Hi I'm pretty new to this, but I have successfully made a case for my OX CNC electronics using SketchuCam and UGS. I tried something else today, but I've failed totally. I downloaded an open source dxf file called twodeer.dxf. I imported this into SketchUp and saved it as an skp file. I scaled it down and added the outside cut paths. When saved as gcode file it looks very strange. The 0.0 position is shown in the centre instead of the bottom left, as on my skp file. It also has 2 rather strange circles over the top of the file. What have I done wrong.?
The DXF has 'faults' in the arc definitions, the arcs are reversed but not labelled as such. I use the FreeDXF-V0.57 plugin to import DXF into Sketchup. Then I did this: select each group in turn, right click, select 'explode' (now i have just the outlines and no groups) triple click each outline in turn, right click and select 'RepairBL+Phlatten' (now I have the outline filled in a a blue surface, if you don't get a face then there is a gap in the outline, I had trouble with the antlers) set up my tool parameters select the outside cut tool apply it to each shape in turn. this will take a while because the shape shave thousands of small line segments. This gives me a usable gcode. I did scale mine to 0.1 of the original and selected a 1mm bit. Make sure your bit is less than half the thickness of the wood, ie when you scale make sure that the slots are the thickness of the wood you are going to use, then choose a bit that is less than half the wood thickness. You should scale to your desired size before doing the 'RepairBL+Phlatten' step as this will give you better arcs. The attached file is original size with 6mm bit.
Hi thank you. I did find your video on importing dxf files and will give it another go. I wasn’t sure of the cutter settings. I’m using 5mm foam board and a 0.1mm 30 degree bit. I scaled it down originally as the downloaded file was huge. I think I might just stick to drawing my own and learning how to use sketchucam properly.
You can just download my sketchup file above, use the 'PB' eraser tool to remove the cutlines, then scale, then add new cutlines for your tool of choice. Might take as much as 5 minutes (-: oh, a 30 degree bit is not good for cutting parts out, only for engraving.
Hi thank you. I wasn’t sure about the v-bit. I’ll download your file, rescale it and tru it with a 1mm cutter. Thank you for all your help
