Nesting part files

[Ross Leidy]

I took delivery of my Desktop recently, and this past weekend was my first chance to put it to use. I'm still on the learning curve with Partworks, but I was very happy with the results of my first cuts. I do have a couple question about the software's functionality.

I mentioned in another post that I build custom table tennis paddles. My initial use of my SB is very simple: cut out the profile of the paddle from custom ply blank. In addition to the paddle, I also cut 2 oval hang tags from the excess material on either side of the paddle handle. I will have dozens of different paddle shapes, but the tags will always be the same and will be cut in the same place on the blank. I'm trying to figure out the best way to incorporate the static tags into each different paddle file, and I'd welcome some suggestions.

What I was hunting for within Partworks was a way to embed or include a nested .crv file (the tags) within the main paddle file. I did not see a way to do this. The benefit would be that all of the toolpaths could be calculated at one time and that lead-ins would be optimized and any potential overlaps would be avoided. It would also allow me to make changes to a single .crv tag file that would then be propagated to each paddle file during a recalculate operation. If this is possible, this would be ideal.

Barring that, my next thought would be to always start a new design with a copy of the .crv tag file. This would allow all toolpaths to be calculated at one time, but I'd end up having to change every file if the tag content changed.

The other option would be to edit the paddle .sbp and make it a master file that nests a tag .sbp. This allows me to make changes to the tag file that would be propagated to each paddle file, but I'd have two independently generated toolpath files that might have some overlaps.

Perhaps there are other options? How would you handle this scenario?

Thanks,
Ross

[adrianm]

Toolpath templates in conjunction with nesting and layering will do what you want. They are an incredibly powerful feature of the software once you've got to grips with what they can do.

There is a case study of how I use them in a more basic format here - http://www.vectric.com/WebSite/Vectric/aspire/aspire_case_production_routing.html - with links to more detailed tutorials at the bottom.

[Ross Leidy]

I did take a look at toolpath templates and viewed the very helpful tutorial at the vetric site. But, it seemed like I still needed to start with all of the vectors defined within a single .crv file. Perhaps I missed something. I'll take a look at the link you provided.

Thanks,
Ross

[jerry_stanek]

When you make the design for the paddles you could put the tags where you want and group them to the paddle

[Ross Leidy]

If I get your meaning, that would mean that I'd be re-drawing the tags for each new paddle crv file, which I don't want to do. What I'm trying to achieve is an "import" of both vector and toolpath data from an embedded .crv file. I can see that toolpath templates gets me half-way there, but it doesn't address getting the vectors from a single location.

In fact, if I understand the templates correctly, when you load the template, you copy the contents of the template at that time to the design file. You just get a snapshot of the template at a point in time. Future changes to the template are not reflected in the designs that used it. You'd need to delete those toolpaths and re-load them from the template. Correct?

[adrianm]

You can have as many copies of PartWorks/VCarve running at one time as you like so you can cut and paste vectors directly between copies to build the design you want.

Note that when you cut and paste from different instances the vector locations are preserved so you can have a source file with the static info and cut/paste into your new file with everything in the right place.

You might not need to bother with toolpath templates at all in that scenario but it's an easy way of creating the toolpaths automatically with all the right settings in the new file.

There is no way to have a template that will automatically update files that are created from it at a future date even with toolpath templates.