Tool Paths

[WOODKNACK]

Say I have a drawing of a wheel in my cad program, and It has 4 circles in the center of the wheel. How do I get the tool path to cut out the center circles first then cut out the out side of the wheel? Is that something I do in the cad program or could I do it in Ace Converter when I convert the dfx to gcode?
I have turbo cad version 8. I havent really played around to much with cad programs.. One of my many learning curves.. LOL

[castguy2003]

I can't say for sure in Turbo Cad but with MasterCam and Surfcam if you do a window selection, the software will pick what to machine first but if you do a manuale selection, you can spell out the order of machining.

[balsaman]

Hi,

For ace, you can prioritize layers. So, put the different priorities on different layers. This would be done in turbocad. Example, for your wheel, lets say it has a center hole. Put that on layer one. Has spokes, layer two, and the outside make layer three. Save as DXF. Open in Ace, prioritize the layers 1, 2, and 3. Then when cuts, it will do it in that order. Ace lets you turn layers off too, then it ignores the layer completely.

Eric

[WOODKNACK]

Hey thanks Balsaman! Thats just what I wanted to hear... Now I'll play around... Thanks again.

[HomeCNC]

Remember to DRAW your tool path offset from the part in your CAD software. I am pretty sure that ACE does not have tool offset built into it.

[WOODKNACK]

how is that done. How about an example to try? thanks

[HomeCNC]

Look at the drawing below. The green lines are your part drawing. The red lines are your tool path. If you are going to use a 1/2 " cutter on the spokes, then you need to offset the green lines by 1/4" (Like I show for the Red lines). Ace is not as easy as just drawing your lines and arcs. You have to plan your stragity. I think that ACE uses color of lines for feed and rapid movements as well as levels. Also I think that Ace will send the cutter along the line in the direction you draw it! So do some testing with your CAD software and ACE to learn these things before you make a try on a REAL part.

[HomeCNC]

Wow the black background on the CAD drawing above did not work when I posted it. It's kind of hard to see the green lines.