Drill Patterns using drill toolpath

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kjackswood
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Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2010 2:03 pm

Drill Patterns using drill toolpath

Post by kjackswood »

Does anyone have any videos or tutorials on using the Drill Toolpath option in V-Carve 6.0
I am trying to figure out how to create a hole drill pattern similiar to the little triangle golf tee peg games.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Ken

GARYR6
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Re: Drill Patterns using drill toolpath

Post by GARYR6 »

Use the Copy Object along the Vector tool to create the pattern, then use the drill tool path option.

jeb2cav
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Re: Drill Patterns using drill toolpath

Post by jeb2cav »

Hi Ken,

The Drill Toolpath is really the last step. I suspect the root of your question is how do I get a pattern of holes without manually placing every one of them.

I did some quick research and found that this triangle game has 15 holes - 12 in the outer an outer triangle and 3 on an inner triangle. The key to something like this is uniformity in parts, so I started by using the Draw Polygon tool so that I'd get a definate shape (vice freehanding a triangle).
Draw Polygon Tool Button - Draw Vectors Section
Draw Polygon Tool Button - Draw Vectors Section
I set the number of sides to 3 and the radius to 4.
Draw Polygon Toolbox
Draw Polygon Toolbox
I then used the Offset Vectors tool to create a matching polygon for the edge of my game triangle, and an inner triangle which I'll use to place the holes.
Offset Vectors Toolbutton
Offset Vectors Toolbutton


I had to experiment with this a little to get the holes to align on a desired grid. What I found that the triangle radius ratio is 4:1. (when highlighted in the project I'm going to attach, and with the Draw Polygon tool open, you'll see that the outer triangle has a radius of 4" and the inner one has a radius of 1").

To get that using the Offset Vectors, for the inner triangle I used an offset of 2" and selected inner and apply. I then selected an offset of 1" and outside, hit apply. This gave me an outer edge vector that I'll use to cut the triangle out of the material.

Now, I've reached the 3 attachment limit, so will continue this in the next post.

jeb2cav
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Re: Drill Patterns using drill toolpath

Post by jeb2cav »

Continuing from previous post -

I then used the Create Circle tool to create a small circle.
Create Circle.jpg
Create Circle Toolbutton
(11.25 KiB) Not downloaded yet
I used 0.2", but it could be any size, regardless of the size of the tool you are going to use for the Drill Toolpath. The Drill Toolpath calculates the center of the vectors you've selected and drills a hole at that point.

Next I used Copy Objects Along Vector tool (as Gary stated). I first opened the tool.
Copy Objects Along Vector Tool
Copy Objects Along Vector Tool
I then selected first (FIRST) the circle I had created, and then (SECONDLY) the larger of the two peg triangles. The order is important when using this tool as the first vector selected is what gets duplicated along the second vector. When you first start this tool, you'll notice that the "Specify" section is greyed out and you can't change it. It will not be active until you have selected 2 valid vectors for it to work with. In this case, I know that I need 12 circles along the edge of the triangle. I then hit copy - and 12 circles are generated along the triangle vector.
Copy Along Vectors Toolbox
Copy Along Vectors Toolbox
Now, you didn't need to draw the circle - you could also open this tool, select Copy Circles, then select the triangle vector, and the Specify portion of the toolbox would be available for use. Be sure to set the diameter you desire (again, this is really for you to be able to see the peg holes and get a sense of spacing/grid. If you select a Diameter in the Copy Circle or when you created the circle vector that matches the tool you're going to use, it would be an exact match (but sometimes hard to see).

Ok, I've reached the 3 attachment limit, so on to the next post...

jeb2cav
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Re: Drill Patterns using drill toolpath

Post by jeb2cav »

Continuing on with part 3...

I then selected the circle vector first and the inner triangle, set the Number of Copies to 3, and hit copy. I then closed the Copy Along Vectors Tool.

At this point, I have these vectors in my 2D view.
Golf Tee Game 2D View
Golf Tee Game 2D View
I used a 2D profile path on the exterior triangle vector - with tabs. I then selected all of the circles (15) (does not include the one I created to use as a copy), selected the Drilling Toolpath, and set the depth of cut.

The preview of the result looks ok -
Golf Tee Game 3D Preview
Golf Tee Game 3D Preview
I've attached a VCarve Pro 6.0 project file as well (this is version 6, which is not backward compatible with version 5.5).

