Is there some trick to using the plunge tool as it relates to lining up holes on a part? For example, the attached photos show an arrow pointing to two plung holes that were made off the same vertical line in sketchup. When drilled, they do not line up. Is there a different procedure for lining up holes? Thanks. I also attached a simple SketchUp file for it. Thanks a lot!





Attached files PlungeToolTest.skp (96.7 KB)Â

 

Interesting.... Your file produces same results for me... But, I deleted your plunge points and reentered them and it worked fine.

Attached files PlungeToolTest.skp (96.7 KB)Â

 

Thanks for the response. I must be doing something wrong. I started with a new drawing and added more holes this time. Now, it looks like a smiley face! I drew the piece, added the edges, made it a group, then moved the piece into the safe area. Check out this picture. I'm using v9.18. I use lines to make a cross hair point to place the plunge point. Is there something else that should be done in this process?

Thanks,

Attached files

 

I don't get it... I don't think it is anything you are doing wrong. This may be a script error. The programmers changed the way it works from when I originally submitted it so I'm not sure what is going on here.

When I tested your first version and deleted one point and reentered it the first time, it messed up, but when I deleted two of the points and replaced them, it worked, but the order of the processing changed as well.

I think this is one that Pete is going to have to sort out.

 

Flash, thanks for the help. Is it OK to use the internal lines as in my drawing as cross hairs to locate the plunge point? Then delete the all lines leaving only the plunge tool circle and the red line to the left.

 

One more note on this. I drew the piece without adding the internal lines. I used the pencil to mark spots along the egde of the rectangle that the plunge tool could lock on to. This produced holes that lined up as they should.

 

I PM'ed Pete to ask him to look into this. Something is broken. It used to work when I first submitted the script changes to create a plunge tool, but as I understand there were some issues which it did not handle and it got rewritten. I have not used it but once or twice since version 18 was released and then it was only to do 1 plunge and not a series like this.

I used the original version 13 code to generate a several rows of plunges in the mousetrap contest submission I made and it was working just fine back then, so I am pretty sure this is a new problem caused by changes made since.

 

Randy - Something I noticed some months ago when I moved a part that had been grouped and tabbed was that the tabs LOOKED like they were there but the PhlatCode generator ignored them en masse! Only when I exploded the part again, deleted all the tabs, re-grouped and added the tabs back did the program generate them correctly.
In other words, stop moving the parts around. Get them oriented and then add your plunges, generate the code and see if the results are different.

 

Using cross hairs to align the plunge points is how I do it as well. I don't even bother to erase them. They don't generate any gcode unless you select them and specifically mark them as a fold or center cut line.

As to grouping, I always explode the parts, then add the plunge and other cut paths. Grouping is the very last thing I do before cutting and then only if I want to control the cut order.

Try not to move the plunge lines with the move tool. If you set a plunge mark and it is not where you want it, undo the operation and set another plunge mark. I don't think copy and paste work either.

The plunge tool works in conjunction with the bit diameter. I will try some things today to see if I can isolate a work around. Maybe by setting the bit diameter larger and then createing plunge marks might help. Its worth a shot to see.

This problem seems especially aggravating because you cannot see its effects by just looking at the source file. It's not until you actually try to cut your part that you see it is not working.

 

Thanks for the help with this issue. The plunge tool is an awesome addition to the tool list. It is very helpful with the design work I'm doing on my saucer. When you say "Try not to move plunge lines with the move tool" does that mean even after they have been grouped, or prior to grouping?

 

prior to grouping.... Once they are in a group, it is okay to move the group. I just know there were issues previously regarding copy and paste of those objects so I try not mess with them once they are in place.

 

I really like the new plunge tool. I've found that if I group the plunge lines individually then I have no problems. Also, by grouping them in the order that I want them to be cut I can optimize the gcode and speed up the cutting time. I tend to do this with inside cuts as well otherwise there can be lots of travelling between cuts that aren't necessary.

Here's a shockflier motor mount I cut out of 0.8mm GRP board :



And another one cut from 3mm Birch Ply :



Si. Attached files

 

Thanks Mark, I like trying to cut new materials. The 3mm ply was right on the limit of what my Mk1 is capable of I think. I was using a 1.5mm (~1/16") chipbreaker bit with a fishtail point and had to drop the feedrate down to 0.7ipm. It took about 20mins to cut the ply mount and I had to blow on the bit occasionally as whisps of smoke started appearing :? . I should have taken a photo of the other side of the ply really, as the tabs came out really well.

Another point that you might find interesting is that I didn't use a 'fence' to guide the ply through the printer. I simply taped a 6" wide piece of 3mm Depron to each side of the ply and this gave the drive roller good traction and prevented any skewing.

Si.

 

Why didn't I think of that? I milled a piece of scrap foam to lay the plywood into and taped the ply to the foam as a carrier, but that is a clever idea. Thanks for sharing.

 

Flash, sometimes we all make jobs more complicated than they need to be, I know I do. Another trick I used for cutting the 0.8mm fiberglass was to run the first part of the code on a scrap sheet of 3mm depron. Once the plunge cuts had been made and I knew exactly where the cut was going to be, I stopped the cut and clicked the 'send printer home' button. I then put a couple of pieces of masking tape on the edges of the Depron to hold the foam in position, lifted the lid of the printer and taped the fg board in position over the cut marks in the depron. I then lowered the lid of the pp, removed the tape holding the depron in place and ran the code again. This is a useful technique for cutting smaller pieces of material, you just have to remember to allow for the thickness of the depron when you set the 'material thickness' parameter in the Phlatscript.

Si.