So Many Problems, So Many Questions

[thecrazyham]

Ok i downloaded the trial of Cut2D hoping to use it, but so far its been a hair pulling nightmare!!!!!

Took me two days to find the tutorial files, since the directions in the help file are NOT CORRECT, there is no tuturials files option on the main screen when you open the program, and it when i tried to click on the tutorials link as was instructed by support email that didn't work either because it wanted to open Internet Explorer, being on Windows 10 i got an error message because it couldnt find the browser to open or some such. Anyway, i finally got around that by downloading the tutorial files in Chrome.

Next problems...

1. How in the world do you set the material size and thickness?? This is something that is normally first step dead basic input on any other CAM software i have used, yet on Cut2D after about six hours of going through every tab, every window, every setting box, i have yet to find it. Can someone please point out where i can simply type in the material dimensions??? X=, Y=, Z=... This should be like glaringly simple in your face, but this software its not to be found anywhere!!!! I loaded the Avalon tutorial file, and i wanted to test it with some cheap 3mm birch but i can't tell it the material is 3mm thick so its thinking its working with something a half inch thick and it wants to cut down a 1/4" but that aint gonna work.

2. Rapid move rate, where in the world do you set the rapid Z rate in this bewildering software?? I found the feed rates right away, right where i figured they would be in the tool settings, easy, set and forget. But it tries to rapid move around three times the speed my machine is capable of and i get rattling stepper motors and everything just goes to heck and i have to hit the e-stop. I am using the post processor for Mach 3 Arc MM, and i can't make heads or tails out of how to set the Rapid Z to the specific number i want to. The other CAM programs i use its just CLICK, TYPE, there Rapid Z is set and everything is happy. This software, nowhere to be found.

3. How do i set it to MM?? Its crazy hard to deal with when i'm using tooling thats metric, Mach 3 is setup for MM, and Cut2D is mixing and matching the two settings. How can i force the thing to put everything into MM and keep it MM PERMANENTLY... I had some of the stuff in MM then i clicked another tab looking for the Rapid Z speed setting and it transposed 3mm to 3 inches and that took about an hour of my time but i still can't get it back to MM.

At this rate i don't think i'm going to be likely to buy unless all three of these are quick problems that i am somehow missing, i spent six hours, no joke six darn hours, trying to fix the Rapid Z movements but still can't. Yet i can open up another CAM software and click, set, and machine is back to making parts.

HELP... I don't have much hair left now.

PS: Then the forum has been an utter nightmare as well, registered, didn't get activated, sent email to support got activated, came back tried to login says i tried to login to many times, did a password reset since it wasn't taking password, still wouldn't login, had to do five password resets before it would let me login. Finally HERE... UGHHHHH

[Adrian]

The tutorials are on the main screen when you open the program. Look on the left hand side of the Cut2D window and there is a Video Tutorial section. If you're running Windows 10 when you click on that it will ask you how you want to open the link if you haven't already associated HTML files with a browser. That's not an error message. Windows just wants to know which browser you want to use.

1. When you first start a new file in Cut2D the first dialog that is displayed is the Job Setup that is where you set the material dimensions and thicknesses. If you've opened an exisiting file then you can get to that dialog by clicking the icon for it (first one second row under File Operations), Job Size and Position from the Edit menu or the Material Setup link at the top of the toolpaths tab.

2. The rapid rate is set in your control software (Mach3). It's nothing to do with Cut2D. For time estimating purposes you can set a rapid rate in the Toolpath Summary dialog but it's not used for anything else.

3. In the job setup you set the software to MM or INCHES as you prefer. The setting is per job so if you load a job that is created in INCHES then that's what it will be. The units that are output to your CNC machine are determined by what units the Post Processor you use is set for. You can create the jon in MM and then setup tools using imperial measurements if you desire. That's probably what you saw. That's one of the strengths of the Vectric products that you can mix and match units as you like rather than being forced to use one or the other. Every field in the software also has built-in maths functions that can be used to convert backwards and forwards with units as well.

I'm surprised with the issues you've been having as the Vectric software is renowned for it's ease of use and simplicity. I think what might be happening is that you're used to using a different software and you're expecting things to be identical with the Vectric software. If you had started with Vectric and then gone the other way you'd probably be just as frustrated with the other software.

