Nesting Question

[TSmith88]

I'm trying to nest a piece that is 95-11/16" x 47-13/16" onto a 48" x 96" piece of plywood.

My nesting settings are Tool Diameter=.375, Clearance=.03125, Border gap=.03125 for this job and it doesn't want to nest that piece. I oversized the sheet to just to see where it would place, and instead of the bottom right corner being at X=.03125, Y=.03125 it's at X=.25, Y=.25.

I'm assuming that when I hit nest, it uses 1/2 of the bit diameter+clearance+border gap to place the part, is this correct?
Is there any way to get it to place at ONLY the border gap setting? Or is it something I will have to do manually?

[adze_cnc]

A single piece? I'm curious: why even bother with nesting? How about just placing it where you need it with the Move Selected Objects command? Or even just selecting it and pressing F9 to centre it?

[Adrian]

I'm assuming that when I hit nest, it uses 1/2 of the bit diameter+clearance+border gap to place the part, is this correct?
Is there any way to get it to place at ONLY the border gap setting? Or is it something I will have to do manually?

Yes that it is what it's doing. You can set the tool size and clearance to zero and it should do what you want but as suggested it's far easier to just place it by using the move or centre tools.

[TSmith88]

A single piece? I'm curious: why even bother with nesting? How about just placing it where you need it with the Move Selected Objects command? Or even just selecting it and pressing F9 to centre it?

I did that as a test to see if the large piece would nest within all my other parts for the job.

I have a couple hundred parts and was hoping the 2 panels I have of that size could be added into the nest.

[TSmith88]

I'm assuming that when I hit nest, it uses 1/2 of the bit diameter+clearance+border gap to place the part, is this correct?
Is there any way to get it to place at ONLY the border gap setting? Or is it something I will have to do manually?

Yes that it is what it's doing. You can set the tool size and clearance to zero and it should do what you want but as suggested it's far easier to just place it by using the move or centre tools.

If I set the tool size and clearance to 0 I wouldn't be able to nest it with my other parts the way I would need, if I'm understanding correctly.

Sorry, I didn't give complete information in my original post.

[Adrian]

The other thing you could try is not use the border setting at all and use a boundary vector instead. I always use a boundary vector rather than a border as I need the border to be different sizes horizontally to vertically for my setup.

[TSmith88]

The other thing you could try is not use the border setting at all and use a boundary vector instead. I always use a boundary vector rather than a border as I need the border to be different sizes horizontally to vertically for my setup.

How would I do that? Can it work using the nesting function?

Sorry, probably seems like a simple question, I don't spend a ton of time on VCarve, once I set up my toolpath template and got it working I usually just import, nest, apply template to all sheets so I haven't spent a lot of time learning the other options.

[ger21]

I'm assuming that when I hit nest, it uses 1/2 of the bit diameter+clearance+border gap to place the part, is this correct?

It shouldn't use 1/2 the tool at the border, it should be border gap only. It's wasting material using 1/2 the tool diameter.

Having said that, you're always going to run into issues when you try to nest parts that don't work with your normal parameters. When there's only one part per sheet, I'd do those partsseparately, without nesting.

[Adrian]

The other thing you could try is not use the border setting at all and use a boundary vector instead. I always use a boundary vector rather than a border as I need the border to be different sizes horizontally to vertically for my setup.

How would I do that? Can it work using the nesting function?

Sorry, probably seems like a simple question, I don't spend a ton of time on VCarve, once I set up my toolpath template and got it working I usually just import, nest, apply template to all sheets so I haven't spent a lot of time learning the other options.

Vector boundary is an option on the Nesting form. If it's checked then the last vector in the selection is used as the "material" to fit all the other shapes into.

[TSmith88]

The other thing you could try is not use the border setting at all and use a boundary vector instead. I always use a boundary vector rather than a border as I need the border to be different sizes horizontally to vertically for my setup.

How would I do that? Can it work using the nesting function?

Sorry, probably seems like a simple question, I don't spend a ton of time on VCarve, once I set up my toolpath template and got it working I usually just import, nest, apply template to all sheets so I haven't spent a lot of time learning the other options.

Vector boundary is an option on the Nesting form. If it's checked then the last vector in the selection is used as the "material" to fit all the other shapes into.

Obviously I'm doing this wrong. It seems no matter how I nest the parts it is always offset by 1/2 diameter+clearance+border gap.

I created a vector that was 95-15/16" x 47-15/16" set at X=1/16" Y =1/6" and when I nested and used last vector instead of being at X=1/2" Y=1/2" it was at X=9/16" Y =9/16". I changed the border gap to 0 clearance to 1/16" and it was at X=1/4" Y =1/4"

It seems to always be nudging my part by 1/2 Tool Diameter +Clearance+Border Gap, I can't figure out how to get it to nest any closer to the edge than that.

[TSmith88]

I'm assuming that when I hit nest, it uses 1/2 of the bit diameter+clearance+border gap to place the part, is this correct?

It shouldn't use 1/2 the tool at the border, it should be border gap only. It's wasting material using 1/2 the tool diameter.

Having said that, you're always going to run into issues when you try to nest parts that don't work with your normal parameters. When there's only one part per sheet, I'd do those partsseparately, without nesting.

I agree, and I thought that's what the border gap setting was for, but every time I try and check it's always nudged by 1/2 tool diameter+clearance+border gap. I can't seem to find a way for it to only use border gap. I must be doing something wrong but I can't figure it out.

[Adrian]

You have to size the vector to account for the extra gap that you don't want to see. I would tell you the exact dimensions but all this fraction stuff gives me a headache. I'm a metric man. In your case the vector would need to bigger than the material not smaller as you've got it now.

There is no way with the standard options to just have a border gap. As stated in the Help it's combined with the other values.

[TSmith88]

You have to size the vector to account for the extra gap that you don't want to see. I would tell you the exact dimensions but all this fraction stuff gives me a headache. I'm a metric man. In your case the vector would need to bigger than the material not smaller as you've got it now.

There is no way with the standard options to just have a border gap. As stated in the Help it's combined with the other values.

I see. I think I understand what you mean now. My question, if I use the "Last Vector Method" and nest multiple sheets worth of parts will they all have the same location?

[Adrian]

Each sheet will be based on the same boundary vector so yes they will all be the same.

[TSmith88]

Each sheet will be based on the same boundary vector so yes they will all be the same.

Perfect, that lets me know exactly what I needed.

I appreciate your help with this.