Need help with Conversion

[funkygaeden]

shark.jpg.svg

shark.jpg.svg

Hi everybody
I'm a brand new member here, and new to the world of cnc plasma. I bought a 4x4 cnc plasma table and I'm trying to figure out how to use it. The first design I did I converted cleanly to svg then cut out nicely. But everything else thereafter...no luck at all. I've looked online, followed tutorials, watched videos but just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. When i go to cut, the torch positions it's self to what looks to be too far above the table and only cuts a channel in the material , with a few nasty piercings along the way.

Again, the first design I did worked fine (Hope garden stake...see attached) But every other attempt thereafter had the same problems as described above. (I've attached a problematic shark design I did). I've also attached a photo of the nasty shark cutout. When I load the sharkdesign into sheetcam it tells me that it is removing duplicate vectors, but I can't find any duplicate lines in Inkscape. (I viewed in wireframe mode as suggested in an article I read online).

Here is the work flow I used to create the shark and the (good) hope svgs....
Drew the image by hand in Flash.
Exported as a jpg
Converted to vector in Inkscape
Loaded in Sheetcam
Run in Mach 3

Again any help or suggestions would be very appreciated. Hopefully I've explained it well enough
Thanks again guys... really appreciate any help on this
Dan

[grindergary]

Almost looks like your cut settings are set too high for the material you are cutting.

Check your tools in sheetcam and make sure you are using book specs to start with. You should mention your type of equipment you are using so others can help more accurately to help you out with your problems.

Quote" When i go to cut, the torch positions it's self to what looks to be too far above the table and only cuts a channel in the material , with a few nasty piercings along the way."

This line basically is telling me you are cutting too high.

Hope this will get you started on your journey.

Gary

[acourtjester]

This is not you problem but when you save a file don't put two dots in the name.
shark.svg
shark.jpg
not shark.jpg.svg
if you can sent the dxf file so we can look at that too.
equipment info is most important, do you have a floating head torch of feather touch setup??????
how are you coming up with the torch height to start with??

[drossmaker]

Here is a link to Arclight Dynamics web site. You will find numerous tutorials on Sheetcam and Mach 3.

Off the top I would suggest saving your Inkscape file in DXF and SVG formats. DXF so that it converts properly into Sheetcam , and SVG so that you can open the final image in Inkscape and rework the image if you need to. When opening a DXF in Inkscape there can be replication errors. And sheetcam works best with DXF file.

The duplicate vectors is a bit more involved and I would suggest viewing the link below:

https://arclightcnc.com/cnc-videos/

[jimcolt]

The pictures look like the torch height is simply way to high off the material. Top dross, a wide heat shadow and not cutting all the way through are the tipoffs.

If you could let us know what you have for equipment, plasma make and model, and what process (consumables , amperage, etc., we could probably help you get the cutting process dialed in.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

[mike 1948]

Not sure what type of torch head you have but if its a "floating type" maybe your switch offset is set wrong. The torch should go down until it trips the z limit switch then come up the amount of the switch offset and fire. Here is how I use a Sheetcam post to setup my torch switch offset. Bring the torch down in Mach manually until it just touches material. Zero the z axis, then continue to lower the torch until the switch trips, record the z axis DRO and put(edit) this amount into the "switch offset" in your Sheetcam post processor. With the correct switch offset the torch should lift to the correct pierce height off the material and fire. After it pierces the material it should drop to the correct cut height while cutting.
Make sure your clamp is on the material also.

Mike