Cutting from SolidWorks

[sebu_cristi]

Hello, today i had a new idea. I am working on a project and thought to use the versalaser 2.30 at my work to cut some acrylic sheets(5mm) for the case of my robot. Is it possible to send the print outline from solidworks or should i try to make a dxf/eps file and send it through the corel process?

Did some of you cut acrylate? Can i see some pictures of the cut and maybe the complexity of the cut?

Thanks.

[Denford Admin]

Here are some acrylic examples we have cut from 3mm to 6mm sheets

You may be able to print directly from solidworks to the laser but I imagine it will require some setting up - in order to get the RED lines (for cutting) to be zero thickness.
Instead of using .dxf to transfer, try selecting your shapes in solidworks (2D) and maybe copy + paste into Coreldraw will work...

[bradders]

General Software Set-up
There are many software programs that you can purchase off-the-shelf that will work with the laser system. Some of
them can access more features of the laser system than others may. Whichever program you choose, it must be set
up to work with the laser system, otherwise unexpected results may occur. Use the following GENERAL guidelines
when configuring your software program.
Page Setup
To properly generate and position artwork, most graphics software will permit the customization of the page size
and orientation. Set the page orientation in the graphics software to Landscape and the page size to match the
maximum engraving area of your laser system. The driver’s orientation and page size MUST then be set to match
these specifications EXACTLY, otherwise the artwork may not print correctly. When setting page orientation and
driver orientation to Landscape mode, the laser system will operate in the horizontal direction, left to right. If page
orientation and driver orientation is set to Portrait mode, the laser system will operate in the vertical direction,
front to back. The laser system is designed to operate best in the Landscape mode and this orientation is highly
recommended. The page size may also be reduced to match the size of the engraving material, but remember to
adjust the page size in the driver to correspond to the graphics software’s page size. Note that in production
situations it is often more efficient to leave the page size at its maximum page size and engrave or cut more
than one object at a time. This is accomplished by duplicating the image on screen as many times as possible to fill
up the entire page.

Outlines and Fills
The driver distinguishes between raster mode (engraving) and vector mode (cutting) by the type of graphic artwork
being used. All graphics, other than outlines of very thin line widths will be interpreted as engraved images and
the raster mode will be used for output. If laser cutting is desired, set the line thickness of the lines that are drawn
in the graphics software to 0.001 inches (0.025 mm) or the smallest possible line thickness available. The printer
driver will interpret these objects as vectors and will cut them out providing that your software has the capability
of vector output. Basically, all software programs have the ability to provide raster output. However, not all
programs have the ability to provide vector output even if you set the line width to the smallest thickness
possible. Check page 61 of this guide for software that can vector output. The use of color fills or bitmaps will cause
the laser system to engrave. The combination of engraving and cutting is available in most graphics software. We
suggest that when combining engraving and cutting objects, use different colors for the fills and outlines since
engraving requires different power settings than cutting objects. One thing to keep in mind when creating cutting
objects is that if the outline thickness is set too thick, the driver might interpret the outline as a filled object and
will engrave the outline instead of vector. This might be desirable if engraving thick outlines is necessary. The
outline thickness at which the driver will interpret cut lines as filled objects is dependent on the software used.
Usually, any line thickness 0.008 inches (0.2 mm) or greater will engrave. The only way to determine the cross-over
point for line thickness is to experiment with different line widths. Software programs that do not have outline
capabilities definitely will not have the ability to cut.