rate ramp leadin and cut height are only available for machines where the Z axis is controlled via G code Some machines perform these operations automatically New plate marker tool Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment 39 New code snippet Notes Cancel Selecting New code snippet opens a tool that allows for the creation of one or more lines of G code This is then used by the Insert code operation Enter a name for the code in the top window and the body of the code in the lower window Click lt OK gt to accept OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialo
97. h of cut per pass Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of cut Some users expect this to be a minus figure Finish allowance Enter the finish allowance here This will force SheetCam to leave the part either oversized or undersized depending on the Contour method chosen above You will then need to specify a new Operation to machine the part to the finished size using a finishing cutter if required and or a different Depth per pass depth Note Leaving the allowance at zero 0 will machine the contour to full size with no need for a finishing pass Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here Plunge rate Enter the plunge rate here 43 Ramp Angle Ramping allows the cutter to enter the work while travelling in a forward direction This reduces the load on the Z axis and also allows you to plunge with a non centre cutting tool i e some 4 flute end mills The cutter will travel forwards as it plunges cutting a ramp into the work This ramp is then machined away If you are ramping into an open contour or between tabs then the cutter ramps down then backs up to the start of the cut reverses up to the start point then reverses again and carries on to the end If the contour is closed then the cutter simply carries on at the end of the cut until the ramp is machined away For small contours the cutter will spiral down to depth The ramp angle specifies the angle at which the cutter will p
98. h oi Min hole size 0 3375 in e Material thickness 0 2362 in ee i i Max hole size E A Edit material eS S Note This page shows setting options Feed rate 3 937 inches min EE for anew Thread mill To see the es GEES 1 rpm Tap setup pages refer to the Ee L oa Io relevant section above Direction Select Inside or Outside from the drop down menu Layer BE Select the layer you wish to apply the tapping operation ron TEXT to using the drop down menu shown RO Tool aoe T17 Tapping head 0 375 inch x 1 TPI Select the correct tool using the down menu th 7 Lapping GR 0 375 inch x 1 TFI shown sf 7a 5 Rigid tap 0 375 inch x 1 TPI Edit Clicking on the button to the right of the Tool box the one with three dots calls up the Tool Edit dialog box Thread diameter Enter the thread diameter here Start depth This function specifies the depth at which to start tapping Note This function could be used if you want to tap a hole into the floor of a previously machined pocket that is 1 deep Set the start depth to 1 a positive dimension and SheetCam will start machining at this point This saves a lot of ar cutting time Cut depth Enter the cut depth here This function controls the total depth of the tapped hole Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of the hole Some users expect this to be a minus figure 58 Min hole size Set the mi
99. han one operation on your part then you will need to separate your drawing into layers Each time you run an operation in SheetCam the operation is applied to everything on that layer You can create your drawing using layers in CAD programs and in most drawing programs check your CAD drawing program documentation for more information Note If your drawing is all on one layer you can use SheetCam to split different operations off onto their own layers Use the Edit contour window to move parts to a different layer by first selecting the Edit contour button Je Then click on a drawing section to select it and right click to call up the Edit contour right click options window Select either a new layer and provide a unique name or an existing layer to move the selection to Depth of cut peck depth etc Any depths are always entered as a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of cut Some users expect this to be a minus figure 129 Entering values Whenever you enter a value into an edit box you can use any units you like The units you use will be converted into your Preferred units as soon as you leave the edit box For example if your default units are millimetres but you are using a 0 25 inch cutter then just type in 0 25 in The units are not case sensitive so 0 25IN 0 25 inch or 0 25 Inch would all work If you type in a value without any units SheetCam assumes you are using your preferred units Name
100. he program For instance if you just want the tool to lift well clear of the work at the end of the program then just enter the required position and place a check mark in the Z position check box If you want to move to a specific X Y coordinate De to clear a work load unload area then use those as well Note Ifa Z position is specified and it is above the rapid height then the Z axis will move first and then the X Y axes simultaneously If Z is below the rapid clearance height unlikely but it is allowed for then the Z axis moves last Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 8 1 Nesting Tab Note All units based on the selection in the Material Parking Nesting Remnant cutoff Tool change Notes Optimisation Cu direction Minimise tool changes y keep parts together T aw O Manual optimisation di gt Manual optimisation keep parts together Tool Part Operation Manual optimisation Options A lication options Units menu Optimisation Minimise tool changes For multi part jobs SheetCam will try to order the operations in all parts to minimise tool changes All of the operations in any specific part will always be cut in order but operations in different parts may be cut together This can save time while milling routing but is not a good idea for plasma and laser as material distortion could cause accuracy problems Keep parts together Ea
101. hecked You can turn off Rotary cutting to simplify the display The second group of icons on the left hand side of the upper toolbar control how the drawing is displayed Experiment with the first three to see what they do EI Show the input paths This shows or hides your drawing 141 Show segment ends This highlights the start and end points of each line or arc segment in the drawing The curves in this drawing consist of lots of small line segments so they show up as almost completely white S Show path ends This highlights the start and end points of all open paths In this case the line underneath the text 1s an open path because it has a start and an end point The text consists of closed paths which have no fixed start and end points For the purposes of this tutorial we are working in inches so go to Options Application options then click on the Units tab and make sure linear units are set to and feed rate is set to ipm then click on lt OK gt If you prefer millimetres then you can change the units when you have finished the tutorial Setting up the machine Make sure the Show machine and material button is down i e outlined by a grey box This displays the machine and material Now click on Options Machine and select the Working envelope tab Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Savelload Let s assume our machine table is T Se 8 by 4 and the bottom
102. here is adequate clearance SheetCam has realised that arc leadins won t work in the horizontal part of the AT and has shortened them and changed them to lines Even so they won t fit properly so you need to shorten them a bit and could even try changing them to Perpendicular from Arc You will know when you get it right as the yellow warning highlight on the Operation toolbar will disappear when all the issues have been resolved Positioning the part on the sheet Fle ERE Wan Took Operain oom Mode eier Pgh a At the moment the part 1s stuck in Pe SSBB ROE 29 90 CO hisueSed a TOM an the bottom left hand corner of the RER material We need to move it closer a to the middle of the sheet Click on Operations BM Plasma Outside OF the Nesting button E which also allows you to move parts You can now drag the part on the sheet Alternatively you can enter values in the Pos X and Y boxes on the bottom of the screen 17 6905 0 2839 Generating the G code Now we have defined what is to happen we can generate the G code ready for the machine to run Click on the Run post processor button PR to generate the G code If this is the first time you have post processed a drawing then you may be asked to select a post processor to run Try to choose one that best fits your machine You will then be prompted for the file name for the G code file you are about to create 146 Flame cutting optio
103. icense File Create a support File Open settings Folder Developer tools 98 Setup wizard Welcome to the SheetCam TNG setup wizard The following pages will help optimise SheetCam TNG for your machining tasks Click on lt Next gt and follow the on screen directions Debug log Calls up a Debug log window at the bottom of the main window To close the Debug log window either click on the X in the upper right corner of the Debug log window or select Help Debug log again to cancel the action Reset pane layout Wl j You need to restart For the changes to take effect This menu item resets the pane layout to the default settings This can be useful if the panes get misplaced on the screen Note Changes only take place after a restart of SheetCam 99 About SheetCam TNG Development The new generation of CAM The software version will be displayed here CX 2007 2010 Stable Design The registered name Registered to will appear here The license ID License ID e Credits heet am is built with the ald of the following libraries a See ele wxWidgets Cross Platform GUI Library p8 wxLua E ep Se at j ge Le EE aaaaooo This screen gives information on the current Sheet am version The Credits section lists information on the tools used to build SheetCam Show licence Clicking this button will open a window displaying the software lic
104. ill never start on an edge and cut inwards Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Tool change tab Material Parking Nesting Remnant cutoff Tool change Notes Tool change position Note All units based on the selection x Io Ouse x in the Options A pplication y use options Units menu z le Cuse z C No move to safe Z after tool change Tool change position EE A Click in the small box to the right and enter the tool change position in the window on the left The position is the distance from the machine zero point set using the Option Machine Working envelope dialog box to the location chosen as the tool change position this can be a positive or a negative Run code after toolchange figure l No move to safe Z after tool OK Cancel Hel x peed Checking this box prevents the tool from moving to the safe Z position after a tool change Run code before toolchange If you need to run a block of code prior to a tool change it can be entered here This is run before the X Y Z position moves For instance if you are using tool length offsets on the machine you can cancel the offset and move the Z axis to a safe height Examples are e GO Z where is a position to move the Z axis to in order to clear clamps etc prior to the move to the toolchange position e MO Pause the program execution to allow you time to change tools Run code after toolchange I
105. ill then appear in the Tool bar pane Delete bar To delete a toolbar first click on the name in the Tool bar pane and then click the Delete bar button The following dialog box will then appear 93 LY Are you sure you want to delete this bar Click lt Yes gt to delete the toolbar Buttons This pane shows the currently assigned tool icons for the toolbars Click on the button to expand the tree or the button to contract a tree Insert before This button inserts a new toolbar icon before the selected one Click on a toolbar icon in the Preview pane then scroll down to find the toolbar icon you wish to add select it and then click lt Insert before gt Insert after This button inserts the new toolbar icon after the selected one Click on a toolbar icon in the Preview pane then scroll down to find the toolbar icon you wish to add select it and then click lt Insert after gt Delete This button deletes a toolbar icon from a toolbar Click on a toolbar icon in the Preview pane then click lt Delete gt Note Whenever you switch between toolbars in the Tool bar pane you will get the following dialog box K Do you want to save your changes to this toolbar Select lt Yes gt lt No gt or lt Cancel gt as required Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 94 Default directories tab 7 Save an image with the job file Save an Image with the job file Use the same fol
