Gary Campbell
04-18-2009, 01:11 PM
In the beginning a parts file was probably hand coded or generated in a DOS program probably designed to do something else. You could take a concept or drawing and find a way to generate a toolpath around, inside or on the given lines and assign a depth, and actually get it to cut. Hats off to the “ol’ Guys!
Then came CAD/CAM programs like Part Wizard. You could generate very accurate drawings, and even tho the drawing output may not have been the best, they did a fairly good job getting your toolpath info to the machine. A “file” was what you could cut with 1 bit. You may have needed a dozen of these to complete a “job” such as a sign or cabinet parts, etc. For us, a typical kitchen, could have 80 or more separately toolpathed files that needed to be kept straight. Many cabinetmakers manually combined these files of cutting, drilling and dadoing into a file called a “sheet” and we could have 20+ of these in a “job”. Some customers had more than 1 job for us, so it was common to have 100+ base files in a customer folder and 30 to 50 “sheet files” for that customer.
As machine capabilities increased, so did the design software. “Big Iron” machines were huge and had ATC’s that would hold 10 tools. The software was able to accommodate these by adding toolchange routines to mfgr’s specs. A file could now be considered a “job” or “sheet”, as all machining operations could be accomplished, by proper tool and toolpath order and selection. ShopBotters could add additional cutting tools and use file combining utilities to simplify getting the cutting files for each sheet combined easier than the cut and paste method.
At this stage of development Design software design software takes a quantum leap to something close to what we have today in eCabinets. A software that allows you to set your cabinet build parameters, and using those parameters, allows you to set them in a room, resize, reorder, change color, profiles and add whatever options you desire. You can output a photo realistic 3D representation in ortho view or 2D elevations or plan views. Fantastic! They are even a great sales tool.
Enter the age of Nested Base Machining. Nested Base Machining software takes the output of the whole “customer”, possibly multiple jobs, definitely multiple sheets, most likely multiple thickness’s, veneers and finishes, and sorts them by the correct material, correct thickness, correct grain orientation, etc. and organizes these parts onto sheets for cutting. The operator has options to deselect any sheet, part or assembly in the customer file that is not needed for cutting at the current time. The balance of the parts are nested and sent to the CNC for cutting. Cutting parameters and toolpath methodology are far advanced over what we have gotten used to in the vector based 2.5D CAD/CAM software suites.
We all like to cut as fast as we can. Time is money. We all know what happens when small parts are cut to aggressively. Hold down fails and parts move. By setting cutting parameters and applying them to nested sheets using the SB Link, we can have cutting speeds as high as our machines and hold down are capable of, yet set reduction speeds for parts of smaller areas or widths. We can set an onion skin thickness and set the parameter use an onion skin if the part is smaller than “X” sq. inches, use tabs or leave the skin on for very small parts under “X” sq inches, or simply cut it all with 1 pass. You can also have the software profile cut and print a label for the sheet off falls. This label can be scanned or the number entered into the SB control software and parts for the next job can be cut using these “waste” pieces. This is just a sample of what is available in the SB Link.
Another advantage to those with multiple axes,(spindles, routers, drills) is that the new commands in the SB3 software that have been added in the last few weeks, will allow you to possibly select the existing “toolchanger” post processors in Vectric and Delcam software(possibly others) and save files for multiple tools to a single sheet or job.
A file has now evolved to a job, a customer or it could even be an office building full of product. The parts that have been cut are kept track of, the ones that haven’t also. The scrap is even in memory. The tools that were used… the list goes on and on. I haven’t found them all, as I am new to the process. But I am sure impressed. By the way, a file is now much more than I can haul in my truck, but it looks much smaller and organized on my thumb drive.
Gary
Then came CAD/CAM programs like Part Wizard. You could generate very accurate drawings, and even tho the drawing output may not have been the best, they did a fairly good job getting your toolpath info to the machine. A “file” was what you could cut with 1 bit. You may have needed a dozen of these to complete a “job” such as a sign or cabinet parts, etc. For us, a typical kitchen, could have 80 or more separately toolpathed files that needed to be kept straight. Many cabinetmakers manually combined these files of cutting, drilling and dadoing into a file called a “sheet” and we could have 20+ of these in a “job”. Some customers had more than 1 job for us, so it was common to have 100+ base files in a customer folder and 30 to 50 “sheet files” for that customer.
As machine capabilities increased, so did the design software. “Big Iron” machines were huge and had ATC’s that would hold 10 tools. The software was able to accommodate these by adding toolchange routines to mfgr’s specs. A file could now be considered a “job” or “sheet”, as all machining operations could be accomplished, by proper tool and toolpath order and selection. ShopBotters could add additional cutting tools and use file combining utilities to simplify getting the cutting files for each sheet combined easier than the cut and paste method.
At this stage of development Design software design software takes a quantum leap to something close to what we have today in eCabinets. A software that allows you to set your cabinet build parameters, and using those parameters, allows you to set them in a room, resize, reorder, change color, profiles and add whatever options you desire. You can output a photo realistic 3D representation in ortho view or 2D elevations or plan views. Fantastic! They are even a great sales tool.
Enter the age of Nested Base Machining. Nested Base Machining software takes the output of the whole “customer”, possibly multiple jobs, definitely multiple sheets, most likely multiple thickness’s, veneers and finishes, and sorts them by the correct material, correct thickness, correct grain orientation, etc. and organizes these parts onto sheets for cutting. The operator has options to deselect any sheet, part or assembly in the customer file that is not needed for cutting at the current time. The balance of the parts are nested and sent to the CNC for cutting. Cutting parameters and toolpath methodology are far advanced over what we have gotten used to in the vector based 2.5D CAD/CAM software suites.
We all like to cut as fast as we can. Time is money. We all know what happens when small parts are cut to aggressively. Hold down fails and parts move. By setting cutting parameters and applying them to nested sheets using the SB Link, we can have cutting speeds as high as our machines and hold down are capable of, yet set reduction speeds for parts of smaller areas or widths. We can set an onion skin thickness and set the parameter use an onion skin if the part is smaller than “X” sq. inches, use tabs or leave the skin on for very small parts under “X” sq inches, or simply cut it all with 1 pass. You can also have the software profile cut and print a label for the sheet off falls. This label can be scanned or the number entered into the SB control software and parts for the next job can be cut using these “waste” pieces. This is just a sample of what is available in the SB Link.
Another advantage to those with multiple axes,(spindles, routers, drills) is that the new commands in the SB3 software that have been added in the last few weeks, will allow you to possibly select the existing “toolchanger” post processors in Vectric and Delcam software(possibly others) and save files for multiple tools to a single sheet or job.
A file has now evolved to a job, a customer or it could even be an office building full of product. The parts that have been cut are kept track of, the ones that haven’t also. The scrap is even in memory. The tools that were used… the list goes on and on. I haven’t found them all, as I am new to the process. But I am sure impressed. By the way, a file is now much more than I can haul in my truck, but it looks much smaller and organized on my thumb drive.
Gary