A little help please

[ROKCRLER]

I cut duct work often, i started drawing them up in QCad but switched to SolidEdge so i can draw in 3D and flatten for cutting.
Inkscape I use only for art stuff, or signs, etc.
QCad is free, but to unlock a few cool needed tools, its only $40 for the license.

Thx!!! How is the learning curve on SolidEdge and what does the cost look like?

I have found that SolidEdge is pretty similar to Fusion, I actually follow some Fusion youtube tutorials when I'm stuck in SE as I've found several good tutorials. I want to try Fusion again just to learn another software.


FYI, i found this and attempted it on your original file, but haven't played too much with it yet

[ben de lappe]

I knew that hog looked familiar! He's not store bought David, just from way back in my kindergarten drawing days as I call 'em. Good work everyone who whipped this into shape. To the OP nice vision on the design. I am curious as to why the paths would be segmented though as I know the file I uploaded then did not have those issues and the file indeed cut well though looking now it's not quite to my standards today.

[ROKCRLER]

Thanks Ben!

[adbuch]

Ben - I have just downloaded and opened your original dxf file from the Plasmaspider post you cited. It does indeed appear to have many disconnected path segments.

David

Here is the file after linking/joining all of the disconnected path segments.

Razorback linked.dxf

(353.2 KiB) Downloaded 79 times

Razorback linked.dxf

(353.2 KiB) Downloaded 79 times

[adbuch]

There are also many similar images and files available to download or purchase. I expect that you created your original drawing based on one of these or similar. I like yours better.

David

https://lens.google.com/search?ep=gisbu ... FiNmIiXV1d

[adbuch]

FYI, i found this and attempted it on your original file, but haven't played too much with it yet

Mo - thanks for posting that Bad Dog Metalworks video! I will check it out later this evening to see if and how it might apply to the file we have been working with.

David

[adbuch]

I have found that SolidEdge is pretty similar to Fusion, I actually follow some Fusion youtube tutorials when I'm stuck in SE as I've found several good tutorials. I want to try Fusion again just to learn another software.

Mo - this set of Fusion 360 tutorial videos from Arnold Rowntree are the best I have found. He breaks it up into 16 short tutorials with supplied drawings to follow along with. I went thru Arnold's complete tutorial set several times a few years ago when I was making the transition from SolidWorks to Fusion 360. I highly recommend these!

David

[ROKCRLER]

David.. thanks for that, i started watching them when you mentioned them before, Lars is another good teacher https://www.youtube.com/@cadcamstuff

Only think keeping me from making the change is the whole cloud think with the drawings, I like to keep my stuff mine
I still have some drawings up in the fusion cloud.

[adbuch]

David.. thanks for that, i started watching them when you mentioned them before, Lars is another good teacher https://www.youtube.com/@cadcamstuff

Only think keeping me from making the change is the whole cloud think with the drawings, I like to keep my stuff mine
I still have some drawings up in the fusion cloud.

Mo - I really don't worry about some "hijacking" my Fusion 360 "cloud storage", any more than I worry about the files on my Google drive. But you don't necessarily have to save your Fusion 360 files on the cloud - you do have the option to save them on your pc instead.

David

unsaved 2.jpg (44.54 KiB) Viewed 3799 times

unsaved 2.jpg (44.54 KiB) Viewed 3799 times

[ROKCRLER]

Well damn... now i'll have to see if i can balance both.. i like some of one and some of the other from what ive seen.
Thanks David, i'll download it again and try it out.

[adbuch]

Mo - I really have no experience with SolidEdge 3D, so am in no position to give a comparison to Fusion 360. I really only use Fusion 360 for 3D printed parts or as a demonstration tool for some of my customers. I recently did an order to one of my customers in New Zealand and did a quick 3D model to show him what his part would look like. The actual part was machined from 6061-T6 aluminum.

ps - The tooling I made for him it to fit his VibroShear power hammer, which is similar to a Pullmax. The aluminum fixture is used for alignment for welding the heads onto the tool shanks. He does custom automotive metal shaping work.

