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CNC Plasma Cutter support?

Discussion in 'SketchUcam Help' started by Matt Espinoza, Nov 4, 2018.

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  1. Matt Espinoza

    Matt Espinoza New Member

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    Hello! A friend of mine picked up a CNC plasma cutter table that takes g-code, and can cut steel up to 1/2" thick. Pretty cool!

    I loaded up sketch-up, and drew a flange but i'm wondering if SketchUcam supports non-3d type drawings yet. I saw someone mention a beta that is in the beginning stages of supporting laser engravers which would be very similar. Would love to join the testing. I've posted shots of my flange, what the CNC viewer looks like with the g-code (looks wrong lol) and my sketch-up file incase there are things I could be doing better.
     

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  2. swarfer

    swarfer Moderator Staff Member

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  3. swarfer

    swarfer Moderator Staff Member

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    SketchUcam currently contains stub code for plasma cutters but since no-one has been able to send me some definitive examples of what the gcode must look like for a given drawing I have been unable to progress with that project.

    The other snag is that lines in Sketchup cannot 'cross without touching' and this makes drawing plasma entry and exit lines impossible so they have to be generated only at output time.

    There is also no way to specify where a cut will start which I am told is very handy for plasma. The current optimizer minimizes rapid distances such that the start of shape 2 is the closest point to the end of shape1. This may not be the best way to do plasma but since I don't have a plasma cutter I just don't know what to do. Start points are always the ends of line segments but from video I have seen plasma cutters like to start in the middle of a line. Tricky.

    BTW you posted a Sketchup 2018 file. Most users on the forums, including myself, only have the free ''Make" version so please
    'saveas Sketchup Make 2016' before posting your drawings. Make 2016 is the most compatible version. While my work computer will run 2017, my home computer will not (not enough graphics hardware) so I am stuck with 2016 there.

    Maybe the right answer is Fusion360 and not Sketchucam?
     
  4. Matt Espinoza

    Matt Espinoza New Member

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    Thanks for the quick response! I checked the parameters and "Generate 3D Gcode" wasn't ticked. I didn't adjust any parameters, just installed the extension and started drawing.

    I first tried using the free version of Sketchup, but it took me to an online version which was nearly impossible to use. I couldn't set sizes/distances after drawing shapes so I signed up for the free trial of 2018 which was much easier to use. It has been a while since i've used Sketchup and remember using the "maker" version previously and it was a desktop app. I'll have to go back and check, thanks for the heads up on compatibility.

    I saved out the sketchup file for 2016, it didn't show anything specific about the maker version, but gave it a shot anyway.

    I'd love to help out with the plasma cutter code moving along. I'll work with my friend to get the table up and running and get some sample code with what it outputs.
     

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  5. swarfer

    swarfer Moderator Staff Member

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    odd, it looked like it was on....
    The online version is killing Sketchup. It cannot load plugins, and plugins are why people use Sketchup!
    unless you are going to pay for Sketchup Pro 2018 you will need to install one of the older Sketchup Make versions, I prefer 2016 since it works everywhere but if you have enough graphics hardware Make 2017 will get your drawings done.
    thanks
    Here I have attached an attempt at a cut using laser mode. I set the tool diameter to 1mm. No idea how wide a plasma kerf is (-:
    Basically you can draw in 2 ways. draw the actual part and offset the cutlines from that using inside/outside cuts just as for a router, or you can draw your part oversize (kerf width plus something to machine off to clean up) and then use 'centerline' cuts to cut on the drawn lines. Which way you do it will affect start points but not much else.

    Now the hard part is figuring out how and where to create start points because the plasma needs to burn through before moving to the line and doing the actual cut.
     

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  6. swarfer

    swarfer Moderator Staff Member

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    I just checked. in your srceenshot of the gcode zigzags in your first post you can see it says
    (a 3D contour....)
    at the top of the gcode. That means that the 3D tickbox was definitely ticked when that gcode was created.
     

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