I use UGS for nearly everything I run. There’s a rare burp but nothing I haven’t been able to deal with. I’ve also used GRBL Controller 3.6.1 but prefer the visualization with UGS. Of course, I use Easel when I can but there are some items I prefer to do with SketchUp/SketchUcam. I have grbl v0.9i loaded on my Arduino.
@BillArnold, I created a test cut with F-Engrave a few days ago and I could not get UGS to reset the zero location when I started. I am not sure what was going on.
F-Engrave doesn’t default to returning the spindle to 0,0,0. There are header and postscript fields in its General Settings window but I haven’t played with them yet. I’ve never had a problem with UGS not returning the spindle to 0,0,0 if I hit the button on the Machine Control window.
I would position the end mill where I wanted 0 to be then click the reset zero in UGS But when I started the job it would act as if the 0 was two inches above the work. If I zeroed and then pressed the return to zero it would go to the same spot 2 inches above the work again.
so if using UGS and FEngrave to make a, lets say, sign. i would run the vcarve/engrave gcode then a cut gcode as long as the spindle returns to 0,0,0 it should be fairly easy in theory correct? or would the workflow be different? looking forward to hearing your suggestion/recomendations. @BillArnold
This is my first sign ever, so I’m still learning. I research and learn from others, then dive in and see what happens, so take that as you will. Now, let me take you through a bit more of what I did.
I knew what I wanted to produce but I had to do it it in two processes because of the software I’m using for now. I’m testing myself by going that route, but I’m cheap!!!
The field of the plaque was easy to create using PrintMaster and, no doubt, other software can do the same thing. All I needed was a BMP to feed into F-Engrave to get the V-carve code.
I couldn’t find a suitable frame in PM so I had to draw one myself. I’m well-versed in SketchUp, so I whipped that out easily. SketchUcam easily created the gcode from my SU drawing.
After I had prepared both sets of gcode, then I had to determine a course of action. The X0, Y0 point is lower left, so I set up my board with the spindle in that location. After the frame was cut, I had another option for the field. F-Engrave allows you to choose the X0, Y0 location, so I set it to be the absolute center of the field. That way, I could move my spindle to a point that was easy to measure in the center of the panel.
Summarizing:
Set spindle to X0, Y0 (lower left) and run the frame code.
Set spindle to center of the frame for the new X0, Y0 point, then run the field code.
Another vote here for V-bit support within Easel please, thank you.
Cheers
Ian
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what specific fonts in illustrator will work in easel when using V-Bits. I want to stroke a single line, rather that around a font. Any suggestions
There are quite a few out there. If you are using the Illustrator > SVG > Easel workflow then the options are many. I personally would stick to fonts that didn’t have too sharp corners, but the way you are thinking about using a V-Bit it shouldn’t be too big of a deal to pick whatever font suits you.
Check out http://www.dafont.com for a load of free fonts.
Technically this is just tracing a line, so you would just figure out how wide you want the outer edge around the line to be and set your depth according to the angle of your V-bit… e.g. if you have a 90 degree V-Bit and wanted your thickness to be .0625in or 1/32" then you set the depth to .03125" or 1/16" and trace on the line.
Later, if V-bit support gets added to Easel, it will be able to do the fill of the text with the V and change the depth to get the sharpest corners.
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Any update on v-bit support for Easel? I would be a the major feature to mean it wasn’t necessary to purchase other software for me!
Just getting started and wondering if I can avoid purchasing Vcarve, at least for now. But V-carving does look much better on signs and for text.
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Until the feature is implemented, use F-Engrave and Universal G-Code Sender. Works great.
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Can you share the settings that you are using?
Thanks I will give F-engrave a go - it looks like a good piece of software.
TonyNo, settings in F-Engrave?
Have a look at this video tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-QOwYEH1Dw and this page http://www.scorchworks.com/Fengrave/F-engrave_tutorial.pdf. That’s about all I used for settings.
Also keep an eye on his blog Scorch Works Blog | Always Working on Something for some extra tips.
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Another vote to get basic V-Bit support for the fonts that Easel supports now. Also for any “on path” carves, which could be fonts, or lines.
Add my vote to the request for V-Bit support. Inventables sells V-bits on their website. At least the Easle should be able to support the products they are selling.
Please add V-bit support.
Any more movement on adding further bits, expecially v-bits?
You sell them, so how do people use them? I just ordered my x carve.