Problem- Probotix, Mach3, or Cut2D problem?

[jeffmorris]

I built a 20-inches by 17-inches overhead leadscrew following the plans created by Solsylva two years ago. I have Probotix 3-Axis Kit with HT23-200-6 stepper motors, Mach3 CNC program, and Cut2D CNC program. I was asked to cut out guitar bodies (not real ones, for music sheet stands) for my shop teacher's wife. When cutting out the pockets for the round holes and for a piece that hold strings below the holes, the feedrate stays at about 20 units per minute. When cutting out the bodies, the feedrate is variable and the motion of the X-Axis and Y-Axis carriages is jerky. I was worried that the stepper motors were losing steps. It takes about 50 minutes to make pockets and cut out guitar bodies. I thought that Cut2D program didn't create good toolpaths. I got clipart of the guitar from the Internet. I think that the clipart may have too many verticles. How can I fix the problem?

[atwooddon]

Perhaps you could post your gcode file here. It might help answer your questions if we can see that.

Don

[jeffmorris]

I want to post the gcode file here but I found out that the file size is about 4.2 MB!

[jeffmorris]

I found out that the drawing has over 3000 verticles! How can I reduce the number of verticles to 500? Which drawing program do I need?

[Dean448]

If you suspect that its loosing steps due to the cutting loads, try running the program without cutting.
Also archs can be programmed with circle or straight line gcode commands. I would suspect that the motion would be jerky if all straight line commands were used.

[atwooddon]

Originally Posted by jeffmorris I found out that the drawing has over 3000 verticles! How can I reduce the number of verticles to 500? Which drawing program do I need?

Maybe if you post the clipart you used here, we can give you some recommendations. I don't understand how you end up with to many verticals from a 2D clipart type drawing. If Cut2D is generating the gcode then something is happening between the clipart step and code generation.

Don

[jeffmorris]

I loaded the drawing into 3D Studio MAX and used "Weld Vertex" command. The number of verticles went from 3,000 to 300 and the file size went from 4.2MB to 42KB.

[Woodbutcher-59]

Hi,

Take a look at the Join Vectors tool in Cut 2D....same thing.

Also, the Fit Curves to Vectors tool can cut down on the number of vectors in your artwork. And Use Node Edit Mode to see if the artwork is sloppy....

Been awhile since I had Cut 2d but I think both these tools are there.

HTH

Jeff