VS3D / VScad3 User's Guide

Contents

Guided Tour

Index

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

Part 9 - Machining - continued.
Switch the main mode from "Machine" to "Display". Set the "View" mode to "Y Profile". Click somewhere near the center of the sculpture grid. A dashed orange line is drawn vertically through the point clicked. Along that line, the surface heights are extracted and plotted with the height values shown on the orange scale at the bottom of the sculpture window.

This plot is "transient" - it will be erased the next time the sculpture window is redrawn. Click on the Light Vector circle or on the "Hide Rulers" button to erase the profile plot.

Switch the main mode back to "Machine". Select a cutting path type of "Traverse Vertical". Change the "Maximum Path Depth" to 0.4 . The next pass will be at a maximum depth of 0.4 (measured from the original uncut material height). Click on the "Make Cuts / Add To Protocol" button. If you are running VS3D in LICENSED mode, then you will again be prompted to enter the tool path file parameters and the file name to save. Again, use all the default settings. Enter a file name that is different than the file name given to the previous path. Note that if you enable the "Tool Changer" capability in the output file settings, additional tool paths and automatic tool changes can be appended to an existing file.

Experiment with specifying additional tool paths with smaller tools to cut the smaller details of your sculpted surface.

Note that VS3D automatically predicts when the tool will not be moving through (cutting) any material. When this condition is detected, the tool is rapidly raised and moved to the next cutting location, and then slowly lowered into cutting position. If the tool is moving across a choppy surface, this can result in excessive "lifting" and "plunging" of the tool. To prevent that from happening, define a region (or "select all" to put the entire surface in the region). Then put the tool path mode in "Region Only" and apply the tool path. The tool will not lift from the surface while inside a region if the path mode is "Region Only".

Most laser cutting/engraving/etching devices are controlled via an HPGL (".hpgl") plotter file, or they behave like a printer. The depth of a laser cut is usually inconsistent, so they are often driven only by XY coordinates with a "Speed" and "Power" setting on the device itself. Some laser devices can modulate the power (cutting depth) based upon plot colors. VS3D supports this. To perform laser work in VS3D, set up the Cutting Protocol using the "Laser" Machine Type. Set the Cutting Tool parameters to mimic a laser beam. The "Maximum Path Depth" parameter is ignored for lasers, except when the path type is set to Contour Z. Click on the "Make Cuts / Add To Protocol..." button to apply the tool path and generate an ".hpgl" file. Or, select "Laser..." from the main File menu to drive the laser device like a printer. The "File -> Laser..." menu button is only active when the active Cutting Protocol Machine Type is set to "Laser".

< PREV

Guided Tour - Page 17

 NEXT >