106. ing mode Snap to grid Clicking on this item toggles the Snap to grid function on or off 112 Grid options Grid size Grid size y If you set the grid size to be greater than zero s 0 when you move the part it will always snap to the nearest multiple of the grid size Snap to grid Bump increment Snap to grid check the box to enable eem snapping em Bump increment Angle 5 degrees When moving a part you can bump it a fixed amount using the arrow keys Bump increment Cas sets the amount each bump moves the part Zoom controls Clicking on any of these items will zoom the view as required Measure To use the measure tool click on the point you want to measure from Align Click on this function to align the drawing in Sheet am to the work on your machine For example imagine you have a component or piece of material here after called the job that you have clamped to the table Instead of carefully positioning e job to line up with the drawing machine axes you can clamp Oe job roughly in place then line the drawing up to match it This is also very useful when drilling circuit boards Pick two points on the job that are spaced as far apart as possible and measure their coordinates by jogging the machine and using an edge finder or lining up a pointed cutter by eye Click on lt Align gt and then click on the first point on the part in the view window and the following dialog box will appear
107. is not checked SheetCam will use the last used folder Post processor Use the radio buttons to select the folder to be used when saving the post process file For the Always use this folder option use the navigation button on the right the one displaying three dots to select the relevant location For the Output file extension option enter the required extension for your CNC controller txt cnc tap nc etc Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 95 Advanced tab Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Allow multiple parts l RW This dialog box is used to set the Drill hole tolerance 10 Advanced settings used by many of Auto backup interval 120 s Sh e etC am S functi ons Start point step size DU Start point tool clearance 150 Note These values should never need changing under normal conditions Allow multiple parts Checking this item will allow you to have multiple parts within in the same piece of material specified in the Options Job options Material dialog box Check for updates With this enabled the first time SheetCam is started each day it will check the SheetCam website for updates Note This requires that the computer is connected to the Internet to complete this function Drill hole tolerance When you create a drilling operation SheetCam automatically sets the minimum hole diameter and maximum hole dia
108. item in the Table of Contents will take you to that specific page Clicking on a line item in the Index will take you that specific topic Blue text is a hot link which will take you to the relevant section of the document Work flow New users are sometimes confused as to the correct way to get SheetCam to manipulate their drawings files The information below is intended to be a guide to the optimal steps in the process from drawing to compiled G code There are normally three or four steps in any CAD CAM process 1 Create your part design in either a CAD package or an art application like Corel Draw 2 Open import the drawing as a DXF HPGL or Excellon file into the CAM program and set up your tooling sizes and cutting operations Once these are set run the post processor to generate the required G code 3 Optional but very worthwhile Run the generated G code in a CNC simulator lots of free versions available on the net to check for any errors e g CNCSimulator http www cncsimulator com 4 Once the code has been verified open the G code file in your CNC control package and run the program to create the part Creating drawings In order to create usable drawings in either a CAD or art application certain fundamental principles must be adhered to otherwise SheetCam will not be able to manipulate the resulting DXF HPGL or Excellon file An outline to creating acceptable drawings can be found in the Hints amp Tip
109. know certain facts about your specific machine and unit preferences in order to calculate the required tool paths When you install SheetCam for the first time the Setup Wizard will start and ask a number of questions If you need to change any of the parameters or if you entered something incorrectly the various parameters can be found under the Options menu on the main toolbar Let s look at the Setup Wizard first and then look at what can be changed under the Options menu Setup wizard Welcome to the SheetCam TNG The first screen you will see is the Welcome Development setup wizard screen The following pages will help optimise SheetCam TNG Development for your Click on lt Next gt to proceed machining tasks The second screen of the Setup Wizard deals with the preferred units Select your preferred units Linear units ner nit E Enter the linear units from the large drop down menu Angular units degrees k Feed rate IPM b Thread pitch TPI v Angular units Time s Enter the angular units from the drop down menu Feed rate Enter the feed rate units from the drop down menu Tread pitch Enter the thread pitch units from the drop down menu lt Back Uwe ll Cancel Time Enter the time units from the drop down menu After making your choices click lt Next gt to move onto the next option Note You can use any units when entering values into any edit boxes with the exception that linear edit
110. ld use for most milling routing jobs where you aren t cutting right through Keep parts together Like all inside first it cuts inside then outside If your drawing contains more than one part then each part is cut out completely before moving on to the next This is useful for plasma where heat distortion can cause problems if you cut all the insides of all parts then cut all the outsides By the time you get to the last part heat distortion of the sheet can result in the inside not lining up with the outside 56 Cut direction This adds a bias to the path optimisation For example if you set the slider toward horizontal H SheetCam will prefer to rapid left right rather than up down Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Notes tab Notes Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 57 Thread milling Basic tab Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Basic Cut path Notes Function ec S Le Select the correct threading type from the drop down menu shown below Direction S See Layer Tool T10 Thread mill 0 375 in x 16 TPI a Alan SE Thread diameter 0 3937 in Theft hand E Function Tap Start depth 0 in Laver Cut dept
111. le They are the best way to create accurate drawings If you are not familiar with using snaps then look in the documentation for your CAD drawing program Virtually all CAD drawing programs have some form of snap capability Shapes must not self intersect A good example of a self intersecting shape is the figure 8 In the middle of the 8 the lines cross over each other Imagine a path in the shape of an 8 and you are walking along it At one point the outside is on your left and another point the outside is on your right There is no rational way to cut this shape SheetCam tries but the results will almost undoubtedly not be what you are after Explode text in DXF files DXF files cannot handle True Type fonts very well as there is no standardized format to follow To guarantee that the cut path 1s exactly the same as your drawing you need to convert any text into lines This is often called exploding If you are not familiar with exploding text look in the documentation for your CAD drawing program to find out more If your CAD drawing package supports HPGL export then try exporting your drawing as HPGL Most CAD drawing packages will automatically convert text to lines when exporting HPGL Note Some drawing programs have an option to convert text to lines rather than having an explode function but the end result is the same text blocks are converted to lines that SheetCam will recognize Use layers If you want to perform more t
112. les the plugin on or off Edit macro Clicking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location FRO Slider Move the slider to control the amount of feed rate override FRO The further to the right you move the slider the faster the simulation will run Start Clicking the Start button will start the simulation Single step Clicking the Single step button will step through the simulation one move at a time Pause Clicking the Pause button will pause the simulation Stop Clicking the Stop button will stop the simulation Position and time The four boxes show the current location of the tool in the X Y and Z planes and the time taken to get there 115 Status A check mark in a box indicates that specific item is in use at that time Tool This box displays the current tool in use Feed rate This box displays the current feed rate Spindle speed This box displays the current spindle speed Right click options Right clicking anywhere in the viewport window while running the simulator will bring up the following menu screen Zoom in Zoom controls Zoom aut Clicking on any of these items will zoom the view as required Zoom to Fit part zoom to Fit job Measure Zoom window To use the measure tool click on the point you want to measure zoom to fik material from Zoom to Fit machine Measure 116 Text Text This places
113. licking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Enabled This check box toggles the plugin on or off Edit macro Clicking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Hints and tips Centre drilling If you need to centre drill a series of holes prior to drilling open a new drill operation then set the minimum hole size to zero 0 and the maximum hole size to the size of the largest hole All the holes on that layer will then be centre drilled Context sensitive help Clicking on an open palette or settings window and pressing the lt F1 gt key will open the specific help file for that item Copy and duplicate differences The copy and duplicate commands have very specific meanings in SheetCam Each acts upon the drawing operations in a different way as shown below Copy This will make a complete copy of the drawing and operations The copy will be completely independent of the part it was copied from Duplicate This will perform a sten and repeat of the original drawing and operations Any changes made to the original will be reflected in the duplicate Creating your drawing To allow SheetCam to understand your drawing you need to follow a few simple rules Outlines must be properly closed A closed shape is any shape where the lines c
114. lls round the corner the centre line of the bar follows an arc centred on the point of the corner The cutting edge follows the sharp corner precisely This is the most efficient way to cut a corner Q I created a new tool and then when I loaded a previously saved job the tool disappeared A Job files contain their own tool sets If you load a job SheetCam will use that toolset The way around the problem is to save your toolset before loading the job You can then reload it at a later date I would like to see an accurate description of polyline and spline I know these are basic words but an understanding of them is taken for granted in most documents and they are not self explanatory A polyline is a line that can contain multiple vertices and segments the segments being either straight lines or arcs It can also be a single segment straight line or arc In AutoCAD for example you can convert an arc into a polyline They appear to be exactly the same which they are but the information is stored differently A spline is a curve not actually made up of multiple arcs but defined by a mathematical equation Iam profiling a part mounted on top of a spoil board I want it to cut slightly into the spoil so I get a nice sharp edge on my part but SheetCam shows an error and changes the cut depth You can define a spoil board thickness using the Height of bottom of material above table setting found under the Options Jo
115. ls the depth of cut 100 will cut the thread in one pass 70 would cut 70 in one pass and 30 in the last pass 25 would cut four equal passes Spindle speed Enter the spindle speed here Note Spindle speed must be entered It is used with the tap pitch to work out the feed rate Spindle rotation Select the spindle direction from the available choices Note These items only need to be checked if your spindle motor is controlled via software Note The spindle direction also affects the cut direction For instance if climb cutting outside contours are cut clockwise if the spindle 1s clockwise or anticlockwise if the spindle is anticlockwise Update operations Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operation that use this tool For instance this will reset the spindle speed feed rate ramp angle etc OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create new rotary tool button located in the left hand vertical toolbar New thread mill Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation 29 Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also
116. lunge into the work 0 degrees or 90 degrees are straight down no ramping 5 degrees is very shallow and 85 degrees is very steep Note Ifa cut path is very short it will not be possible to ramp into the cut In this case the cutter will be plunged straight down The cut operation will turn yellow to warn you that this is happening Spindle speed Enter the spindle speed here Note Speed only needs to be specified if your spindle motor is controlled via software However the post processor will issue a warning if the speed is set to zero 0 Coolant Select the coolant type from the available choices Note These items only need to be checked if your coolant pump is controlled via software Edit material Clicking on the Edit material button calls up the Material dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location S r Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create a new contour operation button located in the left hand vertical toolbar 44 Cut start tab Basic LU start cyt path Notes Lead in Lead out Gi None Gei None E Arc O Arc CH Tangent oO Tangent Perpendicular Perpendicular Lead out Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Lead in Select the type of lead in required using the radio buttons and enter the size in box Note Size refers to the length of the lead in Select the type of lead
