Tutorial: Model Locomotive Name plate

Cut2D

Disclaimer

All CNC machines (routing, engraving, and milling) are potentially dangerous and because Vectric Ltd. has no control over how the software described in this manual might be used. Vectric Ltd. or any associated Resellers cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage to the work piece, machine or any individual, howsoever caused by misusing the software. Extreme care should always be taken and the output from the software thoroughly checked before sending it to a CNC machine.

The information in this manual may be subject to change without any prior notice. The software described in this manual is supplied under the terms and conditions of the software license agreement and may only be used in accordance with the terms of this agreement.

Vectric Ltd. The Coach House Upper Skilts Farm

Gorcott Hill, Beoley Redditch

Worcestershire B98 9ET

United Kingdom

www.vectric.com

E-mail info@vectric.com

Phone +44 (0) 1527 850 323

Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................... 2

Getting Help .................................................................................................... 2

1. Opening the Design ................................................................................. 3

2. Create the Vectors to Machine ............................................................... 4

3. Calculate the Toolpaths .......................................................................... 8

4. Preview the finished job ....................................................................... 17

5. Editing and Saving the Toolpaths ......................................................... 18

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Tutorial: Model Locomotive Name Plate

IMPORTANT: For information on the basics of Cut2D use and information on how to work with the software interface then make sure you have already completed the “Getting Started – Wing Spar” tutorial document before proceeding with this tutorial.

Introduction

This tutorial will show you how to construct the name plate shown below in Figure 1, which is 6.8” (173mm) wide by 2.4” (61mm) high. The artwork for this sign is not imported but is constructed within Cut2D using the Draw Rectangle and Draw Text features.

We estimate that this tutorial should take you approximately 10 - 15 minutes to complete.

Figure 1. The finished Name Plate

There are 5 key stages in opening and preparing toolpaths for this sign.

1. Create a new job setup

2. Create the vectors to machine (boxes and text)

3. Calculate the toolpaths

4. Preview the completed job

5. Save the toolpaths

Getting Help

If you need assistance when using the software there are 5 primary places to look.

1. Program Help File - From the Main menu select Help

2. Video Tutorials - These are supplied on the installation CD or can be downloaded from the Vectric website.

3. User Forum - The Vectric user forum at www.vectric.com/forum is a very useful resource for information on Cut2D along with materials, cutters etc. and also to share knowledge and experiences.

4. E-mail Support: - The Vectric Support Team at support@vectric.com

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - The support area on the Vectric web site at www.vectric.com maintains a list of the most frequently asked questions along with the answers.

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1. Opening the Design

1. From the Startup Tasks tab toolbar click on the Create a new file icon.

A new blank design, as shown below in Figure 2, will now be displayed in the 2D window and the Material Setup form is opened.

Figure 2 New blank design

Note: The horizontal and vertical dotted pale grey lines across the middle

represent the X0 and Y0 axes.

Figure 3. Material Form

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2. Complete this form as shown above

Width (X)= 7.5” Height (Y) = 3”

Material Thickness = 0.25”

Z Zero on the Material Surface

Click X0, Y0 Origin to be Center

Select the Units = Inches

Click OK to set the material size and close the form.

2. Create the Vectors to Machine

3. First we will create a rectangle with rounded corners to serve as the outer edge of our design.

Click the Left mouse button on the Draw Rectangle icon (This is located in the Create Vectors section within the Drawing Tab)

This will bring up the Draw Rectangle form as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Draw Rectangle Form

4. Enter in the values for the box that we will use for the outer edge of the border to our design.

The anchor point selection, will allow us to choose either one of the four corners, or the center of the rectangle to become the positioning point of the rectangle.

The X and Y position boxes, will allow us to choose where that positioning point, should be placed in our 2D space.

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For this example, we would like the center of our rectangle, to be placed on the center of our material.

Complete this form as shown above

Anchor Point to be in Center

Anchor Point X: = 0 Anchor Point Y: = 0

Corner Type Radiused External Radius = 0.1”

Size Width(X) = 6.8” Height(Y) = 2.4”

5. Click Create to create the rectangle and display it on the 2D View Window.

The Draw Rectangle form has remained open, we will change the values to create the inner edge to our border.

Figure 5. Inner Border Edge Rectangle Form

6. Enter in the values for the box that we will use for the inner edge of the border to our design.

Complete this form as shown above

Anchor Point to be in Center

Anchor Point X: = 0 Anchor Point Y: = 0

Corner Type Radiused External Radius = 0.05”

Size Width(X)= 6.5” Height(Y)=2.1”

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7. Click Create to create the rectangle and display it on the 2D View Window.

