#Qcad documentation full

Note that the tab is always placed on the originally drawn contour, even if cutter compensation is used: The thickness is the tab height, measured from the maximum cutting depth of the toolpath. The tab length is the total length of the bridge that is left in place. Enter the tab length and thickness in the options toolbar.Click the menu CAM > Add Tab to insert tabs.Create a separate layer for the tabs you want to insert (e.g.

To securely hold a piece in place, three or more tabs are typically used. Tabs are typically very small, so the piece can be easily broken or cut out of the sheet material once the toolpath is complete. Tabs are small connections between a cutout shape and its surrounding material which hold a piece in place while cutting it. Such a loose piece of material can move into the cutter and get damaged in the process. When cutting holes into sheet material, the material inside the hole becomes loose when the cut is almost complete. When G-code is generated, these toolpaths are processed in the order shown.All generated toolpaths are also listed in the widget CAM Toolpaths ( CAM > Show CAM Toolpath List):.The toolpath is generated and displayed accordingly:.Click OK to generate the toolpath for this profile.The overcut indicates by how much overlap is used at the start and end when processing the contour. In this example, these lead paths are quarter circles with a radius which is slightly larger than the tool diameter: For contours with radius compensation (side: Outside or Inside) a lead in path and a lead out path must be used. Adjust the parameters for the profile toolpath.Enter the desired tool parameters and click OK:.The dialog to add the new tool is displayed:.At the moment there are no tools defined yet, so at tool must be added first by clicking the button to add tools:.The dialog with profile toolpath parameters appears:.Start the tool to create a profile toolpath (CAM > Add Profile Toolpath):.

#Qcad documentation full

Splines are interpolated as tangentially connected arcs within the given tolerance.Įllipses are interpolated as arcs with the given number of segments (per full ellipse).Īrcs can optionally be interpolated as lines with the given segment length if the targeted controller does not support circular movements. The safety Z level is used at the beginning and end of the program as well as before tool changes. The output file can be set here or later when the output is generated for the first time. Adjust the parameters of the selected configuration (CAM > CAM Configuration.):.QCAD/CAM computes the tool path of the tool center based on the tool radius automatically in this case and outputs the appropriate offset coordinates. This configuration can be used if no G41/G42 commands are available or G41/G42 should not be used. This configuration can be used when the controller supports the commands G41 and G42 for radius compensation. Choose the desired configuration (postprocessor) at the top left:.In this example, these are all the contours in the drawing. Select all the contours that are to be processed with the same machining parameters and the same tool.The circle is not a polyline, and may have its start point at any point.

With the function Select > Select All all start points of all contours can be highlighted (red): Here the center of the lower segment is selected:Īll contours are now ready for processing. This can be an existing node, or any other point on the polyline. For our example, this is not the case for the inner contour (the red reference point is the start point of the selected polyline):īy right-clicking on the contour, the start point can be set to another position:Ĭlick on the new position of the start point. This must be a start point at which the contour can be approached using a lead in.

All contours must have a suitable start point.

In the first step, the polylines are created which represent the geometry that has to be cut:.

Creation, Preparation and Selection of the Geometry