Exporting QCAD/CAM Drawings for Fabric Cutting Machines (e.g., OROX) — Any Advice?

[rui_fartaria]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some guidance on exporting cutting paths from QCAD/CAM to be used directly on a fabric cutting machine — in this case, an OROX cutter.

My questions:

1. Does QCAD/CAM support exporting to any of the Gerber-style formats used in textile cutting workflows?
(e.g., Gerber AAMA/ASTM, HPGL PLT, ISO-CUT, IBA, etc.)

2. Is there any recommended workflow or plugin for exporting QCAD/CAM toolpaths to formats recognized by fabric cutters like OROX?

3. Has anyone here successfully integrated QCAD/CAM into a textile/fabric cutting pipeline?
I’d love to hear about setups, conversion tools, or third-party utilities that worked for you.

Any pointers or experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[CVH]

Hi,

QCAD/CAM supports Gerber format for importing but not as export format.
Note that QCAD is basically 2D.
The only thing I can contribute here is that there is a standard QCAD/CAM postprocessor for HPGL included in your installation.

QCAD/CAM can be trialed for free and is the complete package with some limitations.
Display name in the list of postprocessors is 'HP-GL', filename extension is 'plt'.

Perhaps a to specific header and footer or a bit limited in export but I am not a HPGL format specialist.
Exports PD, PA, AA and PU motions.

With a text editor have a look at the content of the script ...\postprocessors\Hpgl.js
Where the 3 dots stand for your QCAD/CAM installation folder.

Don't overwrite this postprocessor script file, create your own custom script file based on this.
Then rename all references to 'Hpgl' into 'MyHpgl' for example and adapt the display name among other things.

Another option is to include the standard Hpgl.js in your own and alter (overwrite) or extend certain things.
Analog to how different G-Code dialects are based on the common G-Code postprocessor.

HPGL was originally intended for round pens and these can draw lines in any direction.
Fabric cutting with a tangentially knife is most probably a bridge too far to implement yourself.
Unless the machine itself handles knife re-orientations in corners.
But water-jet is practically the same as a Laser setup, cutting on the profile or with a minute offset.

The reason for replacing the high-end software from OROX is questionable.
The developer of QCAD, user Andrew, is probably the best placed person to provide in such a high-end replacement if possible.
Perhaps you want to consult him by E-Mail.

Regards,
CVH

[rui_fartaria]

Thank you very much for your answer.

"The reason for replacing the high-end software from OROX is questionable." - this is exactly what I think. We have the comercial version of QCAD and were thinking of acquiring the QCAD/CAM version but we dont know if we need it yet. I have been trying to send our DXF to the cutting shop but they say they cant open it. They say the DXFs we send from Gerber software are fine but the ones from QCAD are not. I'l keep trying (maybe I'll have to analyse the DXFs from Gerber and QCAD and try to find the problem).

Again, thank you very much for your advice.

Rui

[CVH]

Hi,

The DXF format is quite common and that should not pose any problem.
Not being able to read is probably a problem at the receiver end.

Perhaps you could attach such problematic files and we could have a look at them.
Comparing one from the Gerber software with one created by QCAD or any other CAD system could shed some light.

DXF is a textual format and QCAD supports the R9 to R32(2018) versions.
What happens when you save the file in an earlier version like R15(2000), the only version supported by QCAD CE.
There will be some limitations when downgrading the format.
A second option exists for R15 using QCAD Pro, try R15 based on dxflib instead of based on the OpenDesign libraries.

Another option is the binary format DWG, R11 to R32.
Again it may that only earlier versions are supported by the OROX software.

There is not much on the OROX site about this, it lists: 'DXF (AAMA, ASTM, AUTOCAD), HPGL, and ISO formats.'
AAMA and ASTM lead me to this solved ACAD Q&A: export to DXF aama or DXF astm

So it is probably not only a DXF version issue (R12) but also a layer convention issue.
Look up the AAMA and/or ASTM convention rules.
From what I read, everything must be in the correct way or it doesn't comply and won't load.

Regards,
CVH

[rui_fartaria]

Hello, just a follow-up.

I was able to get the cutting shop to read the DXF by putting everything in a single layer and exporting as DXF R12. The issue, however, is that it’s expensive for us to have the cutting shop generate the final cut files from the DXF. To reduce our costs, we need to be able to send them a cut file that their machine can use directly.

The solution that is working for us right now is to use the software available at:
https://github.com/rsmith-nl/nctools

which I am currently modifying for our specific needs. I will eventually fork the repository and publish most of our changes. I also plan to integrate this into our MTM/QCAD workflow.

In practice, we save a DXF containing our closed contour polylines (one piece per layer, since we currently cannot handle blocks yet), and then convert that DXF into a Gerber CUT file (GBR or ISO format).

Hope this helps anyone facing similar issues.

Attached a DXF and the GBR files for anyone interested.

[CVH]

Just guessing ...

An asterisk is a separator like a linefeed in G-Code.
M14 is 'pen-down' .. 'knife-down'.
M15 is 'pen-up' .. 'knife-up'.
N1 and N2 are probably individual contours.
M0 is program end.

X and Y are concatenated and in some scale.
On the site I read 'centi-inches' but I din't compare that.

Nothing that can not be achieved with a custom QCAD/CAM postprocessor.

The header needs some more explanation.

I see M15*M14* .. Probably at hard corners.
Meaning that the machine itself might handle knife re-orientations in corners.
That is something more complex to implement in a QCAD/CAM postprocessor.

I said 'more complex' and not that this must be impossible.
On exporting a text block (a motion) it should verify the orientation of the former motion.
Above a certain difference in orientation it must insert the 'M15-M14' block.

Regards,
CVH

[rui_fartaria]

Pretty much.

The people the built nctools have some documentation (https://github.com/rsmith-nl/nctools/bl ... GERBER.pdf).

I find this bit very interesting:
"Gerber is extremely reluctant to cooperate - unless you sell their equipment
and you have a non-disclosure agreement.
This format was invented in the late 60s !"

I mean, for such an old format I would expect that it would be fully documented by now.

I will probably make an Ecmascript postprocessor in QCAD (probably not as sophisticated as it should be). If I do, i'll post it.

Best regards,

Rui