8. Click Close to close the Draw Rectangle form.

At this point you should be able to see the two shapes as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Border Rectangles

Next we will create the text for our Name Plate.

9. Click the Left mouse button on the Create Text icon (This is located in the Create Vectors section within the Drawing Tab)

This will bring up the Create Text form as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Create Text Form

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10. Complete this form as shown above

Within the Text box type Rocket

For the Font, Use the drop down list to select Arial

(Cut2D should be able to use any True Type or Open Type font installed on your PC)

Click the Left mouse button on the Center radio button, within the Text Alignment section.

Type 1.3 into the Text Height: (Inches) box.

You can leave the Anchor settings at X: = 0, Y:=0 for now.

Click on the 2D View window, where you would like the text to be placed. (You will see the position appear in the Anchor X,Y boxes)

11. Click the Apply button, the text should now have appeared as shown in Figure 8.

12. Click the Close button, to close the Create Text form.

The text will appear in the 2D preview window and, depending on where you clicked in the window, will look similar to the figure below.

Figure 8. Text Inserted.

13. Next, we need to center the text, to do this click Center In Material icon, The text will now have Centered as shown in Figure 9.

(This is located in the Align Vectors section within the Drawing tab)

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Figure 9. Text Centered.

3. Calculate the Toolpaths

For our design, we will create two toolpaths; the first will be a Pocket toolpath around the text, in order to give it depth and machine away the material around it, the second will be a Profile toolpath to cut out around the outer border vector.

To create the first toolpath we must select the text vectors and the inner border.

The text is still highlighted (colored purple) from the last operation, in order to keep this selected and select the inner border, press and hold down the Shift key on the keyboard.

14. Whilst still holding down the Shift key, Click the Left mouse button with the cursor on the inner border.

(Both the text and the inner border will now be colored purple indicating they are both selected as shown in Figure 10.)

The design is now ready to calculate the pocketing toolpath.

Figure 10. Text and inner border selected

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15. From the View Control area select the Switch to Toolpaths tab .

This automatically closes the Drawing Tab and opens the Toolpath Tab on the Right side of the screen as shown below in Figure 11.

Figure 11. Toolpath Tab

To re-open the Drawing Tab simply click the cursor on the Drawing icon in the Top Left corner of the screen and the drawing tools will automatically appear.

The Drawing and Toolpath Tabs have an Auto Hide and Show behavior, which allows them to automatically close when not being used, maximizing the working screen area.

Click the Push-Pin to lock them in the Open position as shown below in Figure 12.

Figure 12. Auto Hide & Show windows

Toolpath Operations

Tab

Pin-In Lock Window

Pin-Out (Auto hide)

2D > 3D Window Tab

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16. Select the Material Setup icon from the Toolpath Operations list on the Toolpaths tab and specify the Rapid Clearance Gap to be 0.2” and Home position to be X0, Y0, Z1” as shown below in Figure 13.

Figure 13. Material Setup

17. Next, select the Create Pocket Toolpath icon from the Toolpath Operations icons (figure 14.) and complete the form as shown over the page in Figure 15.

Figure 14. Toolpath Operations icons

In this example we are cutting plastic with a 1/8” (3.175mm) Diameter, End Mill Tool and the maximum cut depth per pass will be set to 0.125” (3.175mm), this can be greater if cutting soft materials or less, if cutting harder materials.

Note Z Zero

position is set to the top of the material.

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Figure 15. Pocket Toolpath parameters

18. Click on the Select button to open the Tool Database and select the “End Mill (0.125 inch)” tool shown below in Figure 16 clicking OK to accept it and return to the Pocket Toolpath form.

Figure 16. Tool Database

Select an End Mill Tool from the Tool

Database

Edit the cutting parameters to suit your

machine and the material being cut

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Important The Cutting Parameters should be checked and if required adjusted for the material you are cutting

19. Click the Edit button to modify the cutting parameters to match the tooling you are using and the material being machined. This will just change the data used for the tool for this toolpath and not overwrite the information stored in the Tool Database. The Edit Tool form is shown in Figure 17.

Figure 17. The Edit Tool form

20. Click the Calculate button and the resulting toolpath will automatically be drawn in the 3D view and the Preview job form opened, as shown below in Figure 18.

Figure 18. 3D View showing Toolpath & Material

Note that the Preview material shown in the image above is set to Silver Satin in case this differs from what you can see in your 3D View. We will Preview this toolpath after we calculate the Profile cut-out.

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21. Click on the Close button to go back to the Toolpath Operations tab.

Next we need to select the outside vector so we can create a toolpath to cut-out our finished part.