David

[ROKCRLER]

Nice drawing and very nice parts!

[adbuch]

Nice drawing and very nice parts!

Thanks Mo! That is my main thing - the metal shaping tooling and machines. It's always full of challenges to get exactly what the customer wants (or needs). But - I just used my cnc plasma table this evening (morning for most folks) to cut some pieces that will go into yet another tooling request. So there is always a task at hand - and it's all fun stuff - as I'm pretty sure Tom will attest to.

David

[ben de lappe]

Thanks Ben!

No problem whatsoever. The very reason I posted the drawing is because I love seeing what everyone does with the designs I work up. The OP's idea of chain linking the plate with name is wonderful and I think the recipient will be quite pleased.

Ben - I have just downloaded and opened your original dxf file from the Plasmaspider post you cited. It does indeed appear to have many disconnected path segments.
David

I completely understand and never doubted that fact. My issue is that I KNOW the file I uploaded in 2012 did not have that problem. Upon pulling into CAD and performing 'Make Path' on the entire drawing no segments at all as this screenshot shows. My only question is why.

[adbuch]

Ben - perhaps this explanation will help. I imported your original Razorback.dxf file to TMCad to have a look. The nodes all appear to be connected, and after using the "Make Path" tool they still are connected - as far as working within TMCad goes. After applying the "Make Path" tool, I exported the file in both dxf and svg formats for comparison.

I opened both with Inkscape, and the svg was connected while the dxf was not. So the dxf (as far as Inkscape is concerned) is a series of short individual disconnected path segments as has been described previously in this thread. The svg has no overlapping nodes and all path segments are connected. I expect that if you open these two versions (dxf and svg) with your copy of CorelDraw, you will see the same results.

I have posted the dxf file from TMCad below.

David

Razorback(1) after make path.dxf

(218.41 KiB) Downloaded 89 times

Razorback(1) after make path.dxf

(218.41 KiB) Downloaded 89 times

[adbuch]

Here is the download link for the svg file exported from TMCad.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1naPFyk ... sp=sharing

I was not able to upload it to this post for some unknown reason. I did report this problem to Admin for a possible solution.

David

[adbuch]

Here are the same two files from TMCad imported to CorelDraw for comparison. The dxf file is a series of short disconnected path segments, while the svg file has all the nodes joined/linked.

David

The dxf file can be linked/joined in CorelDraw using the "Join Curves" tool. This works pretty much the same way as the Design Edge "Link/Join" tool.

[acourtjester]

David do you think it is a problem in the save portion of the DXF software (version number) or Inkscape's geared more toward SVG not DXF. Or maybe an imbalance between the different software packages, things get lost in translation type thing.

[adbuch]

David do you think it is a problem in the save portion of the DXF software (version number) or Inkscape's geared more toward SVG not DXF. Or maybe an imbalance between the different software packages, things get lost in translation type thing.

Tom - I think this is a result of the way TMcad exports dxf files. Here is a sample file exported from Design Edge as dxf and opened with Inkscape. As you can see, the imported file is all connected nodes, but very many of them. In this circumstance, I normally use the Inkscape "Simplify" tool to reduce the node count.

I think this is just the way TMCad exports files in dxf format. I'd need to take a look at how CorelDraw and some of the others do it. Normally all of this doesn't concern since I would open with DE or CD and link anyway.

David

[adbuch]

David do you think it is a problem in the save portion of the DXF software (version number) or Inkscape's geared more toward SVG not DXF. Or maybe an imbalance between the different software packages, things get lost in translation type thing.

Tom - the same result was achieved opening the TMCad dxf file with CorelDraw. So this problem is not Inkscape specific. I have not tried it with Aspire, VinylMaster, or some of the others. But as you have said before, these projects are often times a result of using more than one cad program to in an attempt to achieve the end result.

