Software for laser cutter

[Morwim]

Hey there peoples, We just purchased a Trumph 3030 4KW Laser cutter and im finding it difficult to use the software provided. It comes with Tops 100 the program itself is fine to run the laser but when it comes down to drawing the job from scratch i seem to be reverting back to AutoCAD and then exporting the DXF across to Tops which does work fine but im sure there must be a better program out there for quick and easy 2D drawing and maybe even nesting. My workmate has put me on to Omax which i still find AutoCAD easyier to use. Any help would be much appricated. Cheers!!!

[tim-tbl]

Hi,
Tops 100 is really simple to use, my one bit of advice is to use the construction geometery to design the part and then fill in using the drawing geometary(think ive spelt that wrong)The trouble with downloading using a .dxf, .dwg, .iges is that Tops doesn't always scale it properly when it converts to it's own format, it also doesn't convert splines very well, I would plug away with Tops you will soon get the hang of it. Just as a bit of other advice with a high powered trumfh it is really important you keep the lenses clean, i know its a pain to disassemble them, but it's an even bigger pain to buy new lenses when youve burnt yours out especially the 7.5" one also make sure your resonator gasses are 99.98% pure or that could cause you trouble aswell.
Hope that helps(you could give BobCAd a try).

Tim

[Morwim]

Cheers Tim, I still can't see tops being that good for detailed parts but i will give BobCad a go. most of our customers supply DXF anyway i just clean them up on tops which is easy. Do you know much about the Trumph 3030? we are currently going through a 12 pack of Nitrogen a week with only about 4hrs cutting a day as we have only just started. i know we need a tank... What we cant seem to get rid of is the 9sec purge before each cut which waste a lot and also the 2bar constant gas pressure which travels through the beam at 100L per min still have a few teething problems but all and all very happy with what the machine is capable of. Any more help or info would be much appricated. cheers again and up the socceroos in the world cup!!!!

[tim-tbl]

Hi,
If you are cutting alot of stainless and aluminium you will use alot of nitrogen, but you will find that for most mild steel cutting oxygen is perfectley exceptable and is alot more frugal as the assist/shroud gas you just have to tweek the feed rate overide and gas pressure, if you are wanting to clean cut through thin mild steel use the nitrogen but remember to add the extra gas cost to the job youre quoting for, nitrogen is used at a mucher greater volume and pressure than oxygen(as you are aware) but for most proceeses in mild steel oxygen is good, to get the best results from it you need to make sure your lenses are clean and that the head is aligned perfectly, don't just use your eyes to see if the pulse passes through the centre of the nozzle, cos chances are it isn't, buy one of those jewellers eye glass magnifieing things you get a much better result, There is away of stopping the laser purging nitrogen,you set the machine to pierce and then cut in one operation instead of two, I can't remember where it is on a trumph,s parameters but it is there, this will also speed up your cutting cycle especially if you are cutting lots of holes(i know where to find it on a bystronic, but i haven't used a trumfph for a couple of years)I will find out which parameters you need to alter and then I will post a response in a couple of days.
Hope thats of some use.(if the laser doesn't get 2 bar of pressure it won't work, however 9 secs purge seems along time will investigate that one)
Regards

Tim

[tim-tbl]

Yeah Ausralia got a result aswell! well done, and the game is called football lol.
cheers Tim

[Morwim]

Hey,
I have turned the purge time on the piercing and cutting to zero but it still wants to purge every time before it starts it first cut. if you switch the feed hold and start again without opening the door it does not need to purge, It could be something to do with saftey because or maintence guy doesnt know how to adjust it, It was ourging for 30 sec on 3mm mild steel today. We dont cut mild steel with nitrogen(except in the beam). What do you mean with purchasing a magnafine glass? we just do a tape shot through the nozzel I cant see how you would use a it. I will try to set the machine to pierce and then cut in one operation but it still only wishes to purge on that first cut. Cheers for your help. What contry are you from anyway? find attached a photo of a Triceratops i cut the other day