22. To return to the 2D window click on the 2D Window tab (shown in Figure 19) which will say “New” unless you have already saved the file in which case it will display the file name.

Figure19. Selecting the 2D window.

23. In the 2D window, click the on the outer border to select it. The outer border will now be colored purple and dotted and the other vector de-selected as shown in Image 20.

Figure20. Selecting the outer border vector

24. Next, select the Create Profile Toolpath icon from the Toolpath Operations list and complete the form as shown below in Figure 21.

Figure 21. Toolpath Operations Tab.

2D Window

Tab

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For the profile we will use a 1/4” (6.35mm) Diameter, End Mill Tool and the maximum cut depth per pass will be set to 0.125” (3.175mm), this can be adjusted for different material requirements. The setup for the Profile Toolpath form is shown in Figure 22.

Figure 22. Profile Toolpath parameters

25. Click on the Select button to open the Tool Database and select the ‘End Mill (0.25 inch)” tool shown in Figure 23.

Figure 23. Tool Database

Important The Cutting Parameters should be set for the material you are cutting

Select a Tool from the Tool Database

details - step 25

Edit the cutting parameters to suit your

machine and the material being cut

Add holding tabs details - step 27

Add Ramp Plunge Moves

Select Machine Vectors Outside

Enter a Cut Depth of 0.25 to cut through

the material

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26. Click the Edit button to modify the cutting parameters to match the tooling you are using and the material being machined.

27. Tick the Add tabs to toolpath check-box.

Set the Length to be 0.15 inches.

Set the Thickness to be 0.15 inches.

28. Click on the Edit Tabs… button.

The Toolpath Tabs form will appear, as shown below in Figure 24.

Figure 24. Toolpath Tabs Form.

We will add four holding tabs by clicking four times around the profile vector in the locations that we would like the tabs to be positioned (Figure 25.)-

The tabs can be moved after they have been added, by clicking and dragging them around

the profile to the desired position.

29. Click the Close button, to finish adding the tabs.

Figure 25. Toolpath Tabs shown as small yellow squares marked with a black “T”

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30. Click the Calculate button and the resulting toolpath will automatically be drawn in the 3D view and the Preview job form opened, as shown below in Figure 26.

Figure 26. 3D View showing Toolpaths & Material

Rotating the 3D View

To rotate the model, Click and hold the Left mouse button in the 3D View window whilst moving the mouse.

1. To zoom, use Middle Wheel on mouse or Push / Pull the mouse while holding the Right mouse button

2. Pan using Ctrl + Right mouse button or the Left + Right mouse buttons together

3. For the standard views use the ISO and Plan or side view icons ,

in the top right corner of the 3D view.

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4. Preview the finished job

After calculating a toolpath the Preview form is automatically opened (Figure 27). This form is used to simulate the toolpath and also to define different material and colour fill settings, which can be changed to create realistic screen images.

Figure 27. Job Preview

31. Click the Preview All Toolpaths icon and an animated representation of the Tool cutting into the material will be shown in the 3D window. This will animate the toolpaths in the order they are shown in the Toolpath List starting from the top.

If running the software on low performance/old hardware, you might wish to switch off the

Animate Preview and Draw Tool options, as this will increase the simulation speed.

32. The finished design can be shaded in different Material types and Fill Colors. Figure 28 shows the Satin Silver with a Green painted fill.

Figure 28. Finished Sign shown in Satin Silver with Green Fill

If you have used holding tabs and you wish to preview the finished job without the waste material, un-tick the tabs option and re-calculate the toolpath, then re-preview.

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Click the Save Preview button to save the 3D window as an image file (bmp, jpg or gif) to print the image or for use in customer quotations, marketing brochures or web site pictures etc.

5. Editing and Saving the Toolpaths

Calculated toolpaths can be edited by either, clicking the Edit Toolpath icon or double clicking on the name of the Toolpath name in the Toolpath List.

33. Save the Toolpaths by selecting the name of the one you want to save from the Toolpath

List and then clicking the Save Toolpath icon.

Figure 29. Save Toolpath form

34. From the pull-down list of postprocessors, select the appropriate one for your CNC machine as shown above in Figure 29.

35. Click the Save Toolpaths button and enter a name to save the toolpath with.

36. To save the second toolpath select its name from the list and again click the Save Toolpaths button and enter a name to save the toolpath with.

Take extreme care to ensure the material and cutter are setup correctly before using the toolpath.

Cut2D can send the NC file directly to some machine controllers

Select the post processor that matches your machine controller. (Cut2D will remember the last one that was used)

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If you have any questions or need assistance

Visit the Vectric User Forum - www.vectric.com/forum

Or

E-mail – support@vectric.com

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