ERC TimSav - Cheap DIY CNC Foamboard Cutter

[Flying Farm Kid]

I have been having issues with my erc cutting the curves slow, it will travel fast and cut straight fast but curves area a nightmare. I have changed the beam width and the modulation and nothing changed. What am I missing? thanks!

 

[Dudley1001]

I have been having issues with my erc cutting the curves slow, it will travel fast and cut straight fast but curves area a nightmare. I have changed the beam width and the modulation and nothing changed. What am I missing? thanks!

what program are you using to create the gcode? You can fire over the svg file and I can take a look at it. I know that some of the inkscape files have curves that are a large series of small lines and they need to be simplified in inkscape. I use laserweb 4 to create my gcode but found that the curves were very slow until I found a setting "segment" that I now set to .5 - 1mm and that cuts down on the amount of lines in the gcode by excluding any movement that is smaller than the segment settings. Not sure if there is a setting like it in inkscape.

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

what program are you using to create the gcode? You can fire over the svg file and I can take a look at it. I know that some of the inkscape files have curves that are a large series of small lines and they need to be simplified in inkscape. I use laserweb 4 to create my gcode but found that the curves were very slow until I found a setting "segment" that I now set to .5 - 1mm and that cuts down on the amount of lines in the gcode by excluding any movement that is smaller than the segment settings. Not sure if there is a setting like it in inkscape.

I use inkscape to redraw the file then laserweb to generate the gcode and control the machine
here is the file I was using

 

[Dudley1001]

Ok I looked at the files in inkscape and found that the curves had many nodes in them and simplified the curves (select the curve section then under "path" select "simplify" and it will get rid of bulk of the nodes). This didn't change the gcode size. The big change is from setting the segment setting in laserweb to .5mm. This changed the gcode from 250000 lines of code to 12500 lines of code! This is because the segment setting tells the program to ignore any movement less than .5mm rather than the default of .01mm. I had the same problem when using laserweb but found this setting and it made a HUGE difference. In the zip file there is the original svg and my version after simplify was run. The svg1_simplify.gcode is the one with .5 segment selected and the svg1.gode is the one with segment at 0. Remember that curves are aways slower that straight lines as the amount of code used is many much larger. A straight line in one axis direction only needs 2 lines of code (the start position and the end position) a curve may take 1000's of lines depending on the resolution.

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

Ok I looked at the files in inkscape and found that the curves had many nodes in them and simplified the curves (select the curve section then under "path" select "simplify" and it will get rid of bulk of the nodes). This didn't change the gcode size. The big change is from setting the segment setting in laserweb to .5mm. This changed the gcode from 250000 lines of code to 12500 lines of code! This is because the segment setting tells the program to ignore any movement less than .5mm rather than the default of .01mm. I had the same problem when using laserweb but found this setting and it made a HUGE difference. In the zip file there is the original svg and my version after simplify was run. The svg1_simplify.gcode is the one with .5 segment selected and the svg1.gode is the one with segment at 0. Remember that curves are aways slower that straight lines as the amount of code used is many much larger. A straight line in one axis direction only needs 2 lines of code (the start position and the end position) a curve may take 1000's of lines depending on the resolution.

Great I am busy tonight but I will test it the first chance I get!
One more question I have had issues with my servo not actuating for score cuts, it just does a normall full cut what is the issue there?
Thanks *100 -Jed

 

[Dudley1001]

what happens if you send a command m3 s50 then m3 s100. Does the servo move a different amount? In inkscape are you making the score lines a different color?

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

what happens if you send a command m3 s50 then m3 s100. Does the servo move a different amount? In inkscape are you making the score lines a different color?

The servo moves different amounts when I command it but not when the program does. I have red score lines and a set the laser power to 60 for them.

 

[Dudley1001]

post up one of the gcode and svg files that has the score cuts that don't work and I will see if I can see anything strange.

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

post up one of the gcode and svg files that has the score cuts that don't work and I will see if I can see anything strange.

 

[Dudley1001]

I would check your settings in laserweb4 . Take a looks at the gcode settings area. I have added 2 jpgs of the settings I use. I have also added the gcode that I did on my end. You can open the gcode file using notepad and compare it to yours. The areas in red show the 50% laser power and the M3 S that turns on the servo

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

I would check your settings in laserweb4 . Take a looks at the gcode settings area. I have added 2 jpgs of the settings I use. I have also added the gcode that I did on my end. You can open the gcode file using notepad and compare it to yours. The areas in red show the 50% laser power and the M3 S that turns on the servo

ok great i will test it first chance i get probably Thursday lol thank you so much

 

[Mr NCT]

I'm back to building something after a years interruption (thank you, real life, I needed that). I converted the PrandtlLight plans in inkscape and then generated gcode using laserweb. In inkscape I always make a 20x30 reference box to orient the parts and then eye ball them in the laserweb plot but... they don't always fit on the real board. So that was a long intro.

I'm making a visual basic program to analyze the gcode file, find the largest X and Y coordinates, compare them to the ACTUAL measurements of the board and then suggest a border adjustment that will fit the actual cut. I'm also going to include a button to change the X or Y or both numbers to match the suggested boarder and then save the new gcode file. Any other over thinkers interested in this when it's done?

 

[Mr NCT]

I'm back to building something after a years interruption (thank you, real life, I needed that). I converted the PrandtlLight plans in inkscape and then generated gcode using laserweb. In inkscape I always make a 20x30 reference box to orient the parts and then eye ball them in the laserweb plot but... they don't always fit on the real board. So that was a long intro.

I'm making a visual basic program to analyze the gcode file, find the largest X and Y coordinates, compare them to the ACTUAL measurements of the board and then suggest a border adjustment that will fit the actual cut. I'm also going to include a button to change the X or Y or both numbers to match the suggested boarder and then save the new gcode file. Any other over thinkers interested in this when it's done?

Here are some screenshots:

 

[Dudley1001]

Looks like an interesting idea. One thing that is included in laserweb if you are running the cutter from there is a "check size" button that will run the cutter around the outer edge and will let you know if its running off the sheet

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

here is what my valus look like I have it working cutting out full cuts but scores still dont work.

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

here is what my valus look like I have it working cutting out full cuts but scores still dont work. View attachment 254628 View attachment 254629

 

[Mr Man]

Wait, you designed a Bearcat too? I just finished making plans for mine 😂

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

Wait, you designed a Bearcat too? I just finished making plans for mine 😂

yea building rn
ours is for a xl powerpack

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

Wait, you designed a Bearcat too? I just finished making plans for mine 😂

I have so many planes that need plans lol how do you make yours I would love to know

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

View attachment IMG_3026.jpg
here it is