Can anybody help me!

[thebouncingwelder]

Hi everybody. A friend of mine sent me a dfx file to cut out but i'm having a difficult time getting it to move over to my cut program. Does anybody have any helpful hints?

[WyoGreen]

There's lots of help on here. But to help you we need more information. What machine and software are you using? The more information you can give us, the more help we can be.

Steve

[tcaudle]

dfx of dxf? dfx is an embroidery fiel format and will not import to anything but embroidery machines that can read that format. You cannot use it for CNC cutting. If its DXFand refuses to import. you need to open it in a CAD program and export as an older DXF format. Some newer DXF formats cannot be read by CNC CAM programs.

[thebouncingwelder]

Its a dxf file. I have a machine that was built by a company up in Canada that went under and I cant find any information on it. Its called a 'kick ass machine' with a Hypotherm 1000 plasma cutter. It uses its own software, KAD. I am running with an old computer that uses windows 2000. I use coral draw x7 for all my programming on a newer computer then I put files on a flash drive. My problem is when I import any dxf straight to the flash drive it shows 100 cuts for a basic image in the cut program. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[srp]

I am assuming you are exporting dxf from Corel to the flash drive and then importing the dxf into the cutting machine. Your cutting machine software is quite a bit older than Corel and that can cause a problem. However you want be sure the nodes in your corel drawing are joined. If you are not familiar with the join command - get familiar and be sure to use it. You will likely have to save your dxf in an older format. My system is also old and I find R10 dxf works well. you might have to keep going lower in the dxf versions to find one that works If you don't have any luck post your corel drawing here and someone will download and see what they might be able to help you out. I would need a ver.15 cdr to be able to help you out.

[tcaudle]

The core DXF export from Corel is flawed. It does not export arcs and circles. It "segments" them into hundreds on small line segments. It has been that way since ver 8 or 10. It does not export in polylines either so each segment as XY locations. Then you have to worry about how the DXF IMPORT in that program handles it. Most newer ones have a tolerance for line segments that will auto join them if the ends are very close , yours may not. If it does not have constant velocity and path blending you will have thousands of starts and stops on each cut. DXF is a moving target and AutoDesk (that owns the format) adds stuff as they feel like it. Will the system import any other vector format?

[thebouncingwelder]

it imports eps files no problem.

[tcaudle]

The you are going to have to get the DXF into a program that will convert it to EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) . Unfortunately most CAD programs do not export in EPS. While CoreDraw and some others DO (export in EPS) the INPUT of a DXF into Corel can be a problem. A lot depends on where it came from and if the export left in the polylines (called "splines in some CAD programs ) and that may depend on which DXF version was used.
Ain't this FUN!!

[srp]

You might be good to go with eps.export if you machine imports that format. Your corel program should do that.Often older machines used to accept plt. plotter files and Corel will export those.

[thebouncingwelder]

Ok. Thanks for the tips I will give them a try. I found the join command on corel and it has helped a lot. I hope to be able to contribute something real soon.

[srp]

There is another software program used by alot of these folks and it is called Sheetcam. This program imports a variety of file formats and creates cut files for plasma machines. This is known as post processing. You might check with the developer and see if they have ever done anything for this brand. Sometimes the cutting machine will import a machine code file such a ESSI. If you look at cutting files they most likely are regular text files with a series of commands to operate your machine. Stick your nose in there and look around.