Two CS45 for sale

[Georgi Baltov]

So we're selling two CNCs. The reason - can't cut short grain material. Even if you program it as added material it still won't do it. What's up with that!

Come on guys I am sure you can do it in the next CN 5.59.

In Thermwood we trust.

[Brad McIntosh]

Georgi,

What exactly do you mean by - "...can't cut short grain material."?

Can you explain in more detail what it is you are trying to accomplish? (Besides getting someone's attention... )

Do you mean: "Automatically rotate parts by 90 degrees that were originally assigned to a 'long-grained' material when you substitute a 'short-grained' material in Control Nesting"?

[Georgi Baltov]

And although my most sincere efforts you, Brad, are the only person that replied.

It's the second time I am posting about this. First time I couldn't get a proper answer to solve my problem. Now I have more things to cut.

The material is basically 8'x 4'. The grain goes along the 4'. I a few things a couple of months ago and because it was just 1 sheet that I needed to cut I forgot about the problem and carried on. Now I have to deal with it again.

Anyways if you can give me any ideas on how to solve this it'll be appreciated.

Thanks

[Nat Wheatley]

Without giving it too much though, could you set the grain for each piece at 90 degree to what the grain direction will actually be, then nest with 0 degree part rotation?

[Michael S Murray]

what you want for them?

[Rick Palechuk]

What we need is the ability to de-select the grain from a particular part, ie: toe kicks, stretchers, wide backs, and nonessential components.

[Brad McIntosh]

I have spoken with Georgi on the phone and here is the low-down:

He wants to keep the grain direction of his parts as is - meaning that the grain runs along the height and length of his standard components. But they want to nest the components in a direction across the width of the sheet of material for better optimization.

My Thoughts:

A temporary "work-around" could be achieved right now by a somewhat tedious process of first defining a grained material with a rotated grain image (displays horizontally in the material definition) and then individually rotating this by 90 degrees on each and every component in a cabinet so that the grain was running in the standard height/length direction. CN should then be able to nest the components in the correct direction using it's current process. (Me thinks... )

The Possible Solution: They would like to be able to define material(s) that has/have the grain pattern running across the width of the sheet instead of along the length of the sheet. (Instead of just GRAIN=No or Yes - have a SHEET GRAIN=No, Along-X or Along-Y). The particular direction of the grain/pattern should not change the standard grain orientation on components themselves, but would be used solely for the nesting process. Then CN having the added ability to recognize this "cross-grain" (GRAIN=Along-Y) material, would optimize the components with the heights and lengths (or part grain directions) running across the width of these "cross-grain" sheets.

Note: While working on the grain "direction identification" thing (Along-X or Along-Y), perhaps having grained parts with a "grain-not-important" flag and the ability to have CN "fit them any-which-way" could be looked at. (Although this would require the addition of the "grain-not-important" flag into eCabinet Systems' part definition too.)

[Michael S Murray]

Now were getting some where. I use a lot of prefinished plywood for residential. I really dont care how my 1/2" drawer bottom grain runs, and that is all I use the 1/2" for.
So I just give it no grain even though it has grain. The problem with the rest of the cabinet is that I use all 3/4" so I want to nest it all together, but There are certain parts I would like to nest for bets yield.
I dont care if my base backs had different grain, no one sees them, but on wall cabs I would not want grain changing, same thing with toe kick, I dont care, it gets covered, but I dont want to give the kicks a seperate material name and than have to nest seperatly.. Lets keep this moving, would be a good improvement, and possibly not to hard to incorporate.

[Dennis Englert]

Seems to me:

If you change the grain direction on the parts in the cabinet it will nest with the grain running