117. m segments for arc fitting This is the minimum number of line segments that can be considered to be part of an arc Remove duplicate lines Sometimes drawings can contain multiple overlapping copies of the same lines These lines normally confuse SheetCam If this is option is enabled SheetCam will delete all but one copy of the lines This is time consuming so if you have very complex drawings that take a long time to load turning this option off will speed up loading considerably It is recommended to keep this on unless your drawings do take a long time to load and you are really sure there are no overlapping lines Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Toolbars tab SheetCam includes a toolbar editor that allows you to make custom toolbars Right click on any tool bar to open the editor dialog box shown below Preview gan The preview area shows the PES current tool icons plus any Tool bar Buttons additions you make es O EE sl View D Run post processor ees Job report Tool bar Mode Plugins Ge EEN Select the toolbar you wish to edit me Show input paths from the available list fae Show segment ends Ae Show path ends ell Show tool paths a New Bar ell Show rapids ES Show direction arrows Clicking the New bar button hi d work d i Ju SE opens up the dialog box e E Feet Enter a name For the new bar Enter the name for the new bar and click lt OK gt The new bar w
118. m the sheet Grid size 1 9685 Minimum size 19 685 Note This function is only Minimum size 19 685 available for jet cutters and Maximum size 78 7402 the tab only appears if jet Maximum Y size 78 7402 cutting is enabled in the Edge overlan 0 1969 Options Machine dialog box Enabled Checking this box turns this feature on off Tool Select the correct tool using the drop down menu Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here Grid size Remnant cutoff calculates the remnant area by breaking the whole sheet into small squares The grid size specifies the size of these squares Decreasing the grid size increases accuracy but slows down processing Generally 50mm or 2 is about right Minimum and maximum sizes will be rounded to multiples of this value Minimum X Y size These boxes specify the minimum useful remnant sizes SheetCam will do it s best not to generate remnants smaller than this Maximum X Y size Large pieces of heavy material can be a problem to handle so these boxes specify the largest remnant size All remnants will be no greater than this 83 Edge overlap It is usually not advisable to stop the torch exactly on the edge of the sheet If the sheet is slightly misaligned then the remnants may be stuck together with small uncut tabs This value makes the torch overshoot the edge by the given amount When cutting remnants SheetCam will always cut towards the edge of the sheet It w
119. material thickness plus the clamp thickness SheetCam will rapid traverse for the length of the tab after the cutter has withdrawn to the correct height provided that the combined thickness is greater than the rapid clearance height as set under the Options Material menu item The steps for using tabs are shown below Set up your contour operation as normal and then go to the Cut path tab and set the tab length and tab thickness Tab length is the length of the tab at the narrowest point Thickness is the amount of material left in the tab Once your operation is set up click on the Tabs button RT The cursor will change to an arrow with a T next to it if it is near a valid tab position Now click on the outline where you want to place the tab You can place as many tabs as you like To delete a tab point at it it will change to white right click and select delete To check if the tabs have been placed correctly click on the Scroll screen button X then rotate the display by holding the shift key and dragging with the mouse You will see the cut paths lift up where you have placed the tabs If you set the tab thickness to greater than the cut depth rapid clearance then the cutter will rapid when it moved from one end of the tab to another This is handy if you have a holding clamp in the way You can set the tab thickness so that the cutter will lift over the clamp even if this is higher than the rapid clearance If you are not
120. ment smoother Minimum size Um but uses more CPU power 5 makes movement smoother Increasing the polygon detail Macte pe but uses more CPU power makes the tool outline smoother wi el but uses more CPU power SS Rapid feed Enabled Enter the required rapid feed rate in the box Maximum FRO Enter the maximum feed rate override FRO amount in the box as a percentage Tool polygon detail Use the slider to control the tool polygon detail Note Increasing the polygon detail makes the tool outline smoother but uses more CPU power Tool colours Click on a box next to an item to open the colour picker window then select a new colour Tool diameter Scale size Enter the scale size as a percentage Minimum size Enter the minimum size as a dimension Machine type Select the machine type using the drop down menu Enabled This check box toggles the plugin on or off Edit macro Clicking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 126 SVG plugin This plugin controls the SVG drawing import features Beete f SYG import Filter Note Does not currently handle text entities Enabled Text plugin This tab controls the text plugin Text Creation plugin Inserts text into vour drawing Uses Autocad 5H Fonts Enabled 127 Enabled This check box toggles the plugin on or off Edit macro C
121. meter to be just under and just over the actual drill size This value controls how much tolerance is allowed If you increase this number the minimum hole diameter will decrease and the maximum hole diameter will increase Auto backup interval Enter the required time in seconds for the automatic backup function Note The automatic backup is saved to a temporary file in the SheetCam program folder If SheetCam is closed normally it deletes the temporary file If it crashes the next time you start Sheet am it will detect the file and load it Start point step size If a start point s leadin or leadout will not fit where it has been placed SheetCam automatically tries moving it to somewhere where it will fit Decreasing this value makes the calculations more accurate but slows down path generation In general you should not need to alter this value Start point tool clearance When working out if a start point will fit SheetCam allows for the tool plunging at the start of the leadin For plasma laser and waterjet cutting the pierce hole is bigger then the kerf width This value is the percentage size increase For instance if the pierce hole is twice the size set this value to 200 Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 96 Language tab Please select your preferred language Gres default anga French ri Italian it Japanese ja Portuguese tpt Co Jone Je _ Plugins menu Plugins Help B
122. miliar with exploding text look in the documentation for your CAD drawing program to find out more If your CAD drawing package supports HPGL export then try exporting your drawing as HPGL Most CAD drawing packages will automatically convert text to lines when exporting HPGL Note Some drawing programs have an option to convert text to lines rather than having an explode function but the end result is the same text blocks are converted to lines that SheetCam will recognize Use layers If you want to perform more than one operation on your part then you will need to separate your drawing into layers Each time you run a process in SheetCam the process is applied to everything on that layer You can create your drawing using layers in CAD programs and in most drawing programs check your CAD drawing program documentation for more information Note If your drawing is all on one layer you can use SheetCam to split different processes into their own layers Use the Edit contour window to move parts to a different layer by first selecting the Edit contour properties button Then click on a drawing section to select it and right click to call up the Edit contour window Select either a new layer and provide a unique name or an existing layer to move the selection to 12 Opening drawings Selecting Import drawing from the File menu opens a pop up window allowing you to browse for your drawing file Acceptable formats are SVG
123. n also be activated by clicking on the button in the toolbar Show rapid moves Toggles the rapid move paths on or off This option can also be activated by clicking on the button in the toolbar Show path directions Toggles the path directions on or off This option can also be activated by clicking on the button in the toolbar Show machine and work Toggles the machine and work on or off This option can also be activated by clicking on the D button in the toolbar Show start points Toggles the start points on or off This option can also be activated by clicking on the L button in the toolbar Show true width Toggles the true width of cut on or off This option can also be activated by clicking on the e button in the toolbar Zoom menu Zoom in Zooms the view in This option can also be activated by clicking on the P button in the toolbar or by pressing lt Page Up gt on the keyboard Note If you have a scroll mouse the mouse wheel can also be used to zoom in and out If the zoom directions are opposite to the way you like to work you can change the direction of zoom using the Options Application options Reverse mouse wheel option Zoom out Zooms the view out This option can also be activated by clicking on the 2 button in the toolbar or by pressing lt Page Down gt on the keyboard Zoom to fit current part Zooms the view panel to fit the current part This option can also be activated by clicking on
124. n need to specify a new Operation to machine the part to the finished size using a finishing cutter if required and or a different Depth per pass depth Note Leaving the allowance at zero 0 will machine the contour to full size with no need for a finishing pass Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here Plunge rate Enter the plunge rate here Ramp angle Ramping allows the cutter to enter the work while travelling in a forward direction This reduces the load on the Z axis and also allows you to plunge with a non centre cutting tool i e some 4 flute end mills The cutter will travel forwards as it plunges cutting a ramp into the work This ramp is then machined away If you are ramping into an open contour or between tabs then the cutter ramps down then backs up to the start of the cut reverses up to the start point then reverses again and carries on to the end If the contour is open then the cutter simply carries on at the end of the cut until the ramp 1s machined away For small contours the cutter will spiral down to depth The ramp angle specifies the angle at which the cutter will plunge into the work 0 degrees or 90 degrees are straight down no ramping 5 degrees is very shallow and 85 degrees is very steep Note If a cut path is very short it will not be possible to ramp into the cut In this case the cutter will be plunged straight down The cut operation will turn yellow to warn you that this 1s happening
125. n the Options Machine Machine type ECH Sen menu _ OFF Name Rig ibe Type Rigid tap Spindle rotation GC Tool number 5 Diameter D r Flute length D Tool length offset in Reverse multiplier 150 to Name Pitch 16 TPI Manually enter the tool name if the Underfeed 3 Automatically generate name box Spindle speed 150 rpm Update operations below is not checked 25 Type Select the correct tool type from the drop down menu shown below EE Zi Note This page shows setting options for a new rigid tap rotary cutter To see the other tool setup pages refer to their relevant sections Mill rouber Tapping head angth Rigid tap Thread mill Note See New mill for a full description of the various tool types Automatically generate name Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the lower boxes Tool number Enter the tool number here Diameter Enter the diameter of the tool here Flute length Enter the tool flute length here 1 e the length from the tip of the tool to the end of the cutting flute Tool length offset Enter the amount of tool offset here This should only be used if the machine controller does not have it s own tool length compensation Note Tool length offset is the length of the tool from a particular reference point This may be the spindle nose or any other convenient reference point It is used to compens
