unsolved Export back to .dxf

[Simpson]

Hi all,

I have a CNC and work with AutoCAD and VCarve Pro software. I have bought a Stepcraft Heavy Duty Drag Knife and found dxf2gode software as probably the only tool that calculates the swivels and drag knife path around all the curvatures properly.

However, is it possible to
1) import .dxf to dxf2gcode
2) calculate the right paths for the drag knife (all the swivels and offset)
3) export such paths back as dxf file so it can be imported in AutoCAD/VCarve again?

I am quite familiar with VCarve and it's much easier to control all parameters in one place, especially if my projects require tool change and the drag knife is only one of many.

Thanks a lot for any help!

Cheers!

 

[chrisko]

Yes, that works. Check the DXF Postprocessor in the Wiki

 

[Simpson]

I managed to have this working, thank you! However, it seems like there is something not quite alright here. If I choose to draw the drag knife path as line segments, it's fairly ok. But if it is supposed to be made of arcs, there is a problem like seen in the attached screenshot. It locates the centers of the arcs properly but the problem lies with the start/end angles.

Can you give me a hand with this please?

Cheers!

 

[chrisko]

Hi, i don't know what the problem is. Can you forward me your postprocessor file and also the one you used to created the dxf and the generated dxf, otherwise it will be impossible to help. It would be even better, if you could make a test file with just one geometry to better find the issue. But i think this might be a difficult thing to find as drag knive is not a typical application which is commonly used ....

If you can work with lines and that looks ok, i propose to start with that until we may find a solution ...