This tutorial outlines the process of preparing a 2D digital file for tool-pathing with FlowPATH for use with the school’s abrasive water-jet cutter. The water-jet is only capable of 2D cutting operations, and has extremely limited control of the depth of the cut so work should be designed with 2D lines and with the intention that the lines will be cut completely through the material – not etched. Depending on the hardness of the material it is possible to etch or score a cut instead of cutting all the way through, but this should only be done with ductile materials as it will cause shattering or breaking in more brittle materials.
Read the rest of this entry »

• 0 Comments

AutoCAD is the world’s most popular computer-aided drafting software product for the personal computer available in both DOS and windows by Autodesk, Inc. Anything that can be drawn on a drawing board can be drawn by AutoCAD.

AutoCAD is an interactive drawing system designed to permit a user to construct or edit a drawing on a graphics display screen. It is similar to other word-processing programs except that in this case the thing being processed is a drawing. Each drawing is stored on a disk file, and AutoCAD is only able to edit one drawing at a time. An AutoCAD drawing is made up of entities. All the objects in the drawing space are considered entities such as lines, arcs, circles, text, and so on or blocks (which are groups of entities).
Read the rest of this entry »

• 0 Comments

The Basic ShopBot Control Panel Installing the USB to Serial Adapter Drivers Installing the Software Starting Up The Basic ShopBot Command Principle Entering Values (Parameters) So Let’s Run a Part File Getting Help The Layout of Your ShopBot Table: Directions, Distances, and Base Coordinates The Logic of XYZ Giving Directions; ABSOLUTE vs RELATIVE distance You Can Reorganize Your “Graph Paper” Temporary Zero Points When Cutting Files Table Base Coordinates vs Current Working Coordinates Software Limit Checking Maintaining Accurate XYZ Locations Changing the Direction of Movement of an Axis Software Axis Designation Optional 4th or 5th Axis or Channel Inches or Millimeters
Read the rest of this entry »

• 0 Comments