How to drill?

[phil m]

I'm trying to drill holes on these dots around the pickguard. Each time I click on 2D->Drill I get this message saying "Can't find layer (Clipping Plane Top)" What's going on here? What do I have to do to drill these.

[svenakela]

The drilling functions needs a curve, not a single dot.
Make a circle curve on each place with the dot as the center, then you can select the curves for drilling.

If you have a 3D model with boolean cutouts, you can easily select the edge of the hole.

[phil m]

Thanks for the reply, I wasn't expecting a curve as the other CAM software I used only required dots

[svenakela]

The difference is in the platform itself I think. Namely Rhino. MadCAM works with any Rhino object, but a point in Rhino is not an object - it's merely a "point in space".

[turmite]

Phil that is a nice looking pick guard, but what kind of pick up is going in that?

Mike

[phil m]

Hi Mike, it's a Jazz bass pickguard and pickup here's a picture of the finished guard. I ended up drilling the holes manually on that one.



Which brings me to my next question: how do you get MadCAM to stop in the middle of a program to do a toolchange?

What I've had to do on this one is cut two lines with a straight bit/process the G-code then reopen MadCAM on the same file and process the next two cuts with a 45 degree bit. I had to delete the layers of MadCAM first to do that as it didn't want to let me add more toolpaths to layers already processed. Which means I ran two different G-codes one after the other so I could change the bits in between. That was a bit incovenient this way though.

How should I do this next time?

[svenakela]

Originally Posted by phil m ... Which brings me to my next question: how do you get MadCAM to stop in the middle of a program to do a toolchange? What I've had to do on this one is cut two lines with a straight bit/process the G-code then reopen MadCAM on the same file and process the next two cuts with a 45 degree bit. I had to delete the layers of MadCAM first to do that as it didn't want to let me add more toolpaths to layers already processed. Which means I ran two different G-codes one after the other so I could change the bits in between. That was a bit incovenient this way though. How should I do this next time?

If the tools have different Tool Number set in the Tool Dialog, you will get a tool change in the processed file.
Select the model, choose the first cutter and make the toolpath.
Select the second cutter and make the toolpath.
Post process.

You should be able to make as many roughings/pockets/whatever you need in the same process, no need to reopen and create new paths.
Here's an example: MADCAMCNC: Hiding tool paths

[Dan B]

Hi Phil,

You might find it advantageous to build a tool library of all your available tools ahead of time and save it. Assign each tool it's own tool number. The way I do it is I have created a folder called "Current Tools" and made that the default. Then I created folders populated by my tools. Different folders for different machines, different materials etc. When I get into a project, I place the appropriate tools in the "Current Tools" folder. Think of it as getting tools from your toolbox if you're doing some work around the house. Only copy the tools you need. Then make sure your tool numbers are different. You can edit this in madCAM (just remember to save the tool if you do) or you can change it in notepad before you even begin with madCAM.

That's how I do it, and it seems to work well. I've made a few tools in Rhinoscript to make this work smoothly, but doing it as I mentioned above may be helpful. Maybe it's not so necessary if you have 1 machine and a handful of tools, but in our case we needed some organization.

Dan

[Gadgimoj]

Are the circles on the same level as the other curves?
Have you tried without using clipping planes?

[phil m]

Thanks for all the replies guys, looks like there's a bit mroe of learning I need to do lol

Gadgimoj, so far I've never used clipping planes, there's another area I need to learn. I pretty much only do 2D cuts with it.

[Gadgimoj]

I don´t think you need to use clipping planes for this project either.
Note that when you want to drill a hole that´s not going all the way through the material the value you enter will have to be entered again next time you choose this ruitine. Otherwise it will automatically be "all the way through" the next time.
The other ruitines tend to "save" the last used values but not "drilling" for some reason.
I learned this the hard way. :O)