CaDLT2014 Posted March 30, 2014 Posted March 30, 2014 hi guys, im drawning now for just 6months. i've completed my first drawning now. what i want, is to work with it on a CNC (Computer numerical control) machine. how could i complete my drawning. to make it enougth to work with it on a Cnc. do i need to save it to a kind of template, or ISO?. thnx, M.L. Quote
ReMark Posted March 30, 2014 Posted March 30, 2014 In response to a similar question forum member JD Mather said this... "CNC machines read g-code, not CAD files. You need another software to generate g-code from your CAD geometry." Now I believe this might be accomplished using a custom program written in AutoLisp but LT does not support lisp so this option would be unavailable to you. Two other things I've subsequently came across. 1) A VBA macro called "AutoCAD 2 -G-Code" and 2) "NC Import for AutoCAD" a plug-in for AutoCAD by Sycode. The one thing I could not find is if either will work with LT 2014 or any version of LT for that matter. You might want to try searching on "autocad"+"cnc" and see what that uncovers. Quote
CaDLT2014 Posted March 30, 2014 Author Posted March 30, 2014 Thank you for the information and i will try those thing on my LT or otherwise search on "autocad"+"cnc". I could maby use the Acad2014 of my boss otherwise. Thanks for the help Remark. Much appreciated. M.L Quote
Dana W Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 Thank you for the information and i will try those thing on my LT or otherwise search on "autocad"+"cnc". I could maby use the Acad2014 of my boss otherwise. Thanks for the help Remark. Much appreciated. M.L The primary thing you might want to do is make sure all the shapes you need to cut on a cnc are made up of closed polylines. This will simplify the translation to G Code. I do cnc work from LT all the time. Well, at least my drawings are eventually translated and fed to a plasma cutter or something by somebody else, but the client demands closed polyline patterns. Quote
Tyke Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 Two other things I've subsequently came across. 1) A VBA macro called "AutoCAD 2 -G-Code" and 2) "NC Import for AutoCAD" a plug-in for AutoCAD by Sycode. The one thing I could not find is if either will work with LT 2014 or any version of LT for that matter. No version of AutoCAD LT can run a VBA macro, for the same reasons why Autodesk have disabled LISP in LT. But after saying that there are some plug-ins that will work with LT. I don't know this one from Sycode ReMark and they make no mention of LT, just AutoCAD, on their web site. There is some software from ManuSoft called LTX that enables the use of ARX add-ons in LT Quote
zaphod Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 What you need depends on the type of CNC file you are trying to create. Are you working with a plasma/laser type machine that just needs 2 axis programming or a CNC mill that requires 2.5D (.5D controlling the Z depth) or full 3D motion? (I.E. mold cavities) Quote
steven-g Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 We send closed polylines directly to the CNC. The software to convert it to G-code is run from the CNC machine Quote
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