By the way, I am impressed with the embellishments the OP has added to Ben's original file. I'm curious if he drew those chains from scratch, or did a "cut and paste" using some other files as the source.

David

[acourtjester]

Members like Ben have the artistic ability, me I'm the copy and paste type. With the option to trace and break images apart it really expands the projects I like to do. Also the varied software packages out there are also a great help

[adbuch]

Members like Ben have the artistic ability, me I'm the copy and paste type. With the option to trace and break images apart it really expands the projects I like to do. Also the varied software packages out there are also a great help

Yes - Ben has some serious talent for sure! Guys like you and me just "plug along" and do the best we can with our limited artistic abilities. I know that Ben was trying out Corel Draw, but not sure if he followed thru with the Amazon purchase - around 100 bucks for perpetual license. That's the one I'm using.

David

[tcaudle]

Very few programs export DXF with polylines and/or arcs. Even fewer CAM programs can import the more advanced DXF . Autodesk never intended the transfers to be usable to edit and redraw from . The forma is NOT open and its not published like a lot of other types so once its exported in older R12 format its gonna be segmented lines (thousands of them). You can simplify it some but it still leaves you with hundreds of tiny line segments on any arc or curve. I don't know if QCAD can import the DXF types that are not segmented but if it does the Pro version (about 65 bucks) lets you export in SVG. Once in that format it really easy to edit and work in Inkscpae or CorelDraw. There are dozens of Vector formats that support full Bezier (complex) curves and 4 point circles . G -code is made to do arcs with a single line of code and a circle with 4 lines no mater the diameter,

I don't see any perpetual CoreDraw licenses for sale for 100 bucks unless you get the 2021 Educational Version. I guess we are all "learning" so we could claim to be students. Once CorelDraw went to their Rent-a-Software program I am out. \

I can truly say that each release of Inkscape is making it a program that can rival expensive drawing programs. They added some things that I used to have to flip over to CorelDraw to do like multipage documents. . About the only thing U wish they would add is a movable origin / ruler. Its easy to work around that limit now with using construction lines and the precision offsets and the object snaps .

There are some useful Extensions in Inkscape but most are special effects for illustration. I do find being able to do complex sweeps and fills on a design to show a customer has advantages. I learned early on never to cut anything decorative until I had a signed okay from the customer . Being able to simulate the final finish helps a lot. I got some pretty profitable jobs by combining a photo and a concept of a design or a sign imposed on the photo to scale. it ;` saved a LOT of time and buyer hesitation.

[adbuch]

Very few programs export DXF with polylines and/or arcs.

Tom - TMCad offers the following export DXF options.

And here are the results of importing these four different dxf types to Inkscape.

It is a possibility that Ben exported the file in question in DXF (Line) format as opposed to DXF(Polyarc), DXF(Polyline), or DXF(Spline) format. If so, then that would explain all the separate disconnected short path segments. I assume these choices are all DXF R14.

David

[adbuch]

I don't see any perpetual CoreDraw licenses for sale for 100 bucks unless you get the 2021 Educational Version. I guess we are all "learning" so we could claim to be students. Once CorelDraw went to their Rent-a-Software program I am out. \

Tom - I am using CorelDraw 2020 64 bit educational version purchased on Amazon for just over 100 bucks. I bought it just to try it out and maybe learn a new drawing program. I don't use it for commercial purposes, and really don't use it much at all unless someone has a question about CorelDraw in which case I use it in an attempt to answer their question.

My "Go To" programs for cnc plasma are Design Edge, Inkscape, and sometimes Aspire. I purchased a TMCad V9 license last year which I really don't use much either, but it does come in handy when other TMCad users have questions.

For mechanical design work I generally use either AutoCad R14 or BricsCAD V20. I transitioned several years ago from SolidWorks 2016 to Fusion 360 as I find the Fusion 360 user interface much more "user friendly".

David