04-02-2008, 02:56 AM
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| | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK
Posts: 16
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Originally Posted by GAWnCA  I bought Foamworks and to this day I have yet to get it to cut just what I need it to cut and be clean about it. I also bought MACH 3 and have yet to fire anything up using it. I need to learn CAD first. What are you trying to cut? |
I pull DXF files into Cadworks then process them into DAT files which can be made into cut files on foamworks. Foamworks will not work unless both DAT files have the same number of entities/lines. I sometimes build complex shapes by drawing in coordinate using the keyboard rather than the mouse in Autocad then exporting the them as Autocad DXF files which can be read bt cadworks. After an initial struggle I am finding Cadworks pretty good although not very intuitive. I am very successfully cutting Blue foam - Dow Floormate in 2400 X 600 X 80. I run about 2A through Nichrome wire at 3Kg tension at between 1 and 1.4 mm/sec. To set the wire temp (current) I place a piece of foam on the wire and set the current so that the weight does the trick. I am driving four steppers X1Y1, X2Y2 via a Hobbycnc driver board and a 24V 10A DC power supply. My big challenge is to creat cut files which will deal with large delta aircraft wings wihout excessive melting at the tip due to slow cut speed in relation to the correct speed at the root. (in any tapered or conical cut the cut speed can only be ideal at one position along the wire) I need suggestions as to a free download (trial) for XYZ software as my machine is reconfigurable to three axis. Tell me exactly how you are trying to use foamworks. Incidentally I am informed that the kerf feature is problematic and will be removed. Hope this helps.
Cheers
Ken
PS Nice boat. I have a 14' Aluminum ski boat with a Ford Mexico rally car engine. It does 40MPH and spends most of the time airborn!  |
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