Ok, so I have been milling over building this machine for some time now and have finally started it and last night while I was working on cutting out some of the parts I was trying to think of all of the stuff that I could make. And a few things dawned on me.


How do I take my AutoCAD drawings and convert them to run on the machine
If I create 3d parts with sweeps and curves in the Z axis how is that translated?


If I am using MACH3 does it automatically know what to do with the DXF and create the tool paths to cut the part?

Thanks
Chris

Ok, so I have been milling over building this machine for some time now and have finally started it and last night while I was working on cutting out some of the parts I was trying to think of all of the stuff that I could make. And a few things dawned on me.


How do I take my AutoCAD drawings and convert them to run on the machine
If I create 3d parts with sweeps and curves in the Z axis how is that translated?


If I am using MACH3 does it automatically know what to do with the DXF and create the tool paths to cut the part?

Thanks
Chris

Chris,

Try Lazy Cam from Artsoft, it can be downloaded from here:
http://www.artsoftcontrols.com/artsoft/downloads/downloads.htm
The forum for it is here:
http://www.artsoftcontrols.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=0dc94cbcc4b3f82871be0022ffa75d92&board=14.0
Lazy Cam works well with Mach 3. I stopped using it when I purchased VCarve Pro from Vectric mostly at the time because VCarve Pro has an easy way of inserting tabs. Lazy Cam I believe is about to have the tab ability released in it's current beta version.

As I said I'm using VCarve Pro as well as PhotoVCarve and Cut3D and I must say that VCarve Pro if my favorite and is really fun to use!
Vectric's software can be found here:
http://www.vectric.com/
Several folks on the Zone are using it with fantastic results.

Both Lazy Cam and VCarvePro allow you to open DXF files and create tools paths.

Vectric and Artsoft have forums here on the Zone so information is plenty, just search around. The support from both vendors is fantastic and always available by email and the forums.

Have fun and look forward to your build progress! :)

Bob