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union7  
#1 Posted : Friday, February 15, 2008 11:39:51 PM(UTC)
union7

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Joined: 8/10/2007(UTC)
Posts: 9

Hi, great forum!!

I am having touble with some files when i send them to my water jet cutter.

He is using an ESAB cutter with "COlumbus" software.

He usually opens the files in autocad 2004 and then send them into the Columbus sofware.

Quite often and corner that I have filleted has open contours when it is opened in the columbus software. These gaps do not show up in the autocad or in Viacad. I always extrude in 3d to check for gaps before i send the files.

I have been testing via trial and error but have not founf what the reason is.

I am exporting as 2004 dwg to send to the water jet cutter.

any help will be appreciated, i'll post more experimental results as i generate some .
jol  
#2 Posted : Saturday, February 16, 2008 1:45:41 PM(UTC)
jol

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sounds like it could be a question of tolerances

are these gaps visible ?
union7  
#3 Posted : Saturday, February 16, 2008 4:28:18 PM(UTC)
union7

Rank: Junior Member

Joined: 8/10/2007(UTC)
Posts: 9

good question, they are not visible in viacad, and they are below the tolerance that would prevent viacad from extruding them.

I will check what the gap distance is in the columbus software when i get a chance.
union7  
#4 Posted : Tuesday, February 19, 2008 4:58:44 PM(UTC)
union7

Rank: Junior Member

Joined: 8/10/2007(UTC)
Posts: 9

i went to the water jet cutter's today;

when opened in AutoCAD 2006 there are no gaps.

when opened in ESAB COlumbus software the left most squares is fine, but the middle and right square both have the same problem

the problem is the entire fillet in the upper left hand corner is missing ! seems to be missing from the tangent point beginning to end.

to restate how the three squares will fillets were generated, all squares were drawn as squares and then I used the fillet tool.

After the fillets were made then:

the middle square was converted to lines

the right square was converted to polylines

the left square was left as-is (an Arc)

anyone have nay ideas what is going on?
jol  
#5 Posted : Tuesday, February 19, 2008 5:03:14 PM(UTC)
jol

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U7 .. can you please post your test file ?
union7  
#6 Posted : Tuesday, February 19, 2008 6:40:51 PM(UTC)
union7

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Posts: 9

here it is, i hope i attached it correctly
File Attachment(s):
filleted square test 00.zip (7kb) downloaded 7 time(s).

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jol  
#7 Posted : Wednesday, February 20, 2008 1:56:26 AM(UTC)
jol

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can you post your original file too ?

see if the guys can find this as - if it's what I think it is .. it's been there since Adam
posh.de  
#8 Posted : Wednesday, February 20, 2008 5:54:34 AM(UTC)
posh.de

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union7 wrote:
when opened in ESAB COlumbus software the left most squares is fine...


why not using the arc based version?

in which unit did you have worked?

please check if the attached DXF leads to a better result in the CAM app.

Norbert
File Attachment(s):
filleted square test 00.dxf15.zip (6kb) downloaded 7 time(s).

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union7  
#9 Posted : Wednesday, February 20, 2008 11:33:06 AM(UTC)
union7

Rank: Junior Member

Joined: 8/10/2007(UTC)
Posts: 9

the tech person at ESAB was able to get the file i posted to work, here is what she explained:

Go to the Import window and click on Options. Change the close and remove tolerance to what you see below.

My only concern is that the machine will not like such small line segments. One of the segments is smaller than .003". Usually the machine does not like anything smaller than the kerf. There is usually a natural rounding on corners anyway which would probably make that small radius. Well give it a try and let me know if I can do anything else for you.



unfortunatley not everything i need to draw can be drawn by arc segments, if i am wrong and any shape can be drawn my small arcs "polyarcs?" please let me know.
Tim Olson  
#10 Posted : Friday, February 22, 2008 12:17:02 PM(UTC)
Tim Olson

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>>unfortunatley not everything i need to draw can be drawn by arc segments,

FYI, in viacad pro we released a new curve to arc tool. It will convert ellipses, splines, and polylines into arcs. This might help in cases where you have curves that are not arcs.


http://www.csi-concepts.com/Demo/vc/SplineToArcs.mov

Tim
Tim Olson
IMSI Design/Encore
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