126. n the drawing then SheetCam has no way of knowing the desired hole size Holes specified as points are always drilled Tip If you need to centre drill a series of holes prior to drilling set the minimum hole size to zero 0 and the maximum hole size to the size of the largest hole All the holes on that layer will then be centre drilled Coolant Select the coolant type from the available choices Note These items only need to be checked if your coolant pump is controlled via software Edit material Clicking on the Edit material button calls up the Material dialog box 68 Special case Basic Cut path Notes Min hole size 0 036 inch Max hole size 0 044 inch Material thickne Edit material The drilling operation can be used with a jet cutter to cut holes at the required locations When you select a jet cutter as a tool in the drilling operation dialog box most of the options disappear as they are not relevant see screenshot The operation performs a function similar to centre drilling but pierces a hole with the cutter instead The hole can then be drilled to size on a different machine or by hand at a later time Some plasma cutters have a centre punch built into the head In that case this function can be used to fire the centre punch instead Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create a new drilling operation button
127. nches min Update operations E p Plunge rate 5 inches min Update operations Name Ramp ngle H degrees Update operations Manually enter the tool name 1f the Automatically generate name box below is not checked Type Select the correct tool type from the drop down menu shown below em Note This page shows setting options for a new V Type Millfrouter B5 cutter rotary cutter To see the other tool eme setup pages refer to their relevant sections rl neter 7 cutter SE Tapping head Note See New mill for a full description of the angth piae tap various tool types mber Automatically generate name Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the lower boxes Tool number Enter the tool number here Tip diameter Enter the tip diameter of the tool here V angle Enter the angle of the tool tip here Note This value is used in the corner sharpening function see Operations Contour Cut path tab Flute length Enter the tool flute length here i e the length from the tip of the tool to the end of the cutting flute Tool length offset Enter the amount of tool offset here This should only be used if the machine controller does not have it s own tool length compensation 21 Note Tool length offset is the length of the tool from a particular reference point This may be the spindle nose or any other convenient reference point It is used
128. ndle speed feed rate ramp angle etc OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create new rotary tool button located in the left hand vertical toolbar New rigid taps Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment 2 New thread mill roo atest Note All units based on the selection Name Thread mill Di3 16 TFI e Type Thread mill _ v Automatically generate Sie Sie Ge 9 Done BS Reeg SE EE options Units menu ycw ae ae C z Se Note Tas menu item is only visible if Flute lenath 1 in 1 S Rotary cutting has been Tool length offset O in 1 selected in the Feed rate 3 937 inches min Update operations Options Machine Machine type Pitch 16 TFI j menu Thread depth 0 0338 in j infeed per pass 70 eas Name Spindle speed 150 rpm Update operations Manually enter the tool name if the ox Il oe Automatically generate name box below is not checked Type Select the correct tool type from the drop down menu shown below Type
129. ndow allowing you to browse for an existing job Recent jobs Opens a pop up window showing the last five jobs opened Save job Opens a pop up window allowing you to save your current job as a ob file job T3 Save job as Opens a pop up window allowing you to save your current job under a different name or location as a job file job Template files Open job template Opens a pop up window allowing you to browse for an existing job template Recent job templates Opens a pop up window showing the last five job templates opened Save job as template Opens a pop up window allowing you to save your current job under a different name or location as a job template file jobt Part files New part Opens a pop up window allowing you to browse for your part file Acceptable formats are DXF HPGL or Excellon files Open part Opens a pop up window allowing you to browse for a previously saved part file part Recent parts Opens a pop up window showing the last five parts opened Save part Opens a pop up window allowing you to save your current part as a part file part Save part as Opens a pop up window allowing you to save your current part under a different name or location as a part file part Drawing files Import drawing See Page 11 of this manual for Import drawing options Recent drawings Opens a pop up window showing the last five drawings opened Toolset files Open toolset Open
130. ne segments you may find that SheetCam is sharpening some very shallow corners which wastes time and does not make much difference to the final result Increasing the angle threshold will remove these Note When sharpening corners you may not want to sharpen shallow angles This option controls how sharp an angle has to be to trigger corner sharpening Consider the letter C where the outline consists of a large number of short line segments You don t normally want to sharpen the join between every line Enabled Check this box to apply corner sharpening to corners Overcut corners Note If this is selected the cutter will cut into inside corners to allow room for a sharp cornered part to fit For instance if you are cutting a rebate for a square part to fit into this option will save manually squaring out the corners This option is not available for V cutters Angle threshold Angle threshold adjusts how sharp the corner needs to be before the overcutting 1s applied Enabled Check this box to apply Overcut corners to corners Climb cut Check this box to select climb cutting Note This will reverse the cut direction on closed paths 53 Edit material Clicking on the Edit material button calls up the Material dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create a new fill operation button E located in the left hand vertical toolbar
131. ned away For small contours the cutter will spiral down to depth The ramp angle specifies the angle at which the cutter will plunge into the work 0 degrees or 90 degrees are straight down no ramping 5 17 degrees is very shallow and 85 degrees 1s very steep Spindle speed Enter the spindle speed here Note Speed only needs to be specified if your spindle motor is controlled via software However the post processor will issue a warning if the speed is set to zero 0 Spindle rotation Select the spindle direction from the available choices Note These items only need to be checked if your spindle motor is controlled via software Note The spindle direction also affects the cut direction For instance if climb cutting outside contours are cut clockwise if the spindle 1s clockwise or anticlockwise if the spindle is anticlockwise Update operations Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operations that use this tool For instance this will reset the spindle speed feed rate ramp angle etc OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create new rotary tool button 4 located in the left hand vertical
132. ng envelope Table display Save load You can save your machine setup for future use or if you use SheetCam to output G code to a number of different machines you can save each setup for later recall Click on Save machine to call up a save dialog box or Load machine to load a previously saved file When you have made all the changes outlined above click on the lt OK gt button at the bottom of the dialog box to save your changes Setting up the material Click on the Options Job options menu item A pop up window will appear with several tabs that allow control of the various functions The display will zoom and rotate to fit the last specified material Material tab For the purposes of this example our material is a 300mm x 200mm sheet of 6mm plastic that is clamped to the table with it s bottom left hand corner at X 50mm Y 50mm The sheet is clamped on to a piece of 0 25in board to allow the cutter to cut right through without damaging the table You should obviously substitute the correct dimensions values for your material Enter the dimensions and position of the material as shown below The main display will re size to show the material as you enter the values To be safe we will run the cutter 4mm above the panel when moving between cuts so enter 4 in the Rapid clearance box The sacrificial board is 0 251n thick so enter 0 25in for the height of the work above the table Plunge safety clearance 1s used when doin
133. nimum hole size here Max hole size Set the maximum hole size here Note Only holes that fall in the range covered by the max and min settings will be machined Note If holes have been specified as points in the drawing then SheetCam has no way of knowing the desired hole size Holes specified as points are always tapped Infeed per pass Infeed per pass controls the depth of cut 100 will cut the thread in one pass 70 would cut 70 in one pass and 30 in the last pass 25 would cut four equal passes Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here Spindle speed Enter the spindle speed here Coolant Select the coolant type from the available choices Note These items only need to be checked if your coolant pump is controlled via software Climb cut Check this box to select climb cutting Note This will reverse the cut direction on closed paths Left hand Check this box if you are cutting a left hand thread Edit material Clicking on the Edit material button calls up the Material dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create a new tapping operation button BR located in the left hand vertical toolbar 59 Cut path tab Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Basic Cut path Notes _ Cut ordering eee a e SH Optimisation Start position Auto manual
134. ns When you select Flame in the Type drop down menu of the Tool dialog box you get different options which are applicable to flame cutters only These are described below Tool Notes Name 1 a steel Type Flame oy Ll Automatically generate name Leadin type Tool number 1 2 saree rrr ia Normal Kerf width 0 06 Ramp Feed rate 75 ipm Update operations wigge Pierce delay 1 5 Seen j Wiggle size O Preheat ea c Pierce height 0 2 Plunge rate 10 Cut height 0 1 Pause at end of cut 0 35 Preheat The machine will wait for this amount of time to heat up the material before it turns on the oxygen Waterjet cutting options When you select Waterjet in the Type drop down menu of the Tool dialog box you get different options which are applicable to waterjet cutters only These are described below Tool Notes Name Jet tool Type H E Automaticaly generata name Leadin type Tool number 2 Kerf width 0 06 x Ramp Feed rate 75 ipm Update operations Wiggle Pierce delay 1 5 Normal ower Pierce height 0 2 Plunge rate 10 ipm Cut height 0 1 Pause at end of cut 0 35 Power Some waterjet cutters have the ability to adjust the power of the jet via software Use this box to set the power setting if your machine uses this feature If your machine does not use this feature then set this value to zero 0 147 Laser cutting options
135. ns Units menu Minumum segments For arc Fitting 4 Remove duplicate lines This dialog box is used to set up the Drawing import settings used by many of SheetCam s functions Note These values should never need changing under normal conditions Import link tolerance Due to rounding errors or drawing inaccuracies sometimes lines and arcs in an outline do not join up exactly If they are this distance apart or closer the ends are moved so that they join up exactly This should not be used to compensate for poor drawings Max detail reduction error Some drawings consist of a large number of very small line segments especially polyline curves converted to DXF This can slow down processing and produce very large g code files It can also slow down machining SheetCam tries to reduce the number of lines when it loads the drawing Removing lines introduces small errors and this value is the maximum allowable error For Plasma cutting you can afford to have quite a large error say 020 The setup wizard adjusts this value to suit 92 Circle recognition limit When SheetCam loads a drawing it looks for circles to identify holes for drilling Arc fitting tolerance If a series of line segments approximate an arc SheetCam will convert them to an arc This tolerance is the maximum error introduced by the conversion Increasing the tolerance will create more arcs resulting in smoother cutting and smaller code Minimu
136. o reduce nozzle contamination Some plasma machines have a small delay between the torch being turned off and the arc going out If the machine starts moving before the arc has gone out you can get an ugly gouge in the work To prevent this set the Pause at end of cut to a suitable value Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operation that use this tool For instance this will reset the feed rate Click on lt OK gt to save the tool Define a cut process Now we have defined the tool we need to use it to cut the letters out Press the Zoom to fit part button P to show the drawing Now press the Create a new jet cutting operation button D to create a new plasma cut operation 144 Basic Cut path Motes We want to cut the part out of the onkoursmietbed Outside 1 Offset ze Loop sharp corners sheet so select Outside offset in SE o we Loop size 0 03 the Soeur une SE Select e Ti 118 sted I the OI layer in me payer drop eee None down list Select Tool 1 T1 in BEE mm Triangle the Tool list Doing this sets most Max chain length 0 C ng of the parameters from the tool Offset open paths _ EE definition we did earlier Leadins on open paths Reverse cut direction Edit material When the plasma cutter pierces the work it leaves an ugly mark We can tell SheetCam to pierce away E eek EE from the cut edge then move in and Esser EE cut the outlin
