[pshouse]

Yes, it works!
InkScape import OK. And that's a quick way to open dxf and save svg.
No confusion on islands/inside out algorhythm. Well done!

Part machined good. I'll put it on your website.

[Jack000]

at last, someone finally starts using my partkart site :]

also, please do report any bugs you find, as I'm continuing to refine the offset algorithm!

[G3d]

Good work !
I had exactly the same idea - online CAM :P
Some sugestions:

1. new file/erase button
2. keyboard undo shortcut
3. undo works weird for me. It undos operations on objects, but not drawing ne ones.
Lest say I draw a line, move it then i draw circle.
Press undo.
The line moves back, instead of deleting the circle.
4. Snap works only when i edit objects. It would be cool if it snap when drawing a line etc.
5. DXF import

regards, and another time: good work!

[CaptainVee]

Yesterday something very anoying happened:

After creating toolpaths for holes and calculating them I created toolpaths for the contours. After calculating them the complete contours were moved away from where they should be. Undo would not undo, just made more mess.

4 rectangular contours, all with different sized holes.

Feature request because of this:
Option to save work before gcode has been generated
Oh and another one

Option to Save tool info. Now you have to re-enter the same data for every tool path with the same bit.

But still, PartKam is very helpfull to me!

[CaptainVee]

Well, ran in to a brick wall...

When milling a part it turned out too big. A 37.05 mm hole ended up being 45.something mm.

So went back to partkam to check the chain.

- after importing the dxf in to inkscape the hole is already 37.2 mm making the whole exercise pointless. (import set not to scale to fit the paper size)
- and when importing the svg in to partkam the hole grows to the 45 mm.

And this is when I really need this simple kind of CAM!

[eatabean]

Can Partkam be run offline?

Great work Jack, I am in awe of people who can do this. Congratulations on the SFUSEY award!

Thanks,
Jim

[Jack000]

hey gang

I've taken a break for the holidays, but now I'm back!

captainvee:

you should be able to save before the toolpath is generated. In fact saving does not save the toolpath (you'll have to generate it again after import).

I do see the shifting thing once in a while, but it should be a cosmetic issue - the data hasn't changed and it should snap back when you zoom in/out. I am working on getting this fixed, although I'm starting to think it's a bug in the flash api..

the svg import must sometimes do a pixel to inch conversion. As there is no fixed standard for this in SVG, I have used 72 pixels per inch. However inkscape uses 90 px/in, which may cause problems. To fix this, try going into edit->preferences and changing the ratio.

eatabean:

yes, it can work offline. Just download the swf file and run it with the flash player. There is also an exe wrapper for windows, which I still haven't gotten around to implementing..

[jakehorky]

I have to extend a huge thank you to Jack000 for this program! I've been using it for a month or two now with my Taig mill. It's so quick and easy to use, making it perfect for random art and even prototyping projects. I already know my way around Inkscape really well, having used it now for years in my airbrush work. Opening Solidworks and using a huge commercial cam program got to be such a pain for this kind of simple stuff.

I'll use this post to show off my xmas project. My wife asked me to make some "Pottery Barn" style ornaments to give to family. I whipped these up in no time with the help of Inkscape, Partkam, and Emc2 Now if only it could do the polishing!

[Jack000]

wow, nice!

steel or aluminum?

[jakehorky]

Thanks! They're 1/8" aluminum. I don't know what ornaments are commonly made out of (tin maybe?), but it's what I was comfortable with.

Do you have any plans to add lathe functions to Partkam? I'd like to do some rudimentary turning w/ my mill as a lathe - I'm going to try Gcodetools, but I might fall back to editing the axes in Partkam's output.

[Jack000]

I may add lathe functionality in future versions, but only after I get a cnc lathe to test with, which is probably a long way off unfortunately.

[ynneb]

Thats a great example demo jakehorky.
You mentioned EMC and Linux.
Out of interest did you use partKam in a browser in Linux or windows.
I thought there was an issue with partkam in a linux browser?

[jakehorky]

Hey thanks ynneb! I run it on both and haven't noticed any issues. I use my XP machine to do the core design, then move over to my Linux box when I think I'm ready to cut. I typically stay on that machine to do any tweaking (rotation, etc).

I use Chrome as my browser on both machines, launching PartKam out of a desktop shortcut (.swf file).

[ynneb]

Thanks jakehorky, thats good to hear that it does work in Linux.
Why do you do you main design in XP ? What limitations do you find using any of the CAD programs in Linux? What CAD programs do you use other than Inkscape. I'm sure you know that Inkscape works under Linux?

It has been my dream to create a Linux distro that is 100% dedicated to CNC. Similar to the EMC distro, but also includes a decent CAD and CAM included in the distro.
I find it frustrating the though of having to boot in and out of both OS's.

I am pinning high hopes on PartKam filling the missing CAM gap on Linux.

[jakehorky]

I have a few reasons to use XP, but they're more specific to me than any limitation on Linux. I like the idea of having a computer dedicated to controlling the mill - it's a personal preference, but I don't really like using the pc that's controlling the mill to do other things. For that reason, the monitor on that computer is small to save workbench space.

I do have Inkscape installed on my Ubuntu distro and I do use it, but it's just not as convenient/comfortable as designing on my XP machine which has a nice chair, large monitor, all my music, etc.

I (rarely) use Solidworks as a cad program because that's what we used in college. What CAD program are you running on Linux?

[G3d]

I use partkam on Mac OsX with Safari browser without any problems.
Great software
Normaly i use heekscad/cnc, but for simply tasks i prefer partkam.
1. I can use it on my mac
2. Heekscad tends to crash a lot :/

btw. ynneb what cam gap do you mean
heekscnc is nice piece of software, and its freeware.
Here is some prototyping using illustrator + partkam + emc2

[jakehorky]

G3d - awesome examples. I'm interested in making a knife myself, yours is encouragement for me to try!

[G3d]

G3d - awesome examples. I'm interested in making a knife myself, yours is encouragement for me to try!

It's only the white scale that i have made
But i'm more into knives than cnc, and whole knife made on cnc is only a matter of time

More to the topic:
- no undo for new created object
- 1 single button - clrear screen/new file would be nice
- tool/settings memory so when you create lets say pocket with 3.175mm bit, -2mm deep the next one created will get the values so you dont have to type it

[duzallcnc]

What version of flash is necessary to modify the code?

Thanks

Sean

[Jack000]

I've been using cs4, but in theory any version that supports actionscript 3 should work.