Working area and material size?

[jeffmorris]

My CNC router has a working area of 20 inches by 17 inches and accepts materials up to 29 inches by 27 inches. When I design signs in Cut2D, is it possible for me to define working area on materials larger than 20 inches by 17 inches? For example, I wish to create a sign that's 24 inches long and 5-1/2 inches high and the letters to be routed are about 20 inches long and four inches high. Is it possible for me to define working area of 20 inches on a piece of wood that's 24 inches long?

[knighttoolworks]

how far does your machine move in each axis? you don't want material hanging off the table unsupported for the most part.

[RoutnAbout]

My CNC router has a working area of 20 inches by 17 inches and accepts materials up to 29 inches by 27 inches. When I design signs in Cut2D, is it possible for me to define working area on materials larger than 20 inches by 17 inches? For example, I wish to create a sign that's 24 inches long and 5-1/2 inches high and the letters to be routed are about 20 inches long and four inches high. Is it possible for me to define working area of 20 inches on a piece of wood that's 24 inches long?

Jeff, welcome to the forum.
I have only downloaded the trial version of Cut2D. But I just changed the work area to 50 feet x 50 feet to see if Cut2D would accept it and it did. So if you cut anything that Big Please Take Video and post it.
Good luck with Cut2D.

[jeffmorris]

X-Axis - about 20 inches
Y-Axis - about 17 inches
Z-Axis - about 2.5 inches
Table size - 31 inches by 33-1/2 inches
CNC Machine was built following plans for 17 X 20 Overhead Leadscrew machine from Solsylva http://www.solsylva.com/cnc/1aplansoverview.html
Mach3 software

[metalworkz]

X-Axis - about 20 inches
Y-Axis - about 17 inches
Z-Axis - about 2.5 inches
Table size - 31 inches by 33-1/2 inches
CNC Machine was built following plans for 17 X 20 Overhead Leadscrew machine from Solsylva http://www.solsylva.com/cnc/1aplansoverview.html
Mach3 software

Hi Jeff,
If I am understanding you right the sign you want to cut will be at the maximum length of travel for your router at 20"? You may want to either verify that it wil indeed have enough travel to finish the part or perhaps consider repositioning the part and using 2 seperate toolpaths to do the job. Some designs will be easy to divide into multiple sections at a space between letters etc. You should be able to define the working area as 24" long and then position the actual toolpaths centered in that area. Then it is just a matter of locating the datum of your toolpaths at the right position on your 24" blank when it is mounted on the machine. I hope you can post some pictures when you get it done!
Regards,
Wes