Simply if you have a bolt hole you want it to cut inside the line If its cutting on the inside of your lines, on your lines or outside your When plasma cutting your machine will need to know
No guessing or trial and error like other Hypertherm is the best when itĬomes to cut charts and data and they make setting up your tools andĬut information very easy. I had a Hypertherm Powerma圆5 on my last table and my new Westcott You can get the values for these from your plasma cutter manufacture. You to build “tools” each tool can be a different material and thickness. All of the speeds, cut height, pierce height and plasmaĬutting machine options come into play here. Your going to be cutting, how thick it is, where you want it to cut, startĪnd stop. Simple terms: This is where you will tell your machine what material
Will know what its going to do and how to do it. This is where you will set up the tool path requirements so the machine dxf file you import it into your CAM Program This is the most popular CAD file format for machines After you haveĬreated a part or object you want to cut you export that in a file format Next comes CAM, Computer Aided Manufacturing. Multiple programs in this category when doing CNC plasma cutting. Most are suited to one other the other and its not uncommon to use Very few programs do both CAD and ART perfect. To taking an image of your favorite car and turning it into something This can include making a complex bracket or support
Short run comfort may lessen what you can accomplish in the long run.When it comes to Software for CNC Plasma you can break things up into 3 distinct categories: CAD or ART, CAM, and Machine control.ĬAD / ART is where you will be designing the part or artwork that you Get whatever you feel comfortable with in the long run. My wife says I cannot live on have been self taught on all these softwares and now I would like to re-learn the right way. This fall I am going back to College to learn SolidWorks and MasterCam from the ground up. Order a OMax 5555 Water Jet for home which should be here in the next couple of weeks.Īt work the goto is Solidworks Sheet metal and next month we are looking at a new Sheet Metal specific software called Sheet Works which can itegrate directly to our Lasers, Turrets and Press Brakes. And I did not like the edge quality (spoiled after 30 years of Lasering parts) so I am donating the Plasma to a local Tech school if they ever call me back.
Programming.well I tried the software that came with my Plasma Cutter and was rather disappointed. My goto for design currently is Cadkey for 90% of what I do at home.
90% of the time on my home projects I don't but at work everything gets a Print. As the Model is updated so to does the print update.should you require a print. I can also build a data base of 3D parts as time goes on and use them as is or copy and modify and incorporate these models into new designs.Īn extension of the Design side I like softwares that do not scale the part to fit on the boarder but size the boarder to the part. This data base can be tweaked as time goes on and Tips and Optics change.ģD Modeling, 2D Modeling are important and I typically default to 3D so I can build the compete assembly prior to cutting parts that may not fit correctly. The Material Files or Cutting Condition Files have the Feed-rate, Wattage, Duty Cycle, Cutter Comp, Pierce conditions, ect store within them based on Material Type and Thickness.
Coming from a whole different world, Lasers and Turrets I have a wish list of things I like to see in the software I choose.įor Plasma, Water Jet or Laser I would like a software that does "On the Line Cutting" and applies an offset based on the "Beam" diameter keeping the M&G Code real so I can edit faster and easier at the machine.