Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

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jimandi5000
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Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by jimandi5000 »

Hello all,

Here is the EasyZankMakerVer2.0 gadget. The gadget creates a set of stepping toolpaths for the creation for the Inlay (Male) portion of a inlay project.

Special thanks to the excellent guidance from several members wire they have graciously sent me numerous reference materials, links, and drawings to ensure I understood the challenge. Here is one of the links that provides in-depth details viewtopic.php?f=3&t=564

Even though there is a known issue in the "Create-V-carve" function within the SDK, the gadget still delivers a series of toolpaths that are calculated based on selected V-bit "Depth-Of-Cut" to reduce the possibility bit breakage and mill stalls.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions.
Attachments
Main screen
Main screen
Pre-edit
Pre-edit
Post edit
Post edit
Toolpath sorting
Toolpath sorting
EasyZankMakerVer2.0.zip
Rename to: EasyZankMakerVer2.0.vgadget
(35.2 KiB) Downloaded 300 times
Thanks,
Jim

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mfirlott
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by mfirlott »

How is it installed. I unzipped and tried from within Aspire (Install Gadget) but it could not see the lua files???

Thanks.
(Mitch)
CAMaster Stinger I
Vectric Aspire
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adze_cnc
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by adze_cnc »

Don't "unzip".
  • download "EasyZankMakerVer2.0.zip"
  • rename to "EasyZankMakerVer2.0.vgadget" (see caption in Jim's link above)
  • either "double-click" to run from Windows Explorer or in VCarve/Aspire under the Gadgets menu choose "Install New Gadget..."

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mfirlott
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by mfirlott »

Thank you.
(Mitch)
CAMaster Stinger I
Vectric Aspire
Epilog 45watt Helix Laser

Wayne Locke
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by Wayne Locke »

I may be dense as can be. I have been fighting most of the day getting the latest version of Parallels to work right. I cannot install this gadget. I have not installed one in a while. I have downloaded it in Windows 10 and Mac, not unzipped it, added .vgadget, unzipped it — no success, and not unzip and try to load from Aspire — all to no avail. I guess I need more specific instructions. Regardless of unzipping before or after adding .vgadget, the files have the extension .lua or .xlua. and are not recognized. If the folder is unzipped Aspire does not recognize it.

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jimandi5000
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by jimandi5000 »

Wayne Locke wrote:
Mon Aug 23, 2021 10:27 pm
I may be dense as can be. I have been fighting most of the day getting the latest version of Parallels to work right. I cannot install this gadget. I have not installed one in a while. I have downloaded it in Windows 10 and Mac, not unzipped it, added .vgadget, unzipped it — no success, and not unzip and try to load from Aspire — all to no avail. I guess I need more specific instructions. Regardless of unzipping before or after adding .vgadget, the files have the extension .lua or .xlua. and are not recognized. If the folder is unzipped Aspire does not recognize it.
Hi Wayne,

Let me help you.
1. Download the file to your "Download Folder" and do not move it.
2. Rename the file to "EasyZankMakerVer2.0.vgadget".
3. Open Aspire and pull down the Gadgets menu.
4. Select "Install New Gadget..."
5. Navigate to your "Download Folder" and select the "EasyZankMakerVer2.0.vgadget" file
6. You should receive confirmation of new gadget added.
7. Pull down the Gadgets menu and you should see "EasyZankMakerVer2.0" available.

I also show how to load a gadget on YouTube. (You will need to maximize to see the entire video area)

https://youtu.be/dG0C5HCX7sE

Please let me know this helps.
Thanks,
Jim

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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by spyderxxx »

I played with this yesterday.

The original download was xxx.zip but the extension was not showing. When I renamed the file it became xxx.vgadget.zip.
I renamed the file to xxxinstall .vgadget and the process worked.

You must be able to see the file extensions to rename properly.

I'm still on 9.5 but that's another problem.

Ed

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jimandi5000
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by jimandi5000 »

Hi Ed,
The setting to display file extensions is in the file explorer's menu. You can easily turn it on and off with the check box.

