[Travis Harper]

Ok this is a tough one to explain but maybe you guys can help. mY machine came with two different software programs.

1. Toolpath, the one AXYZ sends with the machine

2. EnRoute, an after market software but very good.

Ok so I create a board with the Broncos logo on it and then below it write in Arial font (BRONCOS)

All good. In enroute after I create toolpaths I simply press a button to create gcode and then save it.

I then open up the axyz dnc and send the gcode to the machine.

Toolpath is similar other than I have to physically tell the machine what seqence to cut in and where to start each cut. Also in tool path you cannot specify sheet size or offsets from the start point.

Example. I do this in enroute and I tell it start the cut .5 inches in from my x and y zero point.

in toolpath I would have to move the spindle to this point.

Ok so Icut the peace using enroute. It cuts the bronco head fine but when it comes to the letters it cuts a couple of circles right through the letters. Wow I was bummed out.

Then I import the dxf into toolpath and send it to the machine and it cuts perfect. Same dxf on both but one cuts great and one doesnt????

Not a big deal but I am scared to send actual jobs to the machine using enroute. So I have to import to enroute, nest the job, export to dxf, import to toolpath. Just a pain.

any ideas anyone?

[Andy Graves]

I am no expert and I have AlphaCAM so take this for what it is worth.

I think you need to have the correct machine code set up on Enroute for it to work effectively. I know on AlphaCAM I had to designate what machine I had. Then I export the NC. If I didn’t it wouldn’t cut right.

[Tom M]

Travis,

The Enroute we got was a basic version that hardly had the chops that a full version wiuld have. It is sitting up on the shelf.

There could be a few reasons why your inlay didn’t work like you hoped, but one possible reason was that the gcode got a bit mushed in the translation. Did you have to save as an .rdy file before you sent it to the machine? I would always check the toolpathing lines in toolpath before I sent it out.

You have a lead-in function on the toolpath software, if I remember right, and you can fake it by giving it a depth for that cut that is higher than “set surface”, with the other cuts coming in as usual.

When I mess around with inlays – in particular inlays that need to go back into the machine, I include as part of the file, an image of the sheet and always use the corner of the sheet as a start point. I just have the CNC not cut through (or at all) into the material border, and I’m in place for the inlay repeats. If I lose my orientation on the table, I just run a ghost pattern to relocate the edges. Works real well.

I hope that helps a bit.

Tom

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