cutting a model plane

[stan kern]

did a timing test for cutting out a model kit ,went very well just used cardboard took 12 min laser time 4 cuts of 3x36 and one 4x36 piece
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etQCRZcDirU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etQCRZcDirU)

[Rich Harman]

At :39 - :45 it looks like the laser is going back and forth over the line. Is that intentional?

[Kay Bengtson]

It appears that you have duplicate cut lines.

[stan kern]

i noticed that too but the file was supplied and i did not doctor it also what you cannot see is the small pauses where its not cutting but skipping like a tab so
the part will not fall out

[Jim Reinhard]

What plane is it .Im looking for one to build.Can You send it to me? looks like a 4 star .

[stan kern]

its not mine to send out ,i assured the person it was safe with me for test cut.
But it was the first i have done and i would like a glider next

[Martin Boekers]

You can correct those skips pretty easily, buy converting to curves and using one of the tools under
the pick tool. Sometimes the designers put the spaces into the layout to keep the pieces together.
These do look a bit big for that though.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Hey Stan,
12 minutes seams like a lot of time for these files. How many watts is your laser?
A DXF file is the worst to use for lasering, IMHO, because it is all segments. There is so much backtracking being done. they should all be cutting like at 1:09, a continuous flow. Just by looking at what you are doing and the sizes I would guess it would take around 3-4 minutes on mine, possibly less, especially using cardboard. You really need to optimize you files before lasering them. We can do it right on the Job Control, on our PC, with a click of a button. It will create a new file or write over the existing one.

[Mike Null]

The easy way to join the lines is to use "join curves" under the effects menu. Select the piece then join curves and set the tolerances. This is in X5.

[David Fairfield]

Heh, heh, that demo vid shows one of Murphy's laws of laser cutting in action-- when a customer emails you a file to cut, there is always something wrong with it. I have never gotten a file that did not need some sort of clean up or adjustment.

Your laser should be making smooth movements, following lines and curves in one motion. Not jerking back and forth. 12 minutes is way too long for a simple file like that. Should be under 5 mins in balsa.

Dave

[Joe De Medeiros]

If you have autocad you can use the overkill command, then use the join command to join and convert to polylines

[stan kern]

michael can you suggest what is the best file for lasering i understood that the dxf file was the best file to use so i convert all my files to dxf

also the 12min was 4 cuts 3x36 and it actually was 3.43 per cut,the owner of the model said i was too slow