137. ocket that is 1 deep Set the start depth to 1 a positive dimension and SheetCam will start machining at this point This saves a lot of ar cutting time Cut depth Enter the cut depth here This function controls the total depth of the drilled hole Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of the hole Some users expect this to be a minus figure Peck depth Enter the peck depth here This function controls the depth of each pass of the drilled hole i e how deep the drill will travel before backing out to relieve break chips Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of the peck Some users expect this to be a minus figure 67 Peck retract Enter the peck retract distance here This function controls the distance the drill backs out of the hole to relieve break chips Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the retract distance of the peck Plunge rate Enter the plunge rate here Spindle speed Enter the spindle speed here Note Speed only needs to be specified if your spindle motor is controlled via software However the post processor will issue a warning if the speed 1s set to zero 0 Min hole size Set the minimum hole size here Max hole size Set the maximum hole size here Note Only holes that fall in the range covered by the max and min settings will be machined Note If holes have been specified as points i
138. offset Enter the amount of tool offset here This should only be used if the machine controller does not have it s own tool length compensation Note Tool length offset is the length of the tool from a particular reference point This may be the spindle nose or any other convenient reference point It is used to compensate for different length tools The post processor may use this value in one of two ways If the controller supports tool length offsets then they are used If not the offset is added to the Z position Depth per pass Enter the depth here This function controls the depth of cut per pass Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of cut Some users expect this to be a minus figure Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here Plunge rate Enter the plunge rate here Ramp angle Ramping allows the cutter to enter the work while travelling in a forward direction This reduces the load on the Z axis and also allows you to plunge with a non centre cutting tool 1 e some 4 flute end mills The cutter will travel forwards as it plunges cutting a ramp into the work This ramp is then machined away If you are ramping into an open contour or between tabs then the cutter ramps down then backs up to the start of the cut reverses up to the start point then reverses again and carries on to the end If the contour is open then the cutter simply carries on at the end of the cut until the ramp is machi
139. ompletely enclose an area A square is a simple example of a closed shape It has an inside and an outside so SheetCam needs to work out which side you want to cut A simple line is a open shape as there is no inside or outside therefore SheetCam treats it differently So what is meant by properly closed Let s take a simple example You draw a rectangle using four lines However two of the lines don t quite meet On the screen it looks fine unless you zoom in very close When you load the drawing into SheetCam it will recognize that two ends don t meet and it will assume that the shape is open so you can t cut it out All open lines will be shown on the screen in purple If your lines are very close as defined under Options Application options Drawing import SheetCam will automatically move the ends so that they touch It is not good practise to rely on this feature always try to draw properly closed shapes So how do I find problems Turn off the show segment ends button BR and turn on the show path ends button The start and end points of each line will be shown A closed shape has no start and no end so there will be no markers if the shape is fully closed If you see the end markers on a supposedly closed shape it means the lines are not joined at that location You can now go back to your 128 drawing and fix the problem Note Snaps are your best weapon against problems like this Use grid snaps and end snaps whenever possib
140. on to move or copy contours to different layers Click on a contour to select it Hold the lt Control gt key to select multiple contours Note Hold down the lt Shift gt key to scroll the screen with the mouse Double click anywhere in the view panel with the left mouse button to return to the plan or overhead view Note This option can also be activated by clicking on the Re button in the toolbar havertollaver 8 Right click options Copy to layer i Right clicking while using the Edit Contours selection tool ete ee will bring up the following menu screen Select all Move to layer Select all closed contours E i r Hovering over or clicking this menu item will open the Select all holes V following pop out dialog box Zoom in Zoom out Zoom to Fit part Mowe to layer Mew layer Zoom bo fit job Copy to layer j3 zoom window Contour properties E zoom bo Fit material A new layer Zoom to Fit machine Measure Chose either a New layer or an existing layer This will move the selected contour s to the chosen layer 108 Choosing New layer will open the following window Enter the new layer name Enter a new name for the layer and click lt OK gt Copy to layer Hovering over or clicking this menu item will open the following pop out dialog box Move to layer Aoo 5 Chose either a New layer or an existing Copy to layer New layer layer This will copy the selected 14 contour s
141. ons The display will zoom and rotate to fit the last specified material Material tab We will be cutting this sign out of a 300mm x 200mm sheet of 6mm plastic that is clamped to the table with it s bottom left hand corner at X 50mm Y 50mm As we intend to cut the parts out completely the sheet is clamped on to a piece of 0 25in board to allow the cutter to cut right through without damaging the table Enter the dimensions and position of the material as shown below Material Parking Nesting Tool change Notes The main display will re size to Use drawing show the material as you enter the values To be safe we will run the cutter 4mm above the panel when FA GG moving between cuts so enter 4 in x 300 mm HES O the Rapid clearance box The y 200 mm sacrificial board is 0 25in thick so enter 0 25in for the height of the work above the table Plunge safety clearance is used when doing a rapid move to cut height When SheetCam moves to the top of the cut it stops slightly SUE rim short and moves the remaining distance at feed rate This allows for inaccuracies in your setup and any chips that may be in the way The last thing you want is to slam the tool into the work at full speed most cases G Enter coordinates i 50 mm V 50 rar Rapid clearance 4mm Height of bottom of material above table Zum Plunge safety clearance 0 5 mm By default the clearance is 0 5mm which seems to wo
142. osition For Scaling and Drawing 3 CH O Drawing origin position information see Open Centered on 0 0 SVG options above e Current position Kaf Note For tips on creating suitable drawings see the Hints and Tips section Open G code options Scaling Drawing position For Scaling and Drawing 1 OQ Oe O O Drawing origin position information see Open BONE SVG options above E Current position Note For tips on creating suitable drawings see the Hints and Tips section For Scaling and Drawing Scaling position information see Open Metric O 2 Drawing origin SVG options above C Inch O Centered on 0 0 Custom O Current position Number format Use the boxes to set the number format and the radio buttons to select either leading zero or trailing Number Format Create tools and operations Zero supression 1 Gi 2 ld Ss Create tools and operations If this section is Enabled then SheetCam can set up the tool table and operations to run the job With this option turned on you can simply load a file and immediately post process without having to do gt Leading zeros Gei Trailing zeros Enabled anything else Note For tips on creating suitable drawings see the Hints and Tips section 14 Open DXF options Scaling Drawing position Metric E 3 Inch Centered on 0 0 C Custom SES cn Current position Lu a F 4 Dr
143. out required using the radio buttons and enter the size in box Note Size refers to the length of the lead out Use code snippet Select the required code snippet from the drop down menu Note The code snippet needs to be previously defined using the Tools New code snippet function The snippet is inserted into the code at the start of the cut just before the cutter plunges to depth Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Cut path tab Basic Cut start Cut path Notes Cut ordering Reverse open paths Optimisation Cutting rules C Offset open paths Auto All inside First Leadins on open paths Manual CD Shortest path C Clitnb cut Start position O Keep parts together Oyvercuk corners on O CEER Angle threshold T _ H Enabled l Holding tabs Ce Lert Je Cut ordering Optimisation Auto manual Select auto or manual path optimisation using the radio buttons Note If Auto is selected the cut sequence is calculated automatically SheetCam tries to minimise rapid moves while adhering to the rules shown under Cutting rules below If Manual is selected then you can manually set the cut sequence by editing the start points Optimise now This button optimises the cut path immediately This is useful to see the effect of any changes or to create a starting point for manual editing 45 Start position This is the point where Sheet am assumes th
144. p file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Tool table button E located in the left hand vertical toolbar 41 Operation setup You will now need to select the operation you require from the following options Contour Drilling Pocket Insert code Tapping Set post variable Plasma cut Move to Contour Basic tab Cut start Cut path Notes Contour method Gukside Offset wel Coolant al si Sir Mist Tool T3 Mil Router 0 125 ze lead Flood Start depth mech Cut depth o 2inch O Depth per pass EELER Finish allowance O inch O e Feed rate 20 inchimin Plunge rate Sinchjmin 00 rpm Material thickness 0 7874 inch Edit material Cut sequence 1 cut of 0 2 inch Spindle speed 40 Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Contour method Select the contour method required using the drop down menu Contour method este Sener Layer Inside offset Outside offset D min in Note of the tool chosen below Note Tool OOOO Inside offset will offset the cutter path to the inside of the contour by half the diameter Outside offset will offset the cutter path to the outside of the contour by half the diameter of the tool chosen below It should be noted that the cut side will be reversed if you cut an inside contour For instance if you were
145. parent part are reflected in the duplicates You cannot change any process settings for duplicates as they are tied to their parent Instead of duplicating a part you can copy it by selecting Copy from the right click menu A copy is completely independent so you can_ change it s processes or even load a different drawing without affecting the part it was copied from For obvious reasons you cannot copy a duplicate While in Nesting mode paths and outlines are all shown in the same colour to prevent confusion When in other modes the currently selected part will have it s paths and outlines colour coded All other parts and duplicates will be shown in either grey or orange To select a part click on it in the part list 149 Using Copy Now we have two signs saying PLASMA and we want plain backing plates that will be painted a different colour Make sure you are in Nesting mode by clicking on the cy button then click on the original part to select it then right click and select Copy Drop the copy to the right hand side of the original part Now right click and select Duplicate Drop the duplicate above the new copy You should end up with something like this File Edt View Tock Operation Zoom Mode Options Plugins Help PE BRED BR EE Cou Shik eta T EM Parts untitled Duplicate 1 wv Copy of untitled kel Duplicate 1 Tools me TL 1 8 steel A d G Operations Re Plasma Outside OF S
146. pe has no start and no end so there will be no markers 1f the shape is fully closed If you see the end markers on a supposedly closed shape it means the lines are not joined at that location You can now go back to your drawing and fix the problem then resave and open it again in SheetCam Snaps are your best weapon against problems like this Use grid snaps and end snaps whenever possible They are the best way to create accurate drawings If you are not familiar with using snaps then look in the documentation for your CAD drawing program Virtually all CAD drawing programs have some form of snap capability have a simple matrix of 4 holes There is no milling just the drilling I defined the drill and the drill operation on the appropriate layer The graphics look OK except there are no rapid moves shown No way for the tool to get to the holes When I run the post processor the code has no moves in it and no drilling If there are no rapid moves shown then the holes are not being drilled The most likely reason is that the min hole size and max hole size are not set correctly Only holes between those two sizes will be drilled Try increasing the max hole size and decreasing the min hole size 151 I have drawn a shape with sharp edges but when SheetCam shows the cut path the corners are rounded What is happening The display shows the centre line of the cutter Imagine your cutter is a piece of solid bar As it ro
