As you can see, there is no arcs and yet there is still dislodging of the position of one of the components. Take note however that i did not create these components straight up but actually was playing around with a bunch of them and only deleted the rest and kept these to use for testing.
I have looked at that before (sketchucam), but If I remember rightly because the code is generated in SU the circles and arcs are a series of lines. One of the videos on the link seems to support that by the looks of the output code. (Struggling to see on my phone)
True, you can increase the number of segments to improve the circle, but at cost of quality and because each segment generates a line of code, in my opinion, unnecessarily bloats the file. I mentioned that early on in the thread with TIG.
So that would probably be 99 lines of code for a fairly smooth 96 side circle with a starting line and lead in/lead out command
If it were a true circle from a successful dxf in the code I use it would simply be something like this, thereās a lot of difference:
The modified SKP file you sent me is made with your SU2018 - i have SU2017. So i could not open it.
But the DXF file worked. The only thing that is different is the top and bottom rectangles are black while the sides are red. Iām guessing that was the modification you made.
Nonetheless, your extension has passed all the tests thus far. This is good news.
Thinking about some of the geometry I would use to create programs to cut jigs (that usually gets done in Draftsight) Iāve put a geometries together quickly including offset arcs together in this file. It would be interesting to try, if it works I could maybe design jigs in SketchUp directly: FLAT 2D.skp (48.0 KB)
Assuming this thread is coming to a close, if you do decide to rework your extension then please refer back to this thread and send IanT and I a message to inform us about your decision.
It would be understandable if you did not make it available if only IanT and I so far have showed interest. Perhaps it would be handy if other users that were interested would post their interest so that you can get an idea of how many of us there are.
But by the looks of it, it doesnāt seem like there is anyone out there. I guess most people just donāt use SU for CAM.
I understand your concerns on the popularity of such a feature, thanks for your input so far.
So I understand a little better where the exporter currently sits, is it part of the Cabmaker extension, and that I could theoretically use from the box, as it were?
I donāt know how easy for you it would be to take the exporter out of a current package, if thatās what you would do to offer as a stand-alone extension, but Iād imagine the price youād ask would be lower? Although I donāt really know whatās involved in making it happen.
Seen as though there are only 2 of us at present, youāre welcome to private message me a price of what you think would be reasonable for the extension, if you even think itās wortwhile doing. Iāve got by so far, but as Iāve shown it would be of use.
Well you can add me as interested in this solution. A while back I sent a .dxf of a section of balustrade to a metal worker to see if he could cut a pattern with his plasmacam.
His reply included the following: " I was able to open it enough to get an idea of what you want, but for me to quick draw and cut I need the object DFX, solid or outline, not a cut or print path DFX. Also the shape you need to compensate for your cutters, make the shape you want incorporates offsets."
While I donāt require this type of output often at all, it would seem to be a logical addition to Sketchup, a program widely used for things like 3d printing.
Sure, Iām a veg on the cam end so I can only try to resend to the 3rd party for plasmacam testing. But Iām happy to do whatever Iām able.
Thanks much,
Shep Railing part symetrical outline only.skp (260.5 KB)
I think youād be surprised by how much interest there would be in a good quality exporter for this sort of work.
Itās not just cnc, itās laser cutters, vinyl cutters, plotters etc etc
Many people love to design in sketchup but have to jump through hoops to get their designs to the machine they want.
To be able to simply draw what you want in SU and output in a format that can be read by your machine in one step would be a godsend to many. I canāt remember if the Phatboys? plugin was mentioned earlier, but from memory it wasnāt that great and may not be up to date anymore.
I would certainly be interested in such a plugin.
So now there is four users interested. This is just from the users currently visiting the forum and who have seen this thread. If we currently interested users make up 10 to 20 percent of the total interested users then your looking at around 20 to 40 total people that could be interested in your extension.
Furthermore, your extension at present fixes the mirroring of arcs and displacement of all objects that are showing up in CAM software. However, it could also fix Autocads inability to join arcs into polylines. If this is so, then it would increase the amount of interested users yet even more.
Now i say it could fix the polyline formation problem in Autocad because as of yet all the test samples you uploaded were already polylines. I dont know why this is so. Does your exporter automatically join the edges and arcs into polylines or are you joining them with a different program?
If you are joining them with a different program then the test to determine if your exporter allows for the formation of polylines in Autocad would be wise to carry out.
So here is the same exploded rounded square with real arcs. Assuming you can, export to a DXF while keeping the model exploded, and upload it so that i can test it out to see if it works with the Autocad Polyline function.
My exporter works from the outer loop of faces. If edges are made from arc curve then I convert that into a true arc. I want to end up with a single polyline because it represents a single tool patch for CNC complete with correct direction.
Understood. So this means the exporter is specialized for CNC and not just general DXF exports for Autocad.
I guess it makes sense to streamline the process and reduce the workload of generating the polylines in some other program.
But i am curious though. Does your exporter allow for nested components directly within SU or does one have to use an external program like Autocad or Draftsight afterwards to create the components?
I ask this because my Torchmate CAM software makes use of nested components - which allows for quick assigning of toolpaths of multiple objects in arrays, like a bunch of circles arranged into a circle.
Yes - I believe I mentioned before that one choice is block inserts. Essentially - if you create a group then I honor the layer name and assign the layer name to the polyline. If you create a component then I create a block from the components definition and insert the block based on the componentās instance transformation. I also honor the componentās layer name
I would recommend that you do not include spaces in the layer name as many CAM software canāt handle the spaces.
