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Plunge Tool on a Line not generating gcode

Discussion in 'SketchUcam Help' started by garyrkey, Jan 27, 2016.

  1. garyrkey

    garyrkey New Member

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    I've searched for, but not found an answer to, the following:

    In an otherwise empty design, I place two Plunge Tool holes on a guide line parallel to the "red" axis. I generate the gcode, and examine the results with Plot GCode. That works as it should.

    Next, I draw a line with the Line tool between the centers of the two Plunge Tool holes. That line is parallel to the "red" axis. Now, when I generate the gcode, the left hole does not show up in the gcode.

    To make things more intriguing, I delete the line between the two holes, move the right hole down slightly, and redraw a line between the centers of the two holes. Now, the gcode is generated for both holes.

    I have more! If I start over with a clean design, place two Plunge Tool holes on the "red" axis, and draw a line through the centers of the two holes, but extending to the left and right of the holes, there is no gcode generated for either hole.

    So, it looks to me like you cannot place a Plunge Tool hole on a line if that line extends to the right of the holes center.

    In real world terms, I would like to route a groove using the CenterLine Tool and place Plunge Tool holes in it, along the "red" axis. So far, that just isn't happening for me.

    Thanks in advance for any guidance.

    Gary
     
    garyrkey, Jan 27, 2016
    #1
  2. swarfer

    swarfer Moderator Staff Member

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    in the help (big blue question mark on toolbar) under the section
    New in V1.2a
    it says
    the reason for this is the way Sketchup ALWAYS intersects new geometry with underlying geometry, except for groups, 'mostly'.
    grouping the hole has been the only way, so far, to prevent intersecting lines from splitting the hole into multiple holes, it is only the horizontal line case that will now cause issues. Yes, I have considered making the hole indicator line at an angle to the horizontal, but no matter hat angle I choose, there will always be a drawing where there is a matching line.
    Therefore it is preferred that users are aware of horizontals and can just delete the little segment that interferes.

    (I must copy this bit of help to the plunge hole help though, that would be useful!)
     
    swarfer, Jan 28, 2016
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  3. swarfer

    swarfer Moderator Staff Member

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    To address your desire to cut a groove will holes spaced along it....

    there are two ways to do this:

    way 1
    draw your groove line, and set it as a cut with the centerline tool. draw a plain line nearby, select the cut and the plain line and group them (because you cannot group just one item).
    select the plunge hole tool, and place your holes along the line. you can use the multihole feature to achieve perfectly spaced holes.

    way 2
    complete your drawing and make a copy of it.
    on copy 1 set the line as a centerline cut
    on copy 2 place the plunge holes instead of the line
    place the safe area around copy 1 and generate gcode file 1
    place the safe area around copy 2 and generate gcode file 2
    use the Gcode Joiner to join the two files.

    You can watch a video of this idea in action


    Doing multiple holes in a pattern
     
    swarfer, Jan 28, 2016
    #3
  4. garyrkey

    garyrkey New Member

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    Thank you! I suspected the Plunge Tool hole's red line was involved. Way 1 works, but leads me headlong into another "inconvenience". When I try to select the group that has the Center Line and a plain Line, I have to either do an area select, which has its problems if there are holes on one of the lines, or I have to remove any guide lines that may be in the way of the Center and plain lines. That probably is a SketchUp problem, though.

    At least, thanks to your suggestions, I have a Way!

    Gary
     
    garyrkey, Jan 28, 2016
    #4
  5. swarfer

    swarfer Moderator Staff Member

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    Hi
    You can select groups from the Outliner, click Window|Outliner
    Easier if you give each group a name, right click the group, select Entity Info, and enter a Name.
    you can leave the Entity Info box open all the time, so you can see names as you click on stuff.
     
    swarfer, Jan 29, 2016
    #5

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