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Please help!! Getting bad centerline cuts....

Discussion in 'SketchUcam Help' started by xtremeRCpilot, Nov 13, 2010.

  1. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Hi everyone,
    I was generating Gcode for a complex series of centerline depth cuts on my logo as well as pocket cuts and for some reason there are several pieces showing multiple entry points when I plot Gcode to view the cut path, I would say in the vicinity of 50plus per piece and Im not sure that they are all on curves. Also if I could find a way to attach a pic of my problem I will add this, but the Plotter wont let me save it as .jpg!! Any insight would be much appreciated! :oops:

    Thank you
    John
     
  2. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Also I forgot to mention that Kwok has a cool fix phlip plugin but it appears to only be for Inside/outside cuts, I tried it with no errors showing!!


    Thanks
    John
     
  3. kyyu

    kyyu Active Member

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    John,

    Can't you just hit "Print Screen" and paste into any graphics software. Or I use FastStone Capture: viewtopic.php?f=103&t=242&p=1614

    By the way, I just recently updated the fix phlip plugin and 2 related ones. I doesn't do any more, but I fixed a bug and it's compatible with SU8 now. So everyone should update to the new version.

    If you want to see what you can see, you can download the probes plugin: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=21472 It has a "Normal Tool", which will show face direction and the edge directions. That's what I use to look at line direction.

    I think for a simple sketchup curve, centerlines may jump around if the curve has edges that go in different directions. You can try converting it into a polyline with the Fredo6's Bezier Splines Plugins. See pic.

    I'm don't have much of an understanding of the centerlines, like I do the inside and out. But, I can take a look at it, if you want.

    Attached files [​IMG]
     
  4. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Thank you so much Kwok, you always come through and sometimes these little things can be frustrating especially when you dont have understanding of behind the scenes :)
    I will PM you the Wing in question and would be xtremely grateful if you could check this out. :p

    Thank you again and I will check out your plugin recommendations! Also I just updated to SU8 so this may pose an issue with some of the plugins. Although I also ran this in my previous version of SKP 7 and had the same issue. I removed and re applied the phlat lines!!

    John
     
  5. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Here is a pic of the problemo!

    Attached files [​IMG]
     
  6. kyyu

    kyyu Active Member

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    Hi John,

    I found two solution, that you can use to fix the centerline cuts. I don't fully understand the centerlines, yet. But the solutions both involve getting all the edges to go in the same direction. The video is full screen, so you might want to download it to watch (15mb).

    Attached files Centerline Problem solution.wmv (14.7 MB)Â
     
  7. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    WOW, That is fantastic Kwok!! You are amazing, and your tutorials make the learning curve simple!! Thank you!!
    I tried redrawing the arcs but not with the knowledge of direction, the original outline came from a dxf file and this was just the way it saved from the conversion!!
    Did you notice the pockets are doing the same thing and not on the curves so I assume it safe to say your second suggestion would work fine! I saved Fredos bezier spline 1.4 SU8 update and need to install this! I cant wait to try this out and I will let you know how it works! :p
    Thank you again Kwok and let me know if there is anything I can do for you, I owe you big time !!

    Take care
    John
     
  8. kyyu

    kyyu Active Member

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    You're very welcome! You know, I just noticed the centerlines don't have true arc support in the gcode, like outside and inside cuts. :shock: So yes, definitely no reason to mess with the 1st suggestion.

    -Kwok
     
  9. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    I was kinda wondering about that because when I tried redrawing the arcs the code didnt change the arc color!!

    Thanks again my Friend!
    John
     
  10. 3DMON

    3DMON Moderator Staff Member

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    Another trick I've learned is to break up the loop just a little(this just means those lines will not make a face). Sometimes that alone does the trick.
     
  11. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Thats a great idea Shaun, I have done this a couple of times when trying to break from an outside edge to avoid a continuous line and allow me to make an outside phlatline !! I will give this a try and see what happens, thanks for the tip!! :p

    John
     
  12. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Thanks again Kwok your advice has worked perfect!! :cool:
    I need to figure out if there is a way to change direction of a cut path to any one line, for instance when the pockets via inside zig zag cuts are finished, its does a quick parameter cut to make a smooth finished edge but mine is cutting clockwise leaving a rough edge.I need it to go counter clockwise as if an inside cut! It still looks great but this would only make it look better!!
    Thanks
    John
     
  13. kyyu

    kyyu Active Member

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    Hi John,

    I can suggest a method using the RevertCurve Plugin, which reverses the direction of curves. This plugin is written by Fredo6.





