edit material dimensions

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jymmee
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Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 4:41 pm
Model of CNC Machine: vibrafree

edit material dimensions

Post by jymmee »

new trial user here. i have an existing job with the material size being

Width (X): 9.5575"
Height (Y): 7.125"

is there a way i can add existing material to make it .5" larger for (X):10.0575" and (Y):7.625"
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dealguy11
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by dealguy11 »

Just go to the job setup screen and change it. You may have to reposition your vectors.
Steve Godding
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cbr_speedster

Re: edit material dimensions

Post by cbr_speedster »

Go back to Job Setup page and change the X/Y to whatever you want. Watch that the Offset in the XY Datum box is not checked or it will shift the work the value in the boxes. Re-center after the new size is changed..
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jymmee
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by jymmee »

there is already an existing model on it.

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Adrian
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by Adrian »

jymmee wrote:there is already an existing model on it.
It doesn't matter. You can change the material dimensions whenever you want.

jymmee
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by jymmee »

so exactly what steps do i take. step by step

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mtylerfl
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by mtylerfl »

1) Open existing Job
2) Go to Job Setup
3) Type in new dimensions
4) Select everything and re-center on new job size (press F9)
5) Done

(Holler if you need a short video)
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jymmee
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 4:41 pm
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by jymmee »

followed your directions. as you can tell, it added the material to the top and right side only. is there a way to add the extra evenly on every side and not just two sides. your way after i press f9 the vectors center up but dont line up with the design thats been modeled
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jymmee
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by jymmee »

got it now i selected the middle position within the XY Datrum Position. then it evenly dispursed the material on all 4 sides

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mtylerfl
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by mtylerfl »

jymmee wrote:...your way after i press f9 the vectors center up but dont line up with the design thats been modeled
Yes...they will. Don't forget to re-calculate your toolpaths afterwards. Perhaps that gave you a false impression that the entire design was not being centered? I don't know.
jymmee wrote:got it now i selected the middle position within the XY Datrum Position. then it evenly dispursed the material on all 4 sides
It does not matter where your datum position is when changing material size. I use lower left corner. Changing material size will be off-center with the design, UNTIL I select everything and press F9 (which re-centers everything on the new material size). Then of course, re-calculate the toolpaths to match the new material size and design elements' position.
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mikenbrenda
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by mikenbrenda »

Does this work on widows under parallels ? I press F9 and not a thing happens..

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Adrian
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by Adrian »

mikenbrenda wrote:Does this work on widows under parallels ? I press F9 and not a thing happens..
Have you got the vectors/model selected? It won't do anything without a selection.

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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by mikenbrenda »

I finally figured it out i had to press FN F9 then it worked!!! thanks!

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SteveNelson46
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by SteveNelson46 »

If you want the design size to change proportionately check the "Scale Design With Job Size" checkbox in the setup screen.
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ZipperHead55
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Re: edit material dimensions

Post by ZipperHead55 »

To center everything (to make the distribution more even) just selection everything (draw a box around everything) and in the Drawing Tab, in Transform section, select Align Selected Object, and use the Align to Material button. The only caveat with using these tools is that you might have to group any vectors you have BEFORE doing this, otherwise all the vectors might end up stacked up on top of each other in the the very center (rather than distributed evenly). You can also use the Align to Selection tools to center objects within another object (vector).

I used to get hung up on the job dimension sizes (entering exact figures) but as long as the values you enter are bigger than the piece, you can always "fudge" the placement of x0y0 to somewhere other than the physical bottom-left corner (which I use the majority of the time). Let's say you want to make an object that is 6" x 8" and your piece of wood is bigger than that (8" x 10" for example). Either draw the limits on the piece of wood (draw a 6" x 8" rectangle on your wood and use the bottom left corner as x0y0) or just "eyeball" an x0y0 that will fit in that piece. I have ruined too many pieces by trying to maximize the amount of wood used (using a 6.5" x 8.5" piece of wood for my 6" x 8" example) and then having the edges of the piece not quite fit (cut off at the edges) or some defect in the wood (usually on the edges/ends of the wood it seems) that I could have avoided by making the piece slightly smaller (or getting a larger piece of wood).

When it comes down to it, at the end of the day, your material is usually the cheapest part of the equation (assuming you assign a value to the time you spend doing this stuff, which you should!) so having a few inches of wood "wasted" isn't a big deal once all is said and done. Having to throw out a $5 piece of wood is better than wasting 5-10 hours trying to work around trying to squeeze your project onto the wrong piece of wood and trying to salvage it. Obviously if you are working on expensive material (teak, sign board, etc) you will want to minimize waste, but whilst learning, don't sweat throwing out a few inches around the edges. Learning when you should start from scratch (a new piece of material) or when to try to save a project (flipping the piece over, for example, or lowering your Z0 a few millimeters and starting over with the same finishing pass) is one of those things that comes with experience, and sometimes you have to bite the bullet and just chalk up your mistake as a learning experience, and throw that piece into the firewood pile and start anew.

Allan

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