147. peration using the smaller cutter This is slightly wasteful because the small cutter will travel round the whole outline even though you only need to cut the keyway A better alternative is to draw a rectangle on another layer that covers the keyway and extends outwards by at least 1 2 the cutter diameter You can then use an inside profile on this rectangle to just cut the keyway Is the key going to have rounded corners to compensate for the cutter radius If not then turn on overcut corners in the cut path tab of the contour operation This will cut into the corners of the keyway to allow the square key to fit When you are using No offset is there a way to change the start point from the outside of the cut to the inside With No offset SheetCam has no way of working out what side of the cut you want to keep A way to work around this is to use an inside or outside offset and use a negative finish allowance to return the cut path to nearly on the line Example If you are using a 0 25in cutter use a finish allowance of 0 121 SheetCam will not allow you to use a bigger finish allowance It will mean that your part will come out 0 004 over under size Q My outline is shown in grey and I cannot offset it A Somewhere on the outline the lines don t quite join up Turn off the show segment ends button Note and turn on the show path ends button The start and end points of each line will be shown A closed sha
148. ptions Right clicking while using the Test selection tool will bring up the following menu screen 117 Zoom in Zoom controls Zoom out Clicking on any of these items will zoom the view as Zoom to fit part i required Zoom to Fit job Zoom windo Measure To use the measure tool click on the point you want to measure from zoom to fik material Zoom bo Fit machine Measure Calculator button Toggles a simple calculator on or off Tools toolbar buttons New rotary tool button Add a new rotary tool Add a new jet cutting tool Clicking on this button will open the New rotary tool set up z E G window Add a new code snippet Access tool table Note Use this button for ALL rotary tools mills drills taps etc Note This can also be accessed via the Tools New rotary tool menu item New jet cutting button Clicking on this button will open the New jet cutting tool set up window Note Use this button for ALL jet cutting tools plasma flame waterjet laser etc Note This can also be accessed via the Tools New jet cutting tool menu item Add new code snippet Clicking on this button will open the New code snippet set up window Note This can also be accessed via the Tools New code snippet menu item Tool table button Clicking on this button will open the Tool table window Note This can also be accessed via the Tools Tool table menu item 118 Operations toolbar buttons
149. r by right clicking and selecting End measuring Zoom controls Clicking on any of these items will zoom the view as required Edit cut start points When clicked allows you to insert the Cut start pont on the part at a location of your choosing The mouse cursor changes to a pointer with an S if you are near a valid start point Note Hold down the lt Shift gt key to scroll the screen with the mouse Double click anywhere in the view panel with the left mouse button to return to the plan or overhead view Note This option can also be activated by clicking on the button in the toolbar 105 Right click options Right clicking while using the Place cut start point selection tool will bring up the following menu screen Properties Quick cuk sequence Reverse cut direction Properties Clicking this function opens a dialog box that shows how many contours you have selected and which layers they are Corner snap distance on zoom in 1 1 Number of contours selected 1 Zoom out from layer 17_ zoom to Fit park zoom to fit job zoom window zoom to Fit material Zoom to Fit machine Click lt OK gt to close the box Measure Quick cut sequence Sequence number This is a quick way of manually setting the cut order The H fore Sequence number box shows the current start point number and the total number of start points If you click on a start point it s number will be changed to the sequence number an
150. reate tabs on the inside of the cut line Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 49 Notes Tab Basic Cut start Cut path Notes Cancel 50 Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands Comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment New pocket Basic tab Basic Nokes Pocket method Layer Th Mill router 0 25 in diameter sl Tool Start depth Di Cut depth i Depth per pass Step over Finish allowance Feed rate Plunge rate Ramp Angle Spindle speed Tool 2 Md Pouter 2 mm dameterb Start depth Edit 0 3937 in 3 937 inches min 3 937 inches min o degrees TS Mil A outer 3 mm diameter EI Coolant None Mist O Flood CYvercuk corners Angle threshold 100 C Enabled in M climb cut Material thickness 0 2362 in Edit material Op Sequence 1 cut of Cin 1000 rpm L Tool TS Mill Router 0 375 in diameter Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Pocket method Select either Spiral pocket or Zigzag pocket from the drop down menu Layer Select the layer you wish to apply the pocket to using the drop down menu shown below Layer TEXT we EES E Select the correct tool using the down menu Clicking on the but
151. rk pretty well in Older versions of SheetCam have always had this hard coded to 0 5mm Enter your required distance in the box Now click on lt OK gt to save your changes Defining a tool Now we have set up the machine we need to define the tool that we will cut the part out with For this job we will use a 30mm long x 3mm diameter spiral router with 10mm flute length The spindle speed will be 10 000 RPM and the feed rate will be 500mm min The maximum safe cut depth per pass in this material is 2mm On the machine it is tool number 3 136 Click on the Create a new rotary tool icon located on the left side tool bar to bring up the tool dialog box shown below Select Mill Router as the tool type and enter lt 3 gt in the tool number box Now enter the Tool Mates Mame Itequiker roam ciamete Type Millfrouter_ E H Automatically generate name Tool number 3 Spindle rotation Diameter and Flute length Diameter amm Ow information The Tool length Flute length 10 mm e Si offset box is useful if you are Tool length offset omm using multiple tool holders or are Depth per pass 2 mm Update operations d using an autolock type chuck You Feed rate 500 mm min Update operations can enter the tool projection here Update operations Gs so that SheetCam can Ramp Angle 0 degrees Lage operations automatically compensate for Spindle speed 10000 rpm Update operations
152. s Creating your drawing section of this document Context sensitive help Clicking on an open palette or settings window within the SheetCam application and pressing the lt F1 gt key will open the specific help file for that item DI Table of Contents Post processor tab cssccsscssscsscessssscectscscrscscesescuss fi EEN 54 Notes EE 70 Insert GN ie ice i ie eege ee 70 Notes tab csccsssssscsssssscescssscescssscsssssscsscusses 71 SI EE 71 Bo EE 71 New rigid taps Notes aD ico ccsssstesdscteccnesatacomenstes 27 Other E EE 76 New thread mill SE 28 BA ii sch lech tat bam aaa 76 li Safety Care must be taken when using computer controlled equipment to ensure the safety of the operator bystanders and the equipment itself While SheetCam does not directly control the machine except in special circumstances the post processor code generated by SheetCam is used by other software that m turn controls the machine operation It is strongly advised that all post processor files are run through a CNC simulator of some sort to check for errors prior to running them on the machine in question CNC simulators are available as freeware at a number of sites on the internet and can be part of the control software itself Stable Design cannot be held responsible for any damage caused by incorrect programming by the user Initial setup Before you can generate G code SheetCam needs to
153. s a pop up window allowing you to browse for a previously saved tools file tools Save toolset Opens a pop up window allowing you to save your current tools as a tools file tools 74 Save default toolset Makes the current toolset the default This is the toolset that will be loaded when TNG first Starts Note A toolset contains a list of all the tools you have defined Load default toolset Update operations Depth per pass peck depth _ Feed rate Plunge rate Ramp angle Spindle speed Don t ask me again when loading a default toolset Update operations If any of the boxes are ticked their parameters are applied to any existing operations that use that tool Future operations are not affected For instance if Tool 1 has a spindle speed of 1000 rpm and you select Spindle speed then all operations that use Tool 1 will have their spindle speed set to 1000 rpm Click lt OK gt after making any selections to save the changes Don t ask me again If you check this box the dialog box above will not appear 75 Other features Congratulations you have just worked through the procedures for setting up your first SheetCam job There are a number of other features and functions within SheetCam and the following pages will look at these features in detail File Menu Print Prints the current item s in the view panel You must have a printer connected and online to print
154. s use the Holding tab tool RT on the tool bar Clean up exit ramp Auto tabbing Minimum number of tabs 2 Max tab spacing 7 874 in Tabs an Inside cite Note This button will be greyed out if no tabs are set Line tabbing Length l h This control is used to specify the length of Line angle 0 degrees the holding tab Tabs can be any size to suit Tabs on inside cuts the application but generally longer tabs have a reduced thickness while shorter tabs ok al are usually left at the material thickness 64 Thickness This control is used to specify the thickness of the holding tab Setting the tab thickness to less than the material thickness will result in thin tabs that can be easily cut broken when machining is complete It is worth mentioning that tab thickness is based on the material thickness not the cut depth For instance if you have 10mm thick material and specify 2mm thick tabs you will need to cut at least 8mm deep to see the tabs at all Note By using the tab length thickness controls you can make SheetCam clear any clamps or fixtures as it cuts provided that you know where the clamps will be By making the thickness greater than the material thickness plus the clamp thickness SheetCam will rapid traverse for the length of the tab after the cutter has withdrawn to the correct height provided that the combined thickness is greater than the rapid clearance height as set under the Options Material menu item
155. start tab and set Lead in to Arc and enter 5mm for the Length The cutter will now plunge in 5mm from the start point then enter the profile smoothly without leaving any marks You can do the same for the Lead out When your settings look like the screen shot above click on lt OK gt This process has been added to the process list on the left hand side Basic Cut start Cut path Notes Cuk ordering Optimisation Cutting rules auto Ee all inside fi 2 All inside First A Manual Shortest path Start position O Keep parts together cy pp Cut direction B EI Reverse open paths Offset open paths C Leadins on open paths Climb cut Myvercuk corners 4ngle threshold al el Enabled Holding tabs If you turn on the show path directions button D you can see what directions the cuts will be in In this case the outline is cut anticlockwise To change this to clockwise double click on the process we have just created to open the process editor again In the Cut path tab make sure Climb cut is checked as shown Now click on lt OK gt The outside tool path has now reversed Click on the Run post processor button P to create your G code Jet Cutting tutorial In this tutorial we will open a drawing and create the toolpaths to cut out the part First make sure SheetCam 1s 1n jet cutting mode Go to Options Machine and make sure the Jet cutting check box is c
156. t G code with SheetCam Pocketing tutorial In the previous tutorial we cut some letters out of a sheet of plastic In this tutorial we will make a sign with raised letters and a raised border Basic Notes The first step is to engrave around the Pocket method Spiral packet Reech ocket method Spiral pocket Leen letters to form a recess 1mm deep Layer TEXT Mist SE E i derer Hl O Flood SheetCam has already loaded the same Overcut corners tool settings as the last tutorial so we can Cut depth 1 mm Angle threshold Depth per pass 2 mm Step over Hol Enabled Start depth mm get straight on to cutting plastic r 1 e e Finish allowance 0 mm Eo First click on the Create a pocket Se SS eerst Ji button E to open the pocket editor In GES Pocket method select Spiral pocket GE For the Layer select TEST In the main window the text and the box around it is highlighted in white to show 7 the parts of the drawing that are going to be used by this operation Ramp Angle D degrees Spindle speed 10000 rpm Click on the drop down arrow for the tool and select the only tool in the list Doing this sets most of the parameters from the tool definition we did in the previous tutorial Set the Cut depth to 1mm and the Step over to 40 The step over is the percentage of the tool width that is cut at each pass Double check that your settings match the screen shot abov