I am having you got it working.
Thanks,
Jim

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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by Wayne Locke »

Thanks all. The .zip was not showing. I turned on the extension name, renamed it, double clicked and bingo. It was so obvious but elusive — at least it wasn't't a snake. Thanks.

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jimandi5000
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by jimandi5000 »

Wayne Locke wrote:
Tue Aug 24, 2021 2:16 pm
Thanks all. The .zip was not showing. I turned on the extension name, renamed it, double clicked and bingo. It was so obvious but elusive — at least it wasn't't a snake. Thanks.
Attachments
Nailed IT.png
Nailed IT.png (23.28 KiB) Viewed 18571 times
Thanks,
Jim

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adze_cnc
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by adze_cnc »

Jim:
There is a significant error in the gadget. It doesn't actually use the tool's v-bit angle and instead writes 90 as a default. See this thread: viewtopic.php?p=280401#p280401

The fix is quite easy. You can also uncomment the RegistryRead and RegistryWrite entries to allow it to save the default.

Find all occurrences of

Code: Select all

VBitAngle
and replace them with

Code: Select all

VBit_Angle
While you're at it could you change the wording on the HTML screen from "Clearing v bit" to "Clearance tool"? "Clearing v bit" is confusing as it's an END_MILL type not a V_BIT type.

Steven

PS: No offence but I really didn't like using the gadget. In a way it's too complicated. I'll put some thought into making it easier to use in the next couple of day. This would be based on my post viewtopic.php?p=280382#p280382 near the top of the aforementioned thread.

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jimandi5000
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by jimandi5000 »

adze_cnc wrote:
Sun Oct 10, 2021 1:15 am
Jim:
There is a significant error in the gadget. It doesn't actually use the tool's v-bit angle and instead writes 90 as a default. See this thread: viewtopic.php?p=280401#p280401

The fix is quite easy. You can also uncomment the RegistryRead and RegistryWrite entries to allow it to save the default.

Find all occurrences of

Code: Select all

VBitAngle
and replace them with

Code: Select all

VBit_Angle
While you're at it could you change the wording on the HTML screen from "Clearing v bit" to "Clearance tool"? "Clearing v bit" is confusing as it's an END_MILL type not a V_BIT type.

Steven

PS: No offence but I really didn't like using the gadget. In a way it's too complicated. I'll put some thought into making it easier to use in the next couple of day. This would be based on my post viewtopic.php?p=280382#p280382 near the top of the aforementioned thread.
Hi Steven,

No offence taken.
Thanks for the feedback and code guidance. I always welcome the input.
Thanks,
Jim

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jimandi5000
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by jimandi5000 »

Hello everybody,

I hope your happy and joyful this beautiful day.

I have completed the updates to the gadget and now the current Version is 3.5. We still have a broken "CreateVCarvingToolpath()" function within the API library. We will do our best managing these issues until the development team get some time to address the issue.

As a side note, I truly appreciate the back from Steven on the gadget and I look forward to his input on making it a more usable tool.

Please let me know if you see any issues.

The Gadget Supports Vectric PRO and Aspire versions 10+
Attachments
EasyZankMakerVer3.5.zip
Rename to: EasyZankMakerVer3.5.vgadget
(35.2 KiB) Downloaded 135 times
Thanks,
Jim

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adze_cnc
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by adze_cnc »

EDIT: I recommend not downloading the ZIP file just yet.

Jim: the ZeroBrane debug link is still in the LUA file:

Code: Select all

require("mobdebug").start()

Original Post:

A reminder that after downloading you to rename the ZIP file to:

EasyZankMakerVer3.5.vgadget

as per Jim's post above: viewtopic.php?p=278159#p278159

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jimandi5000
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Re: Easy Zank Toolpath Maker

Post by jimandi5000 »

Thanks Steven for catching that issue!!!

I have corrected the code and here is version 3.6

Supports: Vectric 10+
Attachments
EasyZankMakerVer3.6.zip
Rename to: EasyZankMakerVer3.6.vgadget
(35.2 KiB) Downloaded 159 times
Thanks,
Jim

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