Hi, so far I’ve only used the laser to cut/etc on a single sheet, but I’m looking at cutting a ‘sliced’ project which will require 5 sheets.
When exporting the file do you export a single toolpath at a time or, a single file that has all 5 toolpaths?
Does anyone have experience in doing this?
Thank you.
A single file with multiple tool paths is useful when you are making varying degrees of cut on a single piece - so if you need to etch a pattern in a piece and then cut out its final shape, that would be two separate paths.
If you are swapping out sheets, you should use a separate file for each. Otherwise, you would have to figure out how to stop the laser mid-job and swap materials.
I was wondering if/how to stop the laser after each toolpath to swap material.
Separate files for each sheet it is then.
Cheers,
The thing to pay attention to with multiple sheets is positioning. You need to make sure you have a consistent tool origin and that you can accurately place each piece so that the cuts align when you put it all together. The machine should remember the last tool origin you used, so you can make a jig to use when positioning the pieces. Otherwise, you can mark the tool origin on each piece and then use that mark to align the low power laser dot that shows up when you are in manual calibration mode. I’ve found my ability to eyeball the dot’s position still leaves room for some inaccuracy.