creating cut paths for single line text

[fitzy]

Hi I'm new to this industry just bought a torchmate 3 bolt together last december and finally put it together about 3 months ago.(had to build a shop around the table). Anyways today I was trying to cut out an oval sign with lettering on it in a font called scriptina. I had to blow it up very large for the cad program to be able to create the cut path and then I shrunk it down to 9.5 x6" oval and cut it out. the problem is that the machine still recognizes the double line around the font and cut around each letter twice. any help would be appreciatted thanks
Dan

[MoparJon]

I'm not familiar with that particular font, but did a Google search and came up with this - is that the correct font? the reason I ask is I don't see a double line around this particular font so wanted to double check.

After you created the tool path, did you delete the original design prior to exporting it as a DXF? If not, that might be the source of your double lines. (Did the oval around the sign cut double also, or just the letters?)

[fitzy]

I get the double line from when I type it into the program and then if you go to veiw fill then click not to show it then gives you an outline of the text. Then if you create a tool path it gives you a double line because of the outline of the text. and yes that is the right font. here is the actual file if it would help to see it.
thanks Dan

[brunson73]

hello everyone i also am new to the industry i bought a torchmate 3 bolt together in april and have gone th rough 2 cutmaster 82,s (thermal dynamics) and hve nothing but problems with thie whole deal also a new avhc box am i snake bit r what . any help with cut speeds ,kirf width,or avhc setting would be greatly app. here are my current settings
cut master 82 # 20 tip @ 20 amps 75 psi air feed rate 90imp .16 peirce .14 cut and 95 volts 16 ga mild steel. all the help i can get

[superbee]

I believe the double cut is a result of not deleting the original image after the tool path has been created. Go to Torchmates web site and get into the customer tech support page and read the info on double cuts. If that does'nt solve your problem give them a call. They have always been very helpfull to me over the phone. We run a TM 2 with a Cut Master 101 and have been very happy with the performance. Good Luck, Mike

[fitzy]

i've been deleting the image so it's not that it is just following the outside of the line all the way around just as if it was a bubble.
don't get me wrong I've loved the table it really is pretty easy to use and the program is awesome. all of the projects i have done are amazing. the detail and the acuracy are outstanding. I think that this is actually how the program is supposed to run I would just like to know if there is a way for the program to see the line of the lettering as a line not an image thanks

[MoparJon]

I think I misunderstood your original question; I thought you were having a problem with each line being cut twice, but from your last post, it sounds as though the problem is that the torch is going around the perimeter of each letter, basically "outlining" it, and instead, you want it to just cut along the path of the letters? For example, to make a T, rather than tracing around the outside perimeter of the T, you want it to just make a single horizontal line, and then a single vertical line, almost as if it were someone with a pen writing it out by hand?

If that is the case, then I think that what you may have to do is, after creating the tool path and deleting the original image, double click on the tool path to view all the nodes, and you will have to delete nodes and move them around until you end up with just single lines instead of outlined letters.

Something that might be easier, if you are just looking to get the general "shape" of that font, is to print out your design on paper, put a blank piece of paper on top of it, and trace down the middle of each letter with a sharpie, then scan that in, import to CAD and convert. If you have access to a program like Photoshop you could do the same thing by tracing over your original design on a separate layer, which would avoid the whole printing out and scanning back in thing.

Maybe there is an easier way to do this right in CAD, in which case hopefully someone can chime in with that, but basically, wherever there is a line in your tool path, the torch will follow that line, so as far as I know, the only ways around that are either to edit the toolpath after you have created it, or alter your design so that the generated toolpath is closer to what you want which means less time and work to edit the toolpath afterwards. When you create your toolpath, you will probably want to use "online" instead of "male" or "female" so that CAD will exactly follow the line and not try to offset it.

I hope that helps! If I have misunderstood your problem, please let me know.