Ag Mechanics Teacher

[pollardag]

Hello,
My name is Andrew. I am a Ag Mechanics teacher in Georgia. I am using plasma spider to teach my student how to operate AUTO CAD and operate our 4x4 Spitfire table. Operating the table isn't the easiest, but we make do. Just looking for tips and tricks that I can teach my students and allow them to use the resources.

[plasmanewbie]

Welcome Andrew, lots of help to found here. Use the search and if you don't find what you need just ask, lots of talent here. Have fun!

[acourtjester]

Hi Andrew what software are you using to control the table and what are the things that give you concern that you need help with.

[adbuch]

Hello,
My name is Andrew. I am a Ag Mechanics teacher in Georgia. I am using plasma spider to teach my student how to operate AUTO CAD and operate our 4x4 Spitfire table. Operating the table isn't the easiest, but we make do. Just looking for tips and tricks that I can teach my students and allow them to use the resources.

Welcome aboard Andrew1 Are your students using AutoCad to generate their dxf files for cutting? Which version of AutoCad are you using? I have not heard of the Spitfire table before. What control software does it use, and does it have the capability to convert dxf to g-code, or are you using another program for that task? Be sure to post some photos of some of your students projects so we can see what they are up to.

David

[pollardag]

Thanks for the responses! I will definitely post some of their work! We are using AutoCAD, not sure of the exact version of the software, but it is provided by school system. It uses SheetCam. We open the dxf files on to SheetCam to setup thickness of metal, lead ins and lead outs, laying, and etc. Then SheetCam converts it to G-Code and we run it through the Mach-3 software to cut it out. Lots of steps involved for sure, but this year I have had the most interest from my students. Some of the things I am looking for is tolerance corrections. Sometimes (depending on what is being cut out) our table compounds small inaccuracies thus throwing off our last outside cut. Not very noticeable to the everyday eye, but enough to make my eye twitch every now and then. How do y'all keep your machines on point?

[acourtjester]

Having the axis travel areas clean and tight adjustments of the drive assembly is a great area to look into. I also like to keep the stroke width of the drawings to a low value like 0.004" it does make it a little harder to see on the programs screen for larger drawings but keeps the tolerances closer.
Sometimes moving between software programs can loose tolerances or switching from DXF to SVG files. Great to here there are places that are working with students getting started. It will show them the path from idea to product .