How to get board cut list from MS Excel to nester

[esm]

I've almost got my boss convinced that we should build a cnc router to cut our boards. I know it'll seal the deal if I can show him how much money we could save in materials if we nested out cut lists onto 4x8 sheets of ply. Anybody have a solution to take board qnty and dimensions in MS Excel, ie:

1 @ 3.5" x 48"
4 @ 5.5" x 27"
10 @ 1.5" x 32"
2 @ 7.625" x 183.5"

and nest them onto 4' x 8' ply? My understanding is..... Cad drawing to .dxf to nesting program to gcode converter to machine. I have Autocad '08.

[cam1]

Hi:
You will probably have an issue with the 183.5 dimension on a 4 X 8....
Just kidding.
Some CAD software will read .txt files (from XL) known as CDF files (comma dilineated files). the data is normally ordered in X,Y,Z format. I doubt that it will genereate closed profiles as you described
You have the conversion process correct, and even if you cannot read from XL,the nesting program will read multiple .dxf files.
The CNC router is still the way to go,

[ger21]

Some CAD software will read .txt files (from XL) known as CDF files (comma dilineated files)

In Excel you save as a CSV file, not CDF. Comma separated value.

You'll find that nesting software can get quite expensive. If you're just cutting square parts, a router is not the fastest way to cut them. You want to use an optimising software and cut the parts with a panel saw. A quick google search turned up this.
http://www.rasterweq.com/index.php

[esm]

My "save as" drop down menu doesn't list .csv
It's gotta be around here somewhere.

As far as the panel saw goes...I'm looking at the router because it is more automated than a panel saw. It can cut a sheet while I'm prepping other stuff. If I could find a person to cut on a panel saw, instead of text messaging their girlfriend (even after I banned cellphones, Ipods and stereos) then I'd stick with the saw.

Next question......

On that 183.5" board, any cad software that will divide it into pieces and add mating cut outs to the divided ends?

[cam1]

In XL save the data as a .txt file, making sure that the data is ordered in columns, starting with X, then Y, and then Z.

regards

[ger21]

What version of Excel? In 2003 it's 4 choices down. If I remember correctly, in '97, it's 2 or 3 down.

[esm]

I use excel '07. Apparently you have to scroll down to see csv and txt, which I finally figured out.
Should I label the columns XYZ?

[cam1]

Not required, x is the first column, y the second, z the third.
I think we're getting off track, as I'm aware that you would like to create a cut list of prismatic shapes, but you first need to determine the requirements of the software that you plan on feeding the x,y,z coordinates to. Just giving x,y,z does not give information of the shapes you need to create. XYZ coordinates can be used to generate complex curves, that a CAD system can read as opposed to the designer having to generate x,y,z coordinates for each point.Sometimes the xyz dimensions are generated from a CMM.

regards

[esm]

Okay so now my .txt file looks like this in excel:

1.5 90 .75
3.5 89 .75
3.5 88 .75
2 87 .75

and so on.....

I can't open it in Autocad. The demo of Bobcad will open it but it looks like this:
1.5@00990@0090.75
3.5@00989@0090.75
3.5@00988@0090.75
2@00987@0090.75

and so on....
I'm really new to cnc so forgive me.....are those coordinates or g-code or what?

[cam1]

Hi:
Try the "help" for the function you are using in Bobcad to import the data. It may assist you in finding the issue.
Don't worry about asking for help or making mistakes, you are on a learning curve (the steep part). What function did you try with Autocad?

regards

[ger21]

There's nothing that AutoCAD can do with a .csv file. You could write a vba macro to read the file and draw the parts from the file, if you know vba. I've written a macro to read a point cloud file and create a mesh in AutoCAD.

[esm]

I've done some vba in MS Access. I'll have to read up on how to do it with Autocad. I'll look into Autocad's help files.
I spoke with a tech at Bobcad, he said they would write me the macro to do what I want, once I buy the software. Bobcad won't do what I want on it's own.
The original issue is me running the numbers to convince my boss to shell out the dough for the machine and software.

Any sources for Autocad macro tutorials?

You guys have been great helping me figure this out. Cheers!