nesting process

[acourtjester]

Here is a video on how to use Lightburn and another program to do the nesting of your parts on the material
C:\Users\Tom\Downloads\LightBurnNest.svg

[Joe Jones]

Here is a video on how to use Lightburn and another program to do the nesting of your parts on the material
C:\Users\Tom\Downloads\LightBurnNest.svg

Rather than a download, is there a link to view it online?

Joe

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... rn+nesting


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[acourtjester]

Looks like the copy and paste flubbed up

[Joe Jones]

Looks like the copy and paste flubbed up

I just typed "lightburn nesting" into the you Tube search bar. There are many videos on assorted nesting programs.

Joe

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[adbuch]

[Joe Jones]

For better or for worse, DesignEdge has a great Nesting upgrade. I never gave any though to an external program to do it, because as you know, DesignEdge does it all. I really would like to spend some time in a NON-PlasmaCam shop, to watch the design and cutting process, and see how the three or four competing software packages work together.

Joe



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[acourtjester]

DesignEdge is a fine program buy many of us do not have it, me being one

[Joe Jones]

DesignEdge is a fine program buy many of us do not have it, me being one

Wow. I thought you were a PlasmaCam owner. I thought you USE DesignEdge.

I guess I am wrong.

Joe



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[adbuch]

Gotta pay attention here. Tom is a veteran as far as building great DIY cutting tables.





https://www.everlastgenerators.com/foru ... able-build

In fact, there are many others using Tom's design with great success. Scott Snyder (TXTig) is one of them.
You can see some of Scott's work linked below.

David

viewtopic.php?f=12&p=210036#p210036

txtig table.jpg

[Joe Jones]

Many decades ago, and LONG before what we consider to be REAL computers landed on our desks, I had a Tandy Model 100, the first "portable computer." It had a whopping 32K of RAM, and ran at 1.7 Hertz on (4) AA batteries! Programs were written in TANDY BASIC, a simple language which was fairly powerful for its day.

So I worked in a plexiglass fab shop. We made those clear acrylic things you see everywhere now. The napkin holders, the stand up flyer displays, store jewelry displays, etc.

My boss was complaining about how guys in the shop WASTE material by not cutting it efficiently. They would get an order for 500 parts ... say 3" x 7", to be cut up on a table saw. Of course, there was more profit in using as much of a 4x8 sheet of Acrylic as possible, with minimal waste.

I was an amateur programmer, but I decided to try to tackle the job.

I wrote a BASIC program. You would type in the size of the material (length and width) and the size of the piece you needed, along with the quantity. The saw blade was 1/8" wide. The M-100 has an 8-line x 40 character LCD display that looked like floor tiles, but it could show you a display that was understandable.

My program would look at the material dimensions, and then the longer of the two dimensions of the material and the pieces to be cut. It would see material that was perhaps 44" wide x 62" long. Then the BASIC program would start calculating ...

Material length: 62/7.125 = 8.70175439, or a maximum of 8 pieces, with a remnant of 5 inches. It would then look at the width...

Material Width: 44/3.125=14.08, or 14 pieces with only 1/4" remnant.

It would calculate the total square inches of remnant (drop) and then run the program again by rotating the second column of pieces. If the remnant sq. in. number was larger, it would calculate TWO columns vertical, with the third rotated, etc.

When the program was done, it would return a cut order for maximum yield...

First cut on 62 at (n) inches.
(a) columns of 3x7 from left half - Yield = (n) pieces
(b) rows of 7x3 from right half - Yield = (n) pieces
Total yield: (nnn) pieces

My boss LOVED the program so much, he ran out and bought a Tandy Model 102 computer and a DOT MATRIX printer, and gave me a small bonus for the program. He would sit in his office trying to outthink my program, but I always provided the maximum yield from any give piece. He would print out the cut pattern for orders, and we saved a lot of material by minimizing the drops.

I still have that Model 100 computer, and also a Model 102, and the floppy drive, and the acoustic cups for the modem, and a plastic box with 3-1/2" floppy disks with all of the software on them ...

Joe



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[adbuch]

Trip down memory lane - and that's some very fast typing.
David

[Joe Jones]

Note To Self: Stop buying caffeine tablets at COSTCO.

Joe


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[acourtjester]

Thanks David Scott bought the plans in 2017, along with custom cut and machined parts.
since I have redesigned the sliders to a better type