Need Polylines, getting Splines

I have hatches, and I need their outlines in the form of a simple polyline. I thought I could go Hatchedit > Recreate boundary. But no, when I select the option to make a polyline it gives me a spline. I did some research, and it turns out hatches can be spline- or polyline-based, so I cant get a polyline from these hatches. Also, I tried converting the resulting spline to a polyline, but I get one with a gazillion nodes, which the CNC machine doesnt like (It keeps stopping at each node)

I dont quite understand the difference between a polyline made up of many small line segments (the one i got from the spline), and the one made up of curves (like you get from, say, drawing a polyline circle).

How can I get the latter type of polyline from either the hatch or the spline?

Thanks

Attach a copy of the DWG file to your next post.

One possible solution for converting splines to polylines is available at the DotSoft website. Download SPL2PL.VLX and give it a try.

SPL2PL.VLX converts a selection set of splines to polylines inside the drawing.

http://www.dotsoft.com/freestuff.htm

BTW...have you tried doing a "saveas" to R-12 DXF file format? Some CNC routers will read DXF files.

If neither approach above works take a look at this article. Pay particular attention to the use of the FLATTEN, OVERKILL and SPLINEDIT commands mentioned.

http://cadsetterout.com/autocad-tutorials/cad-to-cam-cleaning-up-dwg-files-for-cnc/

Attach a copy of the DWG file to your next post.

 

One possible solution for converting splines to polylines is available at the DotSoft website. Download SPL2PL.VLX and give it a try.

 

SPL2PL.VLX converts a selection set of splines to polylines inside the drawing.

 

http://www.dotsoft.com/freestuff.htm

 

BTW...have you tried doing a "saveas" to R-12 DXF file format? Some CNC routers will read DXF files.

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately, I already tried some of these with no luck. The SPL2PL command seems useful, but again, it only seems to split into straight segments. Here is a file that shows what I tried so far

Pline to Spline.dwg

Why aren't you using a program to draw these shapes that can also generate the code necessary to run CNC machine?

Did you try using the SPLINEDIT command?

I Exploded the spline, Flattened, then PEDIT. Does this work any better for the CNC software?

Pline to Spline_2.dwg

If only it were that easy. I didnt draw this (its only an excerpt from a larger graphic) and the people that drew it arent expected to know what linetypes need to be used. Its my job to translate this into something the CNC can read. I experimented a bit more and the best solution so far is to explode the spline, and then flatten the individual curves. Its not 100% accurate, but its pretty close. I was hoping for something a little simpler, and this is just another series of steps that will take some time. Honestly , I think its pretty criminal for Autodesk to not have a simple solution.

I Exploded the spline, Flattened, then PEDIT. Does this work any better for the CNC software?

Haha, I just came up with this a few minutes ago! Thanks anyways

Was the use of the SPLINEDIT command that gave you all the unwanted nodes?

Was the use of the SPLINEDIT command that gave you all the unwanted nodes?

Yes. The same thing happens when I do other conversions local to autocad, such as saving as R12

You will want to explode the shape first then do flatten. Currently it is one spline, exploding will create multiple splines, flatten will create curved plines.