One last set of comments on setting up the Drilling Toolpath in the next post (reached the 3 attachment limit).
Attachments
Drill Path Demo Triangle Game.crv
Golf Tee Game Demo
(82 KiB) Downloaded 351 times

kjackswood
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Re: Drill Patterns using drill toolpath

Post by kjackswood »

Thanks Joe,

I agree that is exactly what I want to do. I have done what you have shown so far. I am still a little curious as to how I select the hole pattern.
If I was to copy in a jpeg or bitmap file of a scanned pattern, could the drill path option use that somehow?
Does anyone offer a good class on using the V Carve software yet? There are a few options in V Carve 6.0 that I have not yet learned how to use.
So far all I see is this forum. Which is excellent by the way.

Thanks again for all the help.
Ken

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Re: Drill Patterns using drill toolpath

Post by jeb2cav »

Fourth and last part of my response to the question...

Remember that if you're drilling holes in your material, and the height they start to cut is different, you'll need to account for that when you setup the Drilling Toolpath. In a quick example, I've created an object with 2 different heights - and I want some holes on each level.
Drill at Different Heights
Drill at Different Heights
In this example, the "top" level is at z0. The "lower" level is 0.375" below that. So, I selected the circles for the top level and created a Drilling Toolpath for them with the Start Depth = 0.000". I then selected the circles for the "lower" level and created a drilling path for them with a Start Depth of 0.375". I would have run the pocket pass before running the drilling pass of course.
Drilling Toolpath Start Depth
Drilling Toolpath Start Depth
Something to keep in mind as you work toward more complex game boards or other objects that aren't at the same level. I've attached this project as well. I had to compress it into a zip file to meet file size restrictions. It also is a VCarve Pro version 6 file and can't be opened with VCarve Pro v5.5.

I'd encourage you to take the time to thumb through the VCarve Online Help Manual. It's not something you sit down and read all at once. However, I literally mean thumb through - there are a fair number of tools/buttons on the screen. By thumbing through the manual, you have a better chance of discovering tools that you may want to use soon. And when you run into things that you're not sure about, the manual can provide an additional resource as you might recall something like that, and then look again. You can get to the online version by going to Help and selecting Help Contents. Of course, the forum is an equally great, and sometimes better, place to get questions answered - neither are all knowing or all answering.

Hope this helps.
Attachments
Drilling Toolpath Demo.zip
Multi-Level Drill Example
(213.08 KiB) Downloaded 310 times

kjackswood
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Re: Drill Patterns using drill toolpath

Post by kjackswood »

Thanks

I did not see your last post.
That covers it.

Thank you very much.
I can now use any pattern I want, like for chineese checkers, etc..

Thanks Joe

jeb2cav
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Re: Drill Patterns using drill toolpath

Post by jeb2cav »

Hi Ken - glad this helped.

You asked 2 questions -

1. Does anyone offer a good VCarve Class? My response is if you haven't gone through the tutorials, you should. They have been extremely useful for me. From there this forum and the Vectric forum have been extremely useful. I can't emphasize enough how useful the Vectric tutorials are. I've also been pleased and grateful for the community support in both forums.

2. Scanning and using the drilling toolpath. You can read up on the Drilling Toolpath in the online manual. It "allows the centers of selected closed vectors to be drilled to a specified depth." From a work flow perspective, you might be able to scan a chinese checkers template, import the jpg (or other acceptable format) file, run the Fit Vectors to Bitmap tool - and find that with only minor editing, the resulting vectors will meet your needs. Another possible workflow would be to import the jpg, size it as desired, and then use the Create Vectors tool to create the vectors you need - while using the jpg as a reference during vector creation.

There are some good posts on the use of pictures to generate vectors: http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=315 and http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=361, and this is also covered in one or more of the Vectric tutorials off the top of my head.

kjackswood
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Re: Drill Patterns using drill toolpath

Post by kjackswood »

Joe,
You should set up a class somewhere.
Vectric or Rockler should hire you to teach a class some where.
I would be willing to set in on one of your training sessions on using the many options in the V Carve software.

My background is in using the old fashioned G code. Move to the location program and move on, etc..

I love this VCarve software.
You are very helpfull
Thanks again.
Ken

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