I have searched on this subject and it seems everyone is using Autocad or mastercam to create DXFs for lettering.
I would like to create my business name on a pullout shelf that holds a cutlery tray. The shelf size stays the same and the lettering size will stay the same. Has anyone any ideas how to achieve that?
The advantage on doing it within Ecabinets is that I don't have double handling and it will nest in whatever orientation it throws out. It also uses small nested pieces that would normally be trashed.
I wish I had a shorter business name!
Maybe lettering could be added in version 10 of Ecabinets?
Has anybody used this software for lettering. It looks like a good program, however once the letter files are saved as a DXF file I can't open it with our CAD software (AutoSketch). I tried to send the DXF file to the CNC and it said the material thickness needed to be 0.000 so I thought I would enter a material with this thickness and then change the Z shift, but the Control Nesting won't let you enter a material with no thickness. I tried to open the DXF file in the part editor and then make the necessary adjustments so it wouldn't cut out the complete O etc... but the DXF file had been set up to a depth of 5/16" so I couldn't trim any lines I entered in the part editor. The program won't let you set up a DXF file with a zero depth either. Is it time to upgrade our CAD software or is there something I'm missing?
Being able to cut various fonts is a source of revenue that is badly needed. The lack of this ability to leave islands in your pockets is the biggest short falls of this software. Not just 1 island but multiple islands.
You can get this done in the system today. For letters like A and B and numbers like 0, you have to divide the letter in half. For example 0, you divide it in half vertically and cut out each half of the 0 separately to achieve what you want.
While splitting the letters that cause islands will give you the graphical look correctly, it will not machine correctly at this time. You will need to make your split pieces cut at a small difference in depth like 0.03mm. Hopefully this amount will not cause you undesired results. The current version of eCabinetSystems will not recognize the islands created when it creates data for CNC. We do plan to implement this in the future, but it is not planned for V6 release.
Rick Deskins
eCabinet Systems Programmer
Dell Precision / Xeon E3-1240 / 8GB RAM/ AMD FirePro V4900
I have used DeskEngrave many times. Althought it is a basic lettering program, it has always done what I have needed. That is, making DXF files with a variety of different fonts and importing them into contour mode of part editor.
Dale
