Re-order CAM Simulation

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imk
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Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:56 am

Re-order CAM Simulation

Post by imk » Mon Mar 09, 2015 10:08 am

Hello,
So new user to QCAD and drawn my first part ready to be sent of to machine shop.
Now being novice when I created the drawing I kind of jumped about a bit when drawing the frame and as it consists of vertical, horizontal lines and curves.
So I ran the CAM simulation to see what the work flow was like and the laser cutter would be jumping about in the order that I drew the lines.
So I was wondering is there a way to reorder the drawing of the line segments?
Many thanks in advance imk
Win7 QCAD 3.8
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andrew
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Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:07 am

Re: Re-order CAM Simulation

Post by andrew » Mon Mar 09, 2015 10:28 am

First, I'd contact the machine shop to learn if they optimize your drawing before laser cutting. If they do, there's no need to do any optimization on your end.

To optimize a DXF file for shortest path, you can proceed as follows:
- Load your drawing
- CAM > CAM Export...
- Choose the 'GCode' configuration with desired optimization options
- In the new drawing window that opens, delete the layer 'rapid'
- Save the output drawing in the desired DXF format

You can also manually re-order entities in a drawing by adjusting the property 'Draw Order' of individual entities using the property editor.
The direction of individual entities can be changed using Modify > Reverse (swap start and end point).

Note: DXF always stores arcs in counter-clockwise orientation. To force an arc to be processed clockwise, it has to be made part of a polyline.

imk
Registered Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:56 am

Re: Re-order CAM Simulation

Post by imk » Mon Mar 09, 2015 10:37 am

Andrew,
Wow so many solutions thank you very much.
I know it could be done but as novice at this sort of thing had no idea how to start.
I think I'll be buying the pro upgrade to this free version.
Thanks again imk

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