    And the code, I use in the video:
    Attached files Reversing perimeter cut of pocket.wmv (18.6 MB)Â RevertCurve.rb (3.9 KB)Â
     
  14. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Thank you Kwok!! That works perfect !! With all this information , how do you sleep at night :D
    I really appreciate all your videos, they should be called cnc for Dummies LOL :D
    Thank you my Friend!
    John
     
  15. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Great video Kwok, I did not know this was possible
    Thank you!
    Mark and Trish
     
  16. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Hi Kwok, just a quick question!! I am almost done with my file and was wondering when using the probes tool/ normals, I noticed some of my inside cuts are running clockwise and was not sure if this was an issue with the scripts compatibility with SKP 8 or just a fluke with a few random cuts, the areas of concern are on the slots for my tabs!!
    Thanks kindly for your help!! :p
    John Attached files [​IMG]
     
  17. kyyu

    kyyu Active Member

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    John, inside and outside cut lines should always run clockwise (otherwise they would cut the wrong way). The direction of cut is decided later, in the phlatscript. But you do have a problem there. The phlatface is pointing the wrong way, as indicated by the big red axis pointing to the right. It should be pointing to the left. That's a front face, not the back face. You will also notice the small circles at the end of the local axis for each edge. That means the edge/face combo isn't following the right hand rule. In this case, it's the face that is the problem. If you generated the gcode for that inside cut, you would have the problem where it jumps all over the place and with lots of z motions. If you want to check it out, copy that inside cut to a new file. Generate the gcode and see what it looks like.

    Be careful with the Probes/Normal tool, because if you left click a face it has the feature of reversing that face. That's probably what happened here. So you can click that face again to reverse it back. Or I have a plugin that will make sure all the inside and outside cuts are running their default direction and the face is facing the right way. Select everything and in the right click context menu, you want to choose the one that saids "default":
    viewtopic.php?f=103&t=2134

    -Kwok
     
  18. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Thanks again Kwok!
    OK now I see what you are saying, and Yes, I think I did by accident hit the left mouse button!
    Good for me I didnt save the file after using it as reference for the inside cut direction, when I just went back to the file it was showing the proper face!! Also this is a file I have cut a couple of times with no problems, I was just messing with the probes tool to see how the direction of the cuts looked and thought there was a problem because of the way the axis was indicated!
    Thanks again and I will let you know how it turns out! These tools are priceless!! :p
    John
     
  19. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Kwok, I also remembered watching one of your videos and noticed that you had little small arrow heads pointing the direction of your cut path, is this a plug in or is there something integrated in one of our programs?
    Thanks
    John
     
  20. kyyu

    kyyu Active Member

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    John, I can't recall anything in sketchup or sim program I use, that has the small arrow heads. Normally, any visualizaion of the gcode, I use NCPlot. If you come across it again, post up a screen shot.

    If you are looking for something free and probably better than what you are now using, give the usb controller software look see. It looks like it does a good job of letting you check the gcode.

    -Kwok
     
  21. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Thanks Brother! I will let you know if I can regenerate the video or pic I found of these arrows, if I remember correctly , they were following a series of green lines as if in a pocket!

    I will check out the controller you speak of, I believe you mean the one that is optional in the phlat store :p

    Thanks
    John
     
  22. kyyu

    kyyu Active Member

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    Nope, that still doesn't ring any bells.

    Yep, the usb option. You can get the software at the planet-cnc website: http://www.planet-cnc.com/ I just opened a cnc file with over 100,000 lines of code and it worked really well. NCPlot was very slow with the same file.

    -Kwok
     
  23. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    Awesome, I will check this out! I had my eye on this a while back but lost touch ! :oops:

    Thanks again!
    John
     
  24. 3DMON

    3DMON Moderator Staff Member

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    I'm pretty sure I saw the USB software showing arrows for the cut path direction.
     
  25. TigerPilot

    TigerPilot Well-Known Member

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    The pocket tool creates arrows that show the direction,I think, but I'm not sure if it is the direction of the cut and it is only. Anyway, the arrows are only when the pocket tool is used and the lines are green.
     

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