[thecrazyham]

I told it to use Chrome, thats all i use, but still kept getting errors, then suddenly it just worked, so that was finally solved.

1. Nope, i don't ever see this Job Setup, i watched YouTube videos on Cut2D, and looked at screenshots of some tutorials i could find online, but i never get that Job Setup. But THANK YOU for pointing out which little icon it is, finally now i can get to the Job Setup. Would have been nice if the MICROSCOPIC icons would have been more descriptive in nature.

2. Ok, where do i set it in Mach3?? Because all the other CAM software i use i SPECIFY the Rapid Z movement rate, but in this software there isn't a way to do that, so if i have to set it in Mach3 then any idea where?? Cause i searched the Mach3 support forums to no end... sigh

3. Ahh ok, now it makes sense! I'm so used to MM, that i just couldnt wrap my head around all the inch junk it was tossing in, Thanks!

Ok now for a new problem, we got all that sorted, except i can't find any way possible in Mach3 to define the Rapid Z rate, but on to the next problem as well.

For some reason i set the feed rate of the 3mm End Mill to 7.0 IPM, aka 177.80 MM/Min, but when i save the gcode it sets a Feed Rate of 254.00 MM/Min for most of the operations, but for some it randomly sets it to F1524.00 MM/Min, and the Rapid Z moves are set to 3600 MM/Min, but since as you say Rapid Z is something in Mach3, which is odd because in the five years i have been using this machine i never did anything but set Rapid Z in the CAM software but i digress, so why in the world is it changing my set feed rate of 177.80 MM/Min to either 254.0 or 1524.0 at total random??

I went into the gcode with notepad and replaced all the F254.0 and F1524.0 with F177.80 and now the machine runs perfectly except for the crashtastic Rapid movements which i hope to solve through Mach3, but so far nobody on the Mach3 forums knows how to solve that yet, they keep telling me to set the Rapid Move speed in the CAM software, but you tell me i can't, so i'm stuck in a merry go round and getting sick.

And yes i know, its mind blowing a bloody american that uses MM for everything, i'm a 3d printer fanatic at heart and also do a lot of PCB designing, i've come to learn and love the Metric system. LOL

[thecrazyham]

I really wish the trial would let you open and save out the gcode for a simple 2d project that i designed myself, this would make life so much easier then trying to deal with some random file. Why? Because i have some simple pieces that i could try one and see if it behaves and also i already know what to expect in the finish product, would just let me wrap my head around it and learn it easier, i know that sounds dumb, but having been stuck on other CAM software for years it would be nice to at least have a familiar part on the screen to work with.. Anyway..

I just did some more tweaking, no matter what i set for feed rate on the tools it still seems to output F254.00 for most of the job, with a random F1524.00 tossed in for good measure and i just can't figure out where its getting that random feed rate from??

I'm off to bed, had enough for one night. But i will check back in the morning!

Thank You for all your help so far!!!

[Adrian]

The tool database has a setting for plunge rate (the Z movement) and the feed rate (XY movement). Check both those values for the tools you're using and make sure that you have the correct units set next to them. It's a common error to type a mm/sec value but have the units set to mm/min etc.

I can't help you with the rapid rate for Mach3 as I don't use it but there are many Mach3 users here so hopefully someone will chime in. It might not be called rapid though, trying looking for something like jog.

[Hermie]

In Mach 3 Config, Motor tuning, from there you set the max acceleration and speed on each axis

[thecrazyham]

I went back into the tools and they are set correctly as mm/min and both the cut and plunge rates are set to my desired speed of 177.80 mm/min, but still when I save out the gcode and check the resulting file it's using a cut speed of 254 mm/min and I determined with your comment that yes the other speed is the plunge speed but it's setting 1524 mm/min for the plunge. Even though I went through and laboriously set the cut and plunge speed for every tool in the list to 177.80 mm/min. Ultimately the machine can cut faster but the micro mills and .1mm carbides I use for detail work just can't handle the speed and I found that 7 ipm aka 177.80 mm/min was the ultimate sweet spot that doesn't result in any tool breakage when I'm working on acrylic and plastic.

The machine itself has done wood carving at twice that speed with a 1/4" ball mill so it's not a machine limit that's keeping me at that speed.

I ran the Avalon tutorial file at 12 ipm with a ball mill just for proof that everything else is working, but I had to manually edit the gcode file with notepad to fix all the feed and plunge speeds that were wrong. So you can understand my frustration.

