Need help with toolpath control

[Pappy]

I have read several posts on how the lines are drawn randomly in some cad programs and the resultant conversion to toolpaths is also somewhat random. Is there any way to edit a cad file to provide a more logical path for toolpath generation without re-drawing?

[balsaman]

You could copy and paste them to a new layer in the order you want them cut.

Ace converter does an OK job of optimizing the cut order...

Eric

[John S.]

Why?
Any decent CAM program will take a profile or path and generate the nessesary code regardless of how it's been drawn.
Let's face it if you select a closed shape and a start point, then select the side you want to go in even if it was drawn haphazardly there is only one path to take.
It's not rocket science.
Cam programs that still rely on the way the drawing was made are a throwback to the dark ages.

John S.

[balsaman]

Well,

We are not all made of money, some some of us still use the cheap/freeware cam packages.

Eric

[RickOmatic]

Like Eric said, we are not all made of money is a valid point, but there are other considerations as well. I use Quick cad (Autodesk) because it is a fast and uncomplicated program. The majority of my work is 2d, so a larger, more complex cad program is not nessisary. One of my computers (300mhz ibm) runs my old , old programs quickly and nicely. K-cam v3.28 does well, later versions will not run as well. Corel draw 3.0 for eps to dxf, no problems! I do spend a good bit of time either cutting and pasting in order of cutting, or do a quick fix in g-codes. If I could figure out how to change the order (called an uid#, unique identification number) that would be great. As of now, nobody has been able to help. Any thoughts out there? Thanks! Rick