Nesting and retaining layer information

[gabepari]

Scenario: I have a bunch of oddly shaped panels that have lots of holes and pockets. The pockets are not all the same depth. I draw all the pockets on different layers, so that I can turn each layer on for it's respective toolpath. Simple enough, has always worked when I manually nest things. BUT, all the nesting programs I've tried will eliminate all the layer information and paste all the vectors to a single layer. Forcing me to go through and manually click on every vector for pathing. I get dizzy searching through all the little circles for the ones that are .63 deep versus .5 deep.

SO, I want to be able to nest a group of layered vectors and retain the layer information.

Any thoughts,

Gabe

[tmerrill]

Gabe,

A question similar to yours was asked during beta testing. Here is Brian's answer, which may help you.

" However what you can do is put the vectors for the different dado's, drill paths etc on different layers and then use 'Edit - Select All Vectors On Current Layer' (also available on the right mouse button) to select all the vectors for a particular toolpath type very quickly after nesting has been performed."

Tim

[thewoodcrafter]

Gabe,
You need V-Carve Pro 5.0
It will retain layer information from a DXF after importing.
VCPro 4.6 would not.
Drive up here and use mine if you want.

[gabepari]

Roger, does it nest and will it retain the layer information after it nests? I've tried Artcam Insignia and Artcam 2008, which will pull DXF's in with layer information, but after nesting you lose it all.

Tim, what program it that for? Aspire?

Thanks guys, back to cutting,

Gabe

[knight_toolworks]

yes it does. but each sheet will share the same layers.

[thewoodcrafter]

I have not used the new nesting feature yet. But I would think it does retain the information.
Send me the file, I'll try it.
woodcraftingcoATyahoo.com

[gabepari]

OK, downloading a trial. I think a new software package is in my future.

Gabe

[tmerrill]

Gabe,

My comment was regarding Aspire V2/V-Carve Pro V5/Partworks V5.

Tim

[gabepari]

Thanks guys,

talking to the Shopbot people, it appears the only difference between V-Carve Pro 5 and Partworks V5 is: Partworks only posts to .sbp and it includes Cut3d.

I tried the trial of V-Carve and it does EXACTLY what I want it to do. Another quick question, can you modify the post processors yourself on Partworks? Or do you need to phone in your change requests to Vectric?

Thanks again, gotta go try to make some more money so's I can afford a new toy


Gabe

[tmerrill]

Gabe,

I think the simple answer is yes, you can easily modify it yourself. It is just a text file.

I've never modified a post processor, but if you go to the Vectric website and do some searches I know you will find information. There are a large number of different machines that the Vectric forum members have so there is always a question about modifying a post processor somewhere.

Or, considering the great support that Vectric supplies, I know they would help you get where you want to be.

If you need any help with the searches, let me know what specifically you want to do, and I'll send you some links.

Tim

[beacon14]

Here's (http://65.36.212.143/notes_from_the_sandbox.htm#Customizing) some info on customizing the postprocessor file. Scroll down to the second article, January 2008.