157. t have linear units and angular edit boxes must have angular units If you do not specify any units then the preferred units as set above are used If you specify any of the units in the list they will be converted to your preferred units as soon as you leave the edit box Example 1 If you type 10mm with the unit designator mm into a cut depth box it will change to 0 3937 inches as soon as you leave the box assuming your preferred units are inches Example 2 If you type 1 with the unit designator into a cut depth box it will change to 25 4mm as soon as you leave the box assuming your preferred units are mm Example 3 If you type 1 inch with the unit designator inch into a cut depth box it will change to 25 4mm as soon as you leave the box assuming your preferred units are mm Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 9 Annoying dialogs tab Below is a list of information dialogs that have been shown Dialog selection IF you check the box it will mot be shown again Check the relevant boxes to prevent SheetCam from displaying them again Uncheck them to have the dialog boxes reappear Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Drawing import tab Import link tolerance 1 0004 Note All units based on the Maximum detail reduction error D nen selection in the Circle recognition limit 0 0079 in Options Application Arc Fitting tolerance 0 0039 in o Do
158. te Speed only needs to be specified if your spindle motor is controlled via software However the post processor will issue a warning if the speed is set to zero 0 Spindle rotation Select the spindle direction from the available choices Note These items only need to be checked if your spindle motor is controlled via software Note The spindle direction also affects the cut direction For instance if climb cutting outside contours are cut clockwise if the spindle 1s clockwise or anticlockwise if the spindle is anticlockwise Update operations Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operation that use this tool For instance this will reset the spindle speed feed rate ramp angle etc OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool 22 diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create new rotary Tool button located in the left hand vertical toolbar New V cutter Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment New tapping head Motes Type Tapping head kel Automatically generat
159. the tool number can be used to group different tool settings Turn off Automatically generate name and enter a name for this tool You can have a library of tool definitions for different thicknesses of material machine settings etc Note If you select Flame Waterjet Laser or Plate marker then you will see slightly different options boxes as each type uses different features To see the specific features for each type click on the relevant link Flame Waterjet Laser Plate marker Enter the Kerf width width of the cut line and Feed rate plus all other values as shown Tool Notes Pierce delay is the time the torch Name LR steel takes to pierce from the moment the Automatically generate name Type Plasma eeh cutter is turned on Set the Pierce Tool number 1 V i 1 ool number Normal height as high as possible If the Kerf width 0 06 Ss Ee baste S GE pierce height is too high then the Pierce delay 1 s arc won t transfer to the material If Pierce height 0 2 EE it is too low the nozzle could be Bete fate 10 pin damaged by droplets of steel blown Cut height 0 1 l ut heig back as the arc pierces Pause at end of cut 0 3 5 Plunge rate is the speed the torch plunges down to cut height If you have Ramp selected in the Leadin type area then this value is ignored If a ramp lead in is selected then the cutter will ramp down to cut height over the length of the leadin This can help t
160. this box forces the move s to be made relative to the current location rather than to the machine zero location Note You cannot use a relative move as the first operation SheetCam has no way of knowing where the machine is when you start the code so it cannot move relative to an unknown position Use feed rate If Use feed rate is disabled the move will be a GO rapid move If it is enabled the move will be a G1 move at the feed rate specified in the box below Feed rate Enter the required feed rate in the box 12 Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Move to button located in the left hand vertical toolbar Notes tab Basic Notes Notes Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment Post process Once you have all your tools and processes set up it 1s time to post your process Select Run post processor from the File menu This runs the post processor chosen from the Options Machine Post processor menu This option can also be activated by clicking on the P button on the toolbar Open and save options Once you have posted your G code you can save various parameters for later use The File menu has the following options to open and save files Job files New job Opens a new job Open job Opens a pop up wi
161. to compensate for different length tools The post processor may use this value in one of two ways If the controller supports tool length offsets then they are used If not the offset is added to the Z position Depth per pass Enter the depth here This function controls the depth of cut per pass Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of cut Some users expect this to be a minus figure Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here Plunge rate Enter the plunge rate here Ramp angle Ramping allows the cutter to enter the work while travelling in a forward direction This reduces the load on the Z axis and also allows you to plunge with a non centre cutting tool i e some 4 flute end mills The cutter will travel forwards as it plunges cutting a ramp into the work This ramp is then machined away If you are ramping into an open contour or between tabs then the cutter ramps down then backs up to the start of the cut reverses up to the start point then reverses again and carries on to the end If the contour is open then the cutter simply carries on at the end of the cut until the ramp is machined away For small contours the cutter will spiral down to depth The ramp angle specifies the angle at which the cutter will plunge into the work 0 degrees or 90 degrees are straight down no ramping 5 degrees is very shallow and 85 degrees is very steep Spindle speed Enter the spindle speed here No
162. ton Holding down the lt Shift gt key will enable drag mode while any other selection tool is active The mouse pointer will change into a hand to show you are in drag mode On releasing the lt Shift gt key the previous selection tool will be reactivated Tutorials A number of tutorials covering different aspects of the software can be found under the Help Tutorials menu item These are reproduced below so that users can print them out if required 132 Machine setup The machine setup is covered on pages 6 9 of this manual Material setup The material setup is covered on page 10 of this manual Profile tutorial In this tutorial we will open a drawing and create the toolpaths to cut out the part The second group of icons on the left hand side of the upper toolbar control how the drawing is displayed Experiment with the first three to see what they do S Show the input paths This shows or hides your drawing IS Show segment ends This highlights the start and end points of each line or arc segment in the drawing The curves in this drawing consist of lots of small line segments so they show up as almost completely white z Show path ends This highlights the start and end points of all open paths In this case the line underneath the text 1s an open path because it has a start and an end point The text consists of closed paths which have no fixed start and end points 133 For the purposes of this tutorial
163. ton to the right of the Tool box the one with three dots calls up the Tool Edit dialog box Start depth This function specifies the depth at which to start cutting Note This function could be used if you want to cut a second pocket into the floor of a previously machined pocket that is 1 deep Set the start depth to 1 a positive dimension and Sheet am will start machining at this point This saves a lot of ar cutting time A CAUTION Improper use of this function could lead to tool part crashes Only change the value from zero 0 the default value if you are actually cutting a pocket within a pocket Cut depth Enter the cut depth here This function controls the total depth of cut Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of cut Some users expect this to be a minus figure Depth per pass Enter the Z increment depth here This function controls the depth of cut per pass Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the depth of cut Some users expect this to be a minus figure 51 Step over Set the Step over amount as a percentage of the cutter diameter Fill angle Note This item is only displayed when Zigzag pocket is selected in Pocket method above Changing the Fill angle changes the direction of cut for the zigzag pocket Finish allowance Enter the finish allowance here This will force SheetCam to leave the part undersized You will the
164. tool Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Tool Motes Mame Note This menu item is only visible if soe v ZlAtonstcaly reene Jet cutting has been selected in Tool umber D EN sigh the Cptions Machine Machine Kerf width 0 0591 in ee type menu Feed rate 100 inches min Update operations O wiggle Pierce delay 0 5 5 Note If you need to use a flame cutter to pierce holes at specific ees locations the Drilling operation Plunge rate 8 inches min Cut height 1in Ci can be used with a flame tool Pause at end of cut os setting for this purpose See the Drilling operation page for more information Preheat o 5 Wiggle size n Pierce height GI in Name Manually enter the tool name if the Automatically generate name box below is not checked Type Select the correct jet cutting type from the drop down menu shown below Note This page shows setting options for a new flame cutter To see the other tool setup pages refer to the relevant sections below Flate marker Automatically generate name Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the lower boxes Tool number Enter the tool number here Kerf width Enter the kerf width cut width here Feed rate Enter the required feed rate here Pierce delay Enter the delay time here Preheat Enter the preheat time h
165. toolbar New mill Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment 18 New drill Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Tool Notes Name Er Type Dri Automatically generate name T lee Een 10 Spindle rotation l l l _ Diameter 0 2518 cw Note os menu item Is only visible Point angle 116 degrees ae if Rotary cutting has been Flute length 3 in S selected in the Tool lenath offset 1 In Options Machine Machine Depth per pass 0 1 in Update operations type menu Plunge rate GI inches rmin Update operations DEER DEE Name zsm Manually enter the tool name if the Automatically generate name box below is not checked Type Select the correct tool type from the drop down menu shown below Type Milljrouter v Note This page shows setting options for a new drill ber em rotary cutter To see the other tool setup Brill neter cutter Tapping head angth Figid tap Thread mill pages refer to their relevant sections Automatically generate name Checking this box will automatically generate the tool name based on selections made in the lower boxes Tool number Enter the tool number here Diameter Enter the diameter of the tool here Point angle Enter the point angle her
166. tter will i mone make to cut through the material It Tool T3 Milfrouter 3mm c he is currently telling you that the Start depth Omm cutter will make 3 passes of 2mm O mm Cut depth 625mm whe i team and one of 0 25mm This is not Depth per pass 2mm ideal for this job so change the O mm 500 mm Finish allowance Omm Depth per pass value to lt 1 8 gt Feed rate 500 mm min Cut sequence Seah aan The cutter will now make 3 passes Plunge rate 200 mmjmin and 1 cut of 0 25 mm Ramp angle degen of 1 8mm leaving 0 6mm of Spindle speed mmm e material left for the last cut plus the 0 25mm into the sacrificial board of course Now click on lt OK gt to save the changes Generate the tool paths The tool paths will now be created While the paths are being calculated an animated icon kd will be displayed As this is a very simple job the icon will disappear very quickly KEE ene SheetCam has worked out that the pats inside of the A has to be cut on the be opposite side It will also be cut before the outside The cutter has followed the line exactly because SheetCam does not know what to do with it Note that the Operation has turned yellow to warn you that there is a problem If you hover the mouse over the operation a message will pop up advising you what the problem is Tools T3 Mill router 3 mm diame 280 355 mm 190 336 mm Pos 114 06 mm
167. u to arrange multiple parts on the same workpiece Click on the part to select it then drag it to the new position You can also copy and duplicate the part with this function TIP Copy and Duplicate have different functions as follows Copy This will make a complete copy of the drawing and operations The copy will be completely independent of the part it was copied from Duplicate This will perform a step and repeat of the original drawing and operations Any changes made to the original will be reflected in the duplicate Note Hold down the lt Shift gt key to scroll the screen with the mouse Double click anywhere in the view panel with the left mouse button to return to the plan or overhead view Note This option can also be activated by clicking on the kia button in the toolbar 110 Right click options Right clicking while using the Nesting tool will bring up the following menu screen Copy Duplicate Delete Array parks Disable Lock Snap to grid Grid options Zoom in Zoom out Zoom to Fit part zoom to Fit job Zoom window Zoom bo Fit material zoom bo fit machine Measure Number of columns Number of rows Array area va 10 5111 inch Park spacing x Gap between parts 4 9766 inch Fit to material Copy Click on this function to copy the part A part consists of a drawing with its associated operations Copy will make a complete copy of the drawing and operations The copy
168. ugin on wxLua 2 8 10 0 built with weWidgets 2 8 11 or off Edit macro Clicking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location a 122 DXF plugin This plugin controls the DXF drawing import features DXF import filter Enabled Note does not handle text entities or blocks This check box toggles the plugin on or off Edit macro Clicking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location oo II Hep Excellon plugin This plugin controls the Excellon drawing import features Excellon import Filter Enabled Can automatically create tools and operations based on the tool definitions in This check box toggles the plugin on ithe file or off Edit macro Clicking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 123 G code plugin This plugin controls the G code drawing import features HPGL import filter Enabled Does not handle text entities This check box toggles the plugin on or off Edit macro Clicking this button will open an editing window to allow editing of the plugin Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location HPGL plugin This plugin controls the HPGL
169. using tabs it is recommend that you set the tab thickness to 0 zero When using a tab thickness greater than 0 zero SheetCam uses a slightly different cutting strategy which can be a little less efficient This is particularly noticeable if you use ramping 48 in conjunction with the tabs Clean up exit ramp When ramp cutting with tabs enabling this will clean up the trailing ramp on each tab This takes longer to cut but leaves square edged tabs With this option disabled the ramp is left so the entry to the tab 1s square but the exit is tapered Auto tabbing Auto tabbing automatically places tabs on every outline Min number of tabs The number of tabs needed depends very much on the material you are working with Generally the minimum number of tabs should be set to 2 This way even small parts will have two tabs Max tab spacing The max tab spacing is the maximum distance between tabs This effectively sets the number of tabs on larger outlines Even on big parts you probably don t need more than 5 so the max tab spacing can be quite large Tabs on inside cuts Check this box to create tabs on the inside of the cut line Clear all Clicking this button clears all tabs Place tabs Clicking this button places the tabs Line tabbing Line tabbing is used while manually placing tabs See the Edit tabs section for more information Line angle Sets the angle of the tab line Tabs on inside cuts Check this box to c
170. utter is likely to crash into the table Machine parameters The settings for machine parameters can be accessed via the Options Machine menu item X and Y coordinates of table origin These are the absolute coordinates of the bottom left hand corner of the table Table width This is the width of the table X axis Table depth This is the depth of the table Y axis Max clearance between the chuck and the table This is the maximum available clearance on the Z axis 1 e the clearance between the chuck and table with the Z axis raised to the maximum height It is used to work out if it is possible to fit the work on the machine Note As with any input boxes you can enter values in any measurement system See Entering values on the previous page for more information Material parameters The settings for material parameters can be accessed via the Options Job options Material menu item Thickness of work This is the total thickness of the material being machined X and Y coordinates of bottom left corner These are the absolute coordinates of the bottom left hand corner X and Y size The overall size of the work X and Y axes Rapid clearance The height above the work to run the tool when moving between cuts Height of bottom of material above table Enter the distance the bottom of the material sits above the table Note This is a positive figure as you are specifying the height This is used where the part
171. w Input paths Show segment ends Show machine and work Show path directions Show path ends Show tool paths Show rapid moves Show input paths Toggles the input paths on or off Show segment ends Toggles the segment end points on or off Show path ends Toggles the path end points on or off Note This can be useful for locating non joined lines which may cause erratic behaviour Show tool paths Toggles the tool paths on or off Show rapid moves Toggles the rapid moves on or off Show path directions Toggles the path directions on or off Show machine and work Toggles the machine and work display on or off Show cut start points Toggles the cut start points on or off 102 Show true width Toggles the true width of the cutter jet on or off Run post processor toolbar buttons PERS E Print Job report Run post processor Run post processor Runs the post processor previously chosen from the Options Machine Post processor menu Job report Clicking on this button will display the job report dialog box Print button Clicking on this button will open the Pont set up window Note This can also be accessed via the File Print menu item Zoom toolbar buttons OOOO C to fit machine foom to fit material Zem in Zoom out _ oom to fit window Zoom to fit current part Zoom to fit job Zoom in Clicking on this button will zoom the view
172. we are working in millimetres so go to the Options Application options menu item and select the Units tab once the pop up window opens see image below Display Units Annoying dialogs Drawing import Toolbars Default directories Linear units mm K Angular units degrees wi Feed rate mrn min wi Thread pitch TPI wi Time 5 Machine type tab Make sure Linear units are set to mm and Feed rate is set to mm min then click on OK If you prefer inches then you can change the units when you have finished the tutorial Setting up the machine Make sure the Show machine and work button is active the button is active when it has a grey lined box around it This displays the machine and the work material Now click on the Options Machine menu item A pop up window will appear with several tabs that allow control of the various functions For this tutorial select the Rotary cutting check box only Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Save load Rotary cutting fincludes miling and routing Jet cutting fincludes plasma laser and water jet Post processor tab Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Savelload Output File units Output Folder Metric Remember last Inch Drawing folder Job file Folder Always use this folder Gutput file extension Post processor Mach3 post proc
173. will be completely independent of the part it was copied from Duplicate Click on this function to duplicate the part Duplicate will perform a step and repeat of the original drawing and operations Any changes made to the original will be reflected in the duplicate Delete Clicking on this function deletes the selected item Array parts Clicking on Array will open the following dialog box This creates an array of duplicates step and repeat Select the part s you want to array using Ctrl click or drag a box to select multiple parts then right click and select offset even rows Array e i Geng To columns rows Enter the number of columns and rows required A matrix of parts will be generated with the number of columns and rows specified Array area Use the boxes in this section to specify the size of the array area X1 and Y1 are the bottom left corner and X2 and Y2 are the upper right corner The boxes can be used in two ways 1 If you enter a value in the columns rows boxes above or change the part spacing or offset rows then the boxes show the area the array will cover 2 If you directly enter a value the number of columns rows will be updated to fit as many parts as possible into the specified area 111 Fit to material The Fit to material button sets the area to the size of the material and then updates the number of columns rows to suit Part spacing If Gap between parts is s
174. wise or anticlockwise if the spindle is anticlockwise Update operations Update operations will copy all of the tool s parameters into any operation that use this tool For instance this will reset the spindle speed feed rate etc OK OK keeps the changes and applies them to any new operations that use that tool The tool diameter however is immediately applied to all operations that use the tool Cancel Cancel cancels any changes and closes the dialog box Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location Note This dialog box can also be accessed via the Create new rotary tool button located in the left hand vertical toolbar New drill Notes tab Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Note If the machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment 20 New V cutter Notes Name EEE Note All units based on the selection in r EES Ee s 3 e Tipe ante Z Automatically generate name the Options Application Tool number 3 Spindle rotation options Units menu Co CH Tip diameter 0 05 in pa SE e Occw e e e V angle 60 degrees Oor Note This menu item is only visible if Flute length 0 5 in Rotary cutting has been selected in the Options Machine Machine Tool length offset H in Depth per pass G in Update operations i i hie 7 ES f 1 x type menu Feed rate 20 i
175. x around it This displays the machine and the work material in the main window Now click on the Options Machine menu item A pop up window will appear with several tabs that allow control of the various functions Machine type tab Machine type Post processor Working envelope Table display Savefload Rotary cutting fincludes miling and routing Jet cutting fincludes plasma laser and water jet Select the check box most applicable to your operation If you have a milling machine or router select Rotary cutting If you have a jet cutter of some sort e plasma laser water etc then select Jet cutting If you want SheetCam to output G code for both types of machine then select both rotary and jet cutting Post processor tab Machine type Past processor Working envelope Table display Save load Outout file units Outout Folder Metric Remember last Inch O Drawing Folder O Job file Folder O Always use this Folder Output File extension tap Fost processor Mach Mach post processor Mon modal G codes Modal coordinates Comments enclosed with and Incremental 11 uses G43 tool length offsets Import post Edit post Post documentation In the Output file units section select the correct unit radio button depending on your machine s requirements Note The units selected in the Output file units section only affect the generated code They do not
176. x can also be accessed via the Set post processor variable button W located in the left hand vertical toolbar Notes tab Notes Use this area to store any notes you may wish to make regarding the operation Basic Motes Note Ifthe machine understands comments then these notes will also appear in the g code as a comment Help Help opens the help file at the relevant location 71 Move to Basic tab B IEEE A asico Notes Note All units based on the selection in the Options Application options Units menu Position Position Click on the Use button to enable that axis and enter the location in the box Note The move only takes place in the selected axis or axes so selecting only the Y axis would not move the X or Z axes Mouse select button Clicking on the Mouse select button temporarily closes the dialog box and allows you J to click anywhere on the table or workpiece in the d main viewing window The click position is then recorded and displayed when the dialog box reappears Relative Use Feed rate Feed rate 0 039 Tool type Select the tool type from the drop down menu Move The move radio buttons only become active if the Z axis is selected above Move Z first Moves the Z axis before the X and or Y axes Move Z last Moves the Z axis after the X and or Y axes 3D move Moves all selected axes at the same time Relative Clicking

Setup and Operation Manual

Contents

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents