Question Regarding Nesting Settings

[TSmith88]

In the Tool and Clearance Settings for VCarve Pro when you are nesting, does the Tool Diameter setting need to match the actual Tool Diameter being used to cut the parts? Or is this only creating the spacing between the parts, and as long as it's equal or slightly larger than the actual tool diameter will that be okay?

I'm just trying to understand exactly how this works, the nesting feature is probably the most important part of VCarve to me, I work for a cabinet shop and we use AutoCAD to draw parts for countertops or reception walls, and then import to VCarve and nest the parts. I've been making sure the numbers match but now I just had the thought that this may just be used to space the parts, and I could keep it at a static 3/8" when using the 3/8" compression bit (which measures 3.622" right now)

[Adrian]

The tool diameter is basically the minimum distance that will be left between the parts when nesting. It doesn't need to match the tool used but if you nest at 3mm and use a 6mm tool then obviously there's going to be a bit of a mess!

The clearance setting is added onto the tool diameter to get the final clearance amount between the parts as usually you want more room between the parts than the actual tool diameter.

There is no link between the nesting settings and the toolpath settings.

[TSmith88]

Perfect, that clears everything up for me.

Thanks for the response.

[ger21]

I also work in a cabinet shop, and draw all my parts in AutoCAD.
When doing countertops and wall plates, I much prefer to manually nest them myself in AutoCAD. That way I have much more control of how and when parts are cut.
I only use nesting for cabinet parts.