[tim-tbl]

Hi
when you do your tapeshot, you align your the hole in the tape to the hole in the nozzle you will find that unless you magnify it so you can see clearly, you won't be able to see it properly.
Do you mark the tape with a black marker pen to orientate it to the diagram and then remove the nozzle to check the alignment?
If you do check it using a magnifying glass, you will see that what you thought was central probably wasn't(trust me this works) you will then find (especially when you are using a small nozzle) that this improves the cut(trust me on this) ( seconds still seems along time for the system to purge, they used to take a while when you changed from oxygen to nitrogen, but not when you use the same gas 1 sec max is all it used to take on our 3030(you may need to talk to trumph about this)When you set the continual pierce and cut on holes, the machine starts piercing holes in away that reminds you of a machine gun going off, it is more than just altering your dwell time to 0 , you have to alter the cutting charecteristics, unfortunatley I can't remember which one it is, but I have asked a friend of mine to find it on his trumph.
As for which country I come from, its the one that sent all its convicts to the other side of the world to inhabit a big island full of Kangeroos,and then in return you sent us Neighbours(saying that Kyle was in Neighbours so it can't be all bad)Up the Empire!!! LOL

Cheers Tim

[WestCoastKevin]

Originally Posted by Morwim Hey there peoples, We just purchased a Trumph 3030 4KW Laser cutter and im finding it difficult to use the software provided. It comes with Tops 100 the program itself is fine to run the laser but when it comes down to drawing the job from scratch i seem to be reverting back to AutoCAD and then exporting the DXF across to Tops which does work fine but im sure there must be a better program out there for quick and easy 2D drawing and maybe even nesting. My workmate has put me on to Omax which i still find AutoCAD easyier to use. Any help would be much appricated. Cheers!!!

Morwin

Congrats on your purchase. May you have many safe years of operation with it.
http://www.sigmanest.com/company/contact.html
SigmaTEK (Australasia) Pty. Ltd
07 3246-5213 Phone
Ask for John Salisbury. He can help you out with software to get the most from your machine.
Kind Regards,
Kevin

[jerlas]

I use SolidWorks to do all my drawing and save my files as DXF's for which Trumpf has a nice conversion tool that can smooth the spines for you and keep the scaling to what your original dxf was. The only thing you need to worry about is to make sure you set it so that it knows whether your dxf's are in metric or inch, as I have some customers that use one and others that use the other format.
As for the gas purge, my Trumpf L6030s also purges before it starts the initial cut on a sheet or if it has not been cutting for a period of time. The purge on this machine is currently set to 15 seconds and I am also wondering if it can b e shortened. I currently use about 2 bulk tanks of nitrogen a week, that is if I'm not cutting too much stainless steel.

[Independent CNC]

Morwim,

My company is looking into a Trumpf 2030 and your question has answered my question on how easy it is to do 2D drawing in Tops. Currently I am using WE-CIM http://www.wittlockeng.com for all machines, this includes a Trumpf 200, Trumpf 500, Trumpf 600L at my current employer. For my side business I use the WE-CIM software to successfully program and a Trumpf 2020 and Trumpf 4030. I have never used Tops so I can’t say WE-CIM is any better; however, I can say the software does a good job with nesting and has allowed me to change things to meet all of my customers needs. The Sigmanest software is very good with nesting on laser / plasma machines but maybe lacking a little when it comes to the punching machines.

Independent CNC Programmer
www.ctcn.net/~3kings/

[dinnox]

hayy morwin how much you pay for your machine.i m looking to buy a laser cuting machine for my india based compny.]

[TECTOOLSA]

hi, sorry for mi bad english, i´m have a Morwim´s problem, and not have manual for use the Tops100. if somebody have this manual in pdf or similar, sorry send me a mp, i need this.

Thanks in advance