Hermie... Thank you for commenting. Yes I'm aware of the motor tuning. But this is where it gets strange. I have it set for a max of 2000 mm/min but don't normally run that fast. With the other software I use for PCB milling I set the rapid movements, or jog or whatever it may be called but basically a non cut move, to 600 mm/min which is more then sufficient without greatly increasing the run time. Just a little less wear and tear on the machine I think. But anyway even with that set to a max of 2000 mm/min when I run the gcode from cut2d it shows a rapid move speed of 3600 mm/min which is nearly twice the max speed set in motor tuning. That's why I'm scratching my head on this one and others so far haven't been able to tell me where to set a limit otherwise. There has to be another setting at play here but I can't find it.

I even reinstalled Mach3 tonight and went through the complete machine setup and motor tuning and calibration and driver testing. Everything looks just perfect. If I don't set a specified rapid speed in my PCB cam software it will show 1999.9 mm/min when doing a rapid move. But when I tried cut2d again it flashed 3600 mm/min for the rapid move and I get grinding steppers till I smack the e-stop. If I override the feed speed and set the option to lock rapid moves to the feed speed then at least I can keep the rapid moves turned down but again I run into the problem that I have to manually edit the gcode from cut2d because it's not writing out the selected feed speeds for the selected tool.

I'm at a total loss here!

Overall I think cut2d is quite a nice looking program, but if I can't get it to post process correctly I'm not going to manually edit every gcode file and I don't feel I can trust it due to that yet.

[thecrazyham]

I will get some screen captures later today of the tool settings and the resulting gcode file to show you that I have the speeds set correctly in cut2d, at least they look to be to me, but it's still translating 177.80 mm/min for the feed rate to 254 mm/min in the gcode, and plunge is translating from 177.80 mm/min to 1524.00 mm/min.

[Adrian]

Those figures are the default ones set for the tutorial file so it sounds like you're not recalculating the toolpath after applying the tool changes.

You need to edit the toolpath then click the Select.. button, choose the tool you want to use, press OK, then press Calculate.

[thecrazyham]

Ok, that might be it, problem is the trial won't let me test that!!!!

I checked all the feed speeds on the tools again and verified everything was set to the speed that i want for the gcode output..

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wll0gosay3brz ... 282%29.JPG

So that looks good, i selected the tool in the edit toolpaths, made sure it was the right settings again, then clicked recalculate. Got all that done and then clicked on Save Toolpath so i could see if its working right now and then i run into this problem...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jqejh3zmg2caxas/Capture1.JPG

Its the Avalon Tutorial file, so why is it blocking me from saving the toolpaths from the tutorial file??

So until this is fixed i have no idea if its actually outputting the correct feed speeds yet... UGHHHHHHHHH

And just to prove its actually the tutorial file that its giving me this error on...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xm0szih92z1pxs1/Capture3.JPG

Sorry for the dropbox links to see the captures, i couldnt for the life of me figure out how to get images in the post on this forum, doesnt seem to be an option for it for some reason.

[thecrazyham]

I would also like to point out they need to fix these error messages, there is no Evaluation Files to Machine on the start page, dont believe me? Look...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/188mvn3evidf9dt/Capture4.JPG

[LittleGreyMan]

Hi thecrazyham,

Just downloaded the cut2d demo to give it a try.

Everything works properly and I can generate the machine file with the pp you selected.

I changed the tool, the name of toolpaths, … still works.

1) how did you load the demo file in cut2d? I strictly followed Vectric's path: clicked the "Tutorial Video Browser…" link then downloaded the file and opened it in cut2d from the browser (FireFox in my case)
2) did you change anything else in the cut2d demo file or saved it after modifying toolpaths?

[Adrian]

How long ago did you download and install the trial? There was a problem with some of the early ones that it wouldn't let you change the feed rates etc.

I downloaded the current one and I can certainly do what you're trying to do without problems. Try uninstalling the version you have now and then downloading the latest version from the Vectric web site.

Where are you seeing the message about there being evaluation files on the start screen from? That is how the previous version worked so there shouldn't be any references to that.

If you want to add pictures to your posts you click on the Upload attachment button which is the line under the Submit button. Then click Browse... to choose the picture and then click Add the file.