How would I setup my design to just pierce a hole to mark for drilling? I use autocad 2006 for designing, thanks.

I use We-Cim to mark the hole for piercing. I would also like to know how to do this in auto-cad . I don't know if you can modify the .dwg with Sheetcam to Peirce only. I'm sure there is a way, it's a great program. I use Corel for design, It would be great to know how to do it with it too.

I guess nobody else knows how to do this either.

I'm not sure as to which CAM software your using so this may not apply. However, when using Sheetcam, I just create a point at the center of my hole in Autocad. Sheetcam recognizes the point and just pierces it.

I'd be interested in knowing also, i just cut 2 large peices of 1/8 for wall art, i blew out small holes for screwing them to the wall, then relised the holes were'nt big enough so i had to ream them out, didnt take long to use up all my drill bits, then a trip to home depot for a few more, finally got them all drilled out!!! I think it would be ok if the torch just marked the spot without peircing rite through, otherwise its quicker for me to measure it off and just drill it from the get go. I seen a vid somewhere awhile back ( possibly sheetcam) of a torch just marking the steel for drilling, if i ever find it again i'll pay more attention and pass it on.

EDD

Yeah plasma leaves that hardened edge on the metal that is very cruel to drill bits.I do not recommend doing peircing to mark holes.If you have to do repetitive pieces that are large I suggest you layout and drill your holes or punch whenever possible, on the first piece and use that as a template.Buy a transfer punch assortment to lay out holes on the next piece so forth and so on.

Just to clarify.....there are plasma systems that are designed to cut with oxygen as opposed to air.....that leave a soft edge that can be drilled, reamed or otherwise machined. Attached is a picture of a 5/16" hole cut in 3/8" steel with a Hypertherm HPR130 oxygen plasma. The hole was then tapped with a $3.00 tap from Sears....the same tap was ble to tap over 300 holes.

Do not use oxygen with a plasma system that was only designed for air or nitrogen cutting.

Jim Colt

I use autocad 06 for designing, wecim for leads and the dynatorch software for cutting. It also runs on a hypertherm 1250. The holes are probably the smallest issue I am having with this machine, one day it runs great the next it takes an hour just to cut out 2 small parts, from crashes and burning up tips, today I had to lower my feed rate from my normal library settings. Its just starting to get pretty agravating. I feel like I'm wasting more money on steel and tips than I'm making on my orders. I had to shut off the THC just to get through my run today. Just ranting now I guess.

I'd be more than happy to work with you to get this sorted out....and I'm sure the guys at Dynatorch will as well.

Jim Colt

In the last WE-CIM upgrade they added the feature of designating points in DXF files as pierces. When I make a drawing in my cad program (Onecnc) I just place points where I want the pierces and WE-CIM generates the proper code for my dynatorch machine. I then use the pierce points as a guide to punch holes with my ironworker.

Hello guys!

I have been using this method for over 6 years, and i think it's very effective.
Using AutoCAD 2006's Line Tool, click on a point where you want it to be pierced, and type 0.00001.

So you have just made a line that is 0.00001 units long!

It's best to seperate all your pierce points in a different designated layer.

When you port your DXF into a CAM software, it will result out as a G01 Movement, but it's so short enough that the CNC will hardly move at all!

I personally use this method to make marks over a part as a reference for me to perform bending, etc.

Then I retouchup with a weld.

I suppose it will work at any CAD software and any CAM software!

Enjoy piercing!

Sunmixed

humm never thought about that I'll have to try it out. Thanks for the Idea.