Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

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Ton80
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Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by Ton80 »

This is the first job that I am going to run which requires a model to be split across a set of doors. What can I expect to see happen by doing this? I plan on running a much smaller test to find out for myself but I'm sure some of the experts will have some good feedback and input.
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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by Rcnewcomb »

Have you watched the videos on toolpath tiling:
Toolpath Tiling
3D Tiling
- Randall Newcomb
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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by Ton80 »

I may have watched one a while back... I didn't think tiling applied here though because I am not doing this do to a limitation of my machine bed size.. I'll take a look though and see if there is something there that applies. I only want half of the model to carve since this is a set of cabinet doors.

With the Vector portion of this project, I know what to expect... I will slice off the vectors that are hanging out off my board but I was wondering if there was something specific I need to do with that model.. i.e. does that half that is hanging off the board need to be removed or will VCarve create code that just carves the half which is on the project board? The videos descriptions say they address overcoming machine size limitations.

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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by martin54 »

You can still use tiling for this project, it simply splits the project up into tiles the size you specify, the program has absolutely no idea how big your machine is :lol: :lol: :lol:
Other way to do it if it is 3D is to use a vector boundary to limit the amount of 3D model that is carved :lol: :lol:

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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by Ton80 »

ah.. so draw a vector that splits that model into two halves and use it as a boundary. I'll look at that and try it out.

My previous software would do this type of thing automatically... Learning curve is real but thanks to the help of the forum members, it's made a little easier. I'll also look at that tiling info but it seems like the vector boundary might be the most straightforward solution.

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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by Ton80 »

I am still curious though what happens if you just hang a model off the edge of a project board like I have pictured.. does the resulting gcode stop the spindle from continuing past where the edge of the project board ( job dimensions ) are met or will it send the tool out to carve air? I'll experiment but if someone knows the answer... ;)

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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by FixitMike »

The toolpath preview will always show you what will happen. You will find that the G code will locate the cuts exactly where they are located in your file. If you profile on a vector that is half off of the material, that is where the spindle will cut it. The spindle will move to where the G code sends it, regardless of where the material is. (Unless it runs into the soft or hard limits on your machine.)

The spindle will also cut through any clamps that are in its way. Don't ask how I know this.
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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by martin54 »

As Mike has said already gcode will be generated for the entire vector or in your case 3D model regardless of where the material boundaries are :lol: :lol:
So what will happen is that your machine will continue cutting air off the edge of the board until it has completed the job or something else stops it like a soft or hard limit :lol: :lol:

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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by Ton80 »

Ok.. thanks! You guys saved me wasting some material and running a test to find that out the hard way ;)


So I will watch the tiling vids and also experiment with setting a vector boundary to cut off the model tooling to match the edge of my door.

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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by FixitMike »

Two notes for a vector boundary:
1. It has to be a closed vector that surrounds the area you want cut.
2. The boundary places a limit on where the center of the tool will go. So if you for a 3D model it needs to be at least the bit radius beyond what you want to keep.

Also, note that for the tiling toolpath, you will automatically get the toolpaths for both doors.
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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by Ton80 »

Thanks for the tips... I wouldn't have thought about the radius of the bit until I noticed that on a test.

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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by Ton80 »

I followed up and ran a test of this file anyway. I didn't do anything special. I just placed my 3D model as shown in the OP, I did not place any vector boundary around it. The tool paths produced only went to the edge of the job dimensions and that is also the only tooling that was done on my machine.

So it appears that the resulting toolpaths do NOT follow the model detail which is hanging off the edge of the job dimensions I set. The tool paths stopped exactly at the point where the model meets the edge of my job dimensions.

Is it possible those that suggested otherwise based their answers on a previous version of Vcarve and maybe they added in some functionality to handle this? I am not on my PC but I can post the file I tested and you can see that I just let the model hang off the edge and added no special handling for the way the toolpaths were created.

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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by martin54 »

I was one of those that suggested it would cot outside of the material boundary & I am surprised it did not, I am sure that I have done it myself in the past with 2D profile cuts. Was it just a 3D toolpath you ran or a mixture of 2D & 3D.

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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by Ton80 »

Hi Martin,

It was only the 3d model. I tried posting the file and image but the forum was and might still be having trouble with allowing Safari users the ability to upload files... I'll get them posted once I can.

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Re: Splitting a model across two boards.. what will happen?

Post by martin54 »

There is an upload limit on the file size which is probably stopping you uploading them, often when people want to upload files to be looked at they have to do it via dropbox or some other similar method :lol:

I don't have the software on this laptop & my design computer at home is playing up just now but I will have a look myself tomorrow when I get to my unit :lol:

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