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Drag knife
Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 3:22 pm
by christo
Is there a tutorial or reference page on how the drag knife gadget works?
Re: Drag knife
Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 4:33 pm
by Adrian
What do you need to know that isn't covered on the gadget display itself?
Re: Drag knife
Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 6:42 pm
by christo
Adrian wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 4:33 pm
What do you need to know that isn't covered on the gadget display itself?
I'd like to know what makes using this gadget different from using the profile tool with the spindle off? I could just try using it and figure it out thru trial and error, but thought there may be some way to reference the gadget itself beforehand, but not finding much in the way of anything to look at as a primer...
Re: Drag knife
Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 7:05 pm
by Adrian
With vectors with smooth curves there's not a real difference. The advantage of the gadget comes with sharp corners.
As the gadget text says "At sharp corners, the knife is retracted almost all the way from the material and then the spindle is 'swiveled' around the knife tip to orientate it for the next section of the cut before returning back down to the cutting depth."
That's the big advantage of the gadget. You don't have to create swivel points and retracts yourself. It does it all for you.
Re: Drag knife
Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 10:53 pm
by gkas
The big thing to watch is the startup point and the direction of the knife at startup. Check node start points and don't pick a short straight to start. You manually set the initial knife direction. If you start the knife across the direction of cut, you'll most likely break the blade.
Re: Drag knife
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:06 pm
by bernardlandre
Hello,
When I want to use the Dragknife Toolpath gadget, when validating I get the message "Error creating toolpath", can you help me ...
Re: Drag knife
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:10 pm
by Adrian
Try using the Vector Validator tool to see if there are any errors with the vector.
For issues like this you really need to attach the file so it can be examined as there are lots of potential causes of a message like that.
Re: Drag knife
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:58 am
by kverne
bernardlandre wrote: ↑Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:06 pm
Hello,
When I want to use the Dragknife Toolpath gadget, when validating I get the message "Error creating toolpath", can you help me ...
Try right-clicking the vector and 'convert to curves'. Text evidently isn't formatted for it.
For me, text failed every time, no matter the size.