Two questions on vector welding and toolpath tweaking.

[Oniell121]

Hello!

My name is Nathaniel. I an new to the CNC world but have been doing modeling in other software for a time. I am new to Vectric aspire and am trialing this as the suggestion of some friends in the CNC world. Been having a lot of fun learning my Stepcraft so far.

I am trying to learn the software by duplicating, entirely in Aspire, a design I did in fusion. So far I am finding Aspire easier to work with for CNC woodcraft than fusion, but there are a couple things I’m getting a bit stuck on.

I am creating a flag design with a desire for a finished product that looks something like this:



Where the top strips is not carved out but every other one is. The union back is also carved out to the same depth as in the middle of the inner circle in the USAF logo. The ring should not be carved and the text engraved.
I began by creating the union with a rectangle as the proper dimensions and drawing the stars and duplicating them as needed. I then drew the rectangles for the carved stripes and using the vector snipping scissors to trim them out of the inner circles.



Here’s my issue, this obviously created an open vector. But when I attempt to weld these vectors to the outer circle, this happens:



Question 1:
What’s the best workflow for doing this in Aspire and maintaining that outer circle?

I was able to solve this by redrawing the circle and scaling my center design down, creating a gap, which may or may not be stylish, but isn’t what I want. When I did this, it brought up my second question.

Question 2:
Why are the toolpaths generated leaving a small amount of material at one end of the project but not the other?



I am not CAD/CAM expert, so I feel like I’m very likely missing something basic here.

Since It cannot attach a file of this size here, here's a link to the file. https://www.noblemedic.net/images/USAF-aspire.crv3d

Thank you for your time!
Nathaniel

[Adrian]

Welcome.

Your outer rectangle is a closed vector and your stripes are open vectors. If you're doing a profile cut set to Inside or Outside you can't mix the two types of vectors. You need to set the toolpath to be On the vector or create two toolpaths.

You can't join an open vector to a closed vector and have one closed vector. It all depends on what type of toolpaths you're using whether you need closed vectors or not. For a v-carve or pocket you definitely do but for a profile toolpath you don't.

[adze_cnc]

re: question 2

Computers have a difficult time with representing decimal numbers. What you're seeing is pretty much rounding errors. You can get rid of them visually (by expanding the pocket area) but at a couple of thousandths of an inch (or small portion of a mm) they really don't affect the resulting cut.

Also, your file won't be readable by anyone if it was created with the trial software.

[SteveNelson46]

Jimandi5000's easy flag maker gadget may be of some help.

viewtopic.php?f=51&t=38197&p=280743&hil ... ag#p280743

[martin54]

If I have read your post correctly you want the stripes connected to the outer circle, the way I would do that is to change how you use the trim tool, instead of using it to remove the stripes from the inner circle use it to join the stripes to the outer circle
Unfortunately, files created using the trial version can't be opened by anyone else so I can't show you what I mean using your file.

[BrooksM]

Greetings Nathaniel,

You might want to check out Russ' channel, Blue Line Flags and this link is to his process.


...and the Flag Calculator.
Enjoy,
Brooks

[RickW3DS]

Ohshitiforgotabouttheflagmakergadget! Perfect!

[Oniell121]

Welcome.

Your outer rectangle is a closed vector and your stripes are open vectors. If you're doing a profile cut set to Inside or Outside you can't mix the two types of vectors. You need to set the toolpath to be On the vector or create two toolpaths.

So, forgive my ignorance here, but I want to make sure I got this right. I initially created the stripes just through the rectangle tool to create a closed vector shape. Through snipping the vectors they are opened and then I cannot join them to an existing closed shape like the circle. Am I understanding you correctly?

If I have read your post correctly you want the stripes connected to the outer circle, the way I would do that is to change how you use the trim tool, instead of using it to remove the stripes from the inner circle use it to join the stripes to the outer circle
Unfortunately, files created using the trial version can't be opened by anyone else so I can't show you what I mean using your file.

I think we're on the same page here. I initially created the stripes using rectangles and then trimmed them down to the outside. However, when I tried to join them they didn't join. Probably doing something wrong.



I want the non-pocketed stripes to be contiguous with the circle. The inner circle is pocketed and every other stripe is pocketed along with the union background. But not the raised stripes or outer circle. I was able to get something like this by closing the stripe vectors manually with an arc that matches the circle, but I didn't know if there was a better way.

Perhaps I just need to pull the trigger on this. I did not anticipate the limit of not being able to have other people open a file. That's kinda aggravating, haha.

Thank you to everyone for their links to resources. The video and component are very helpful! Learning through it now. I set out doing this trying to understand differences between Fusion and Aspire. Definitely looking for best practices.

[martin54]

Forget about the inner circle for now, its the order that you trim the vectors that counts & make sure you have the close vector or join option checked

if the inner circle gets in the way simply copy it, delete the original, complete the trimming of the vectors for the stripes & outer circle & then when that's finished paste the inner circle back in