Need Help with Plaque Outline

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Blown406
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Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by Blown406 »

I have created a plaque and for some reason I can not get the outline to cut out completely. It acts as if there are open vectors, but I have checked that. It will cut out the opposite corners when I render the design in Vcarve Desktop. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am trying to get a few Christmas Gifts cutout.
Rendering showing the toolpath
Rendering showing the toolpath
Randy W Benetti, Sr.
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Adrian
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Re: Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by Adrian »

Hard to say 100% without seeing the actual vectors in question. Could you attach the file?

Is it a simple outline with a profile cut?

Blown406
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Re: Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by Blown406 »

That is correct, all 4 corners should be exactly the same. I have tried 3-4 times to attach the .crv file, but for some reason it won’t attach, maybe due to it’s size. I can try again when I get home in a few hours. Thanks for the quick reply.

Randy
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Blown406
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Re: Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by Blown406 »

Adrian wrote:Hard to say 100% without seeing the actual vectors in question. Could you attach the file?

Is it a simple outline with a profile cut?
Background Plaque.crv
(388.5 KiB) Downloaded 139 times
Outside Profile.txt
(144.93 KiB) Downloaded 174 times
Here is the tool path and .crv file. I removed the text and graphics to reduce the file size.

Randy
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mtylerfl
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Re: Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by mtylerfl »

Randy,

You have grouped the vectors (not joined them). You have four open vectors that are simply grouped.

Easy fix...

1) Ungroup the vectors, then Join them

2) Select the "now joined" vectors (which will be a single closed vector now) and apply your profile toolpath
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Blown406
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Re: Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by Blown406 »

So when I ungrouped the vectors and then selected Join Vectors I go to another screen where it shows 4 open vectors. There is an option for Tolerance which defaults to .005. The JOIN box is grayed out so I can't select it to join the vectors. I have increased the Tolerance to .200 and still unable to join the vectors even while they are selected (purple outline on my screen). So sorry I feel incapable of fixing something that should be so simple. Thanks again for your assistance.

Randy
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mtylerfl
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Re: Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by mtylerfl »

Hi Randy,

They won't join because the vector ends are crossing over each other, as well as having an "extra" double-back on itself vector that's not needed. You'll need to zoom in tight to see the problem and fix it via Node editing. You can fix just one of the four, making sure the end nodes don't cross over the center points of the job. Delete the other three, copy/rotate the one good one, select them all and hit the J key to join. You should be good to go after that.

Just thought of something else for you to consider...the sharp points you have on the plaque will likely chip when being cut. You could get lucky, but I would consider rounding those sharp points to reduce the chance of chipping. I see you are using a 1/8" dia. EM. Perhaps a rounding of 1/8" Radius would be appropriate (you could try a 1/16" Radius but I think it still might be prone to chip at that small of a rounding).
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Blown406
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Re: Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by Blown406 »

Ok, that was a bit more than I was expecting. Easy fix, but I wasn't blowing it up far enough to notice the end points were not actually touching. I didn't know it would take full zoom to see it, or at least with my eyes. Problem resolved and again I thank you so much for your troubleshooting expertise. Next time I will know to zoom in as close as I can.
Have a wonderful day.

Randy
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mtylerfl
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Re: Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by mtylerfl »

I didn't think of that either until you mentioned that the Join procedure was still failing. I knew there was a "vector problem" somewhere, and from my own past experience I suspected cross-overs as the culprit. I used the Vector Validator tool to mark the problem areas. Then I knew where to Zoom in.

I'm very glad you were able to fix the problem. Good work!
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Blown406
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Re: Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by Blown406 »

Vector validator tool? Is that an add on to Vectric Vcarve? Best I could get was that I had 4 open vectors and because if the way I designed the boarder, I had a pretty good feeling where to look, but to have the open vectors highlighted, that would be a huge help.
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martin54
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Re: Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by martin54 »

Blown406 wrote:Vector validator tool? Is that an add on to Vectric Vcarve? Best I could get was that I had 4 open vectors and because if the way I designed the boarder, I had a pretty good feeling where to look, but to have the open vectors highlighted, that would be a huge help.
The vector validator was introduced with V9 :lol:

Blown406
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun May 31, 2015 6:41 am
Model of CNC Machine: Stepcraft 2/840

Re: Need Help with Plaque Outline

Post by Blown406 »

I used the Vector Validator tool to mark the problem areas
.

Ok so I did a little more research on the Vectric Validator tool and it is something new on V9.0 which explains why I haven't heard of it. I am still stuck in the ice ages with VCarve 8.5, so I guess maybe I should look at either upgrading or learn to find problems on my own, lol. I have learned many good things today and I can thank you for such knowledge.

Randy
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