[jeffg]

Hello i am running mach 3 ,if i use desk engrave to make a text file and then load it into lazycam to resize it it cuts fine. if i load a WMF file from a clip art disk it loads into lazycam and i convert it to g code and than load the g code file into mach 3 as it starts to cut each chain it ramps down .How do i make it not ramp down on each chain?

[jeffg]

Hi does anyone know how to change the ramping in lazycam ? i just want the z to plunge to its set depth before the x and y move. what i dont understand is if i load two different files the same way into lazycam and set the same feed speed and depth ,the text cuts fine but the clip art ramps down the z . so it is leaving parts of each chain uncut. can anyone help me with this?

[Torchhead]

The WMF file is probably a bad piece of vector art. It's coming in as descrete segments and the machine is responding to cutting a bunch of unconnected segments. Some programs have the ability to set a tolerance as to how close end segments can be before you consider them connected.

You might try importing the WMF into a good vector editing program (like CorelDraw) and use that to "connect the dots". Sometimes it's easier to start out with good clean vector art than it is to go in a have to fix a bad one.

Vectors cut on a machine need to be "chained" (polylines) and closed for any type of feature cut with depth.

Take a look at the vector clipart at www.vectorart.com (mega collection) and see have much better that imports and cuts.

A lot of the cheap WMF clipart is made for printing where disconnected lines and jagged edges are not as notoicable. Sometimes all they do is just run some bitmap clipart through an autotrace program and call it done.

WMF is not my favorite file format (or that of most commercial artists) and is essentially the format Windows 3.1 and 98 used for the clipboard file transfer. Later came EMF (Enhanced Metafile Format) which still has some issues.

The EPS and AI formats used in the better vector files is a beeter way to go.

If you have CorelDraw 12 or higher you can clean things up then export using our DXFTool format (Free demo on the website). It maintains the smooth arcs and circles in Corel but it won't fix bad artwork.

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[jeffg]

torchhead i see what you mean about the wmf files i was using the old lazycam and the file looked good when loaded i downloaded the new version of lazycam and i can see how bad the wmf is lines missing ect.I just got corel x3-13 last week its a little tough to get a grasp on it (lots of features) but once i get the hang of it i am going to try dxf tools .do you know of any good training videos for corel 13? thanks again for your help jeff

[jeffg]

OOPS i just found all the training videos on disc 4 thanks