METACUT FILTER

[MATT Q]

I am programming 3d thermoformed parts on a thermwood and after I filter the g-code using metacut sometimes the holes reverse direction by issueing a g72 instead of a g73, but the backplot looks fine on the cad file this only happens on holes. any suggestions.

[Nominal]

I may be way off from what you're talking about but let me share this and see if it makes sense.

I had similar things happen with arcs back in the day when I used to use Unigraphics and APT etc.

What it boiled down to was this. Even though a circle looks like a circle from above and below the system you use has to store its cannonical description of your geometry in some sort of database which of course is not graphical. In the cannonical definition of a circle buried in your processor ( in this case MasterCam ) it would be described as a point xyz, a radius, and a vector ijk. This vector tells us what the angular orientation of the arc is for example if the arc were created in the xy plane the vector would be 0,0,1 pointing up in the z axis. People often create geometry from different views and so the direction vector of the arc centerline can be pointing say straight up in z in the case of an xy plane arc or straight down. Either way the arc looks the same represented graphically by your system. You might want to try flipping the arcs or recreating them from the same perspective. That way all thier direction vectors in the database will be the same and thus any translation you are doing from one system to another will be consistent. Like I said I may be way off base. Good luck.

[Dan Bedore]

hey matt hows it going up there. same ol same ol down here. I'm now in joplin, still the only one left for patterns and trim. i was up to Mankato and visited the mall of america a while back and thought about you but didn't have time or your number. do you make it back to visit give me a call next time you are down. welcome to the fourm i hope you are out here a lot you have a lot of wisdom and insight to add.

[MATT Q]

Thanks Nominal that sounds like something I need to try it makes sense.

 

How is it going Dan I see you are still kicking at Able how did that fire pan out? We're still pretty busy up here with buying Morton Plastics out so we are moving product lines around and moving machinery. What is your number and when I come down we can do lunch or something sometime and catch up

[Dan Bedore]

the fire was a blessing i think. we get to build the 80 molds that burnt and insurance is paying phone 232-1067 cell 249-7739. i have thought about moving to Mankato you guys don't have anything close to there do you?

[perseid88]

Aren't you guys just old buddies...

I was born in Mankato during the Perseid meteor shower of '63. Were you there, then? I haven't been back in awhile.

[Dan Bedore]

perseid88 no i wasn't there in 63, i have never lived in Mankato, but had some good friends move up there so i was visiting.

[Paul Elliott]

Matt,

You should first make sure you are running the latest version of MetaCut (downloadable from http://www.metacut.com/Forms/MCUDownloadForm.htm, since there have been minor changes to how Thermwood code is output (not sure which version at the moment). If you still have problems, use the MetaCut Support Wizard to send us a problem report so we can duplicate your problem.

 

Nominal,

In this case, what you are referring to probably doesn't apply since we are usually generating the arcs from linear motions. If there are true arcs there, then it all depends on how the import and export are set, but we usually leave arcs completely alone. In addition, Thermwood is a special case since G72/G73 indicates whether the arc is above or below 180 degrees, so regardless of the canonical form (for us, it's always counter-clockwise), the output has its own set of rules to deal with no matter what the original CAD/CAM form reasonably is (certainly not above/below 180)

[Guest]

Paul,

I have been using Mastercam for nearly 11 years and used Metacut for the first time today. I had heard and read of it, but never even saw it before. I downloaded the trial version and was totally impressed with how easy it was to identify a problem that has been giving a few folks a real fit for several days.

I ordered it from my MC dealer this afternoon.

Great program.

Tom

 

[ 02-10-2003, 08:42 PM: Message edited by: Tom Smith ]

[MATT Q]

Thanks for the help guys I recreated the arcs as spline curves and made sure the arrows were pointing the same direction and started in the same point as all the other holes and it worked. But that was only in the top plane I'll have to see if it works for alternate planes.

 

Dan sounds like you will be busy with 80 tools to reproduce for them do you have CAD or are you digitizing them? Wilbert (TPI) has a plant in Iowa, St. Paul MN, Florida, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida maybe some more since we aquired Morton but I don't know yet still on the table. Been Real busy with some new stuff and changing the processes for programming online to offline man some people just like to fight change.

[Dan Bedore]

Matt no tools to cut all the molds were fiberglass and we had no data. so molds will be made by hand off parts. I know what you mean people don't like change. we talk about change all the time but it has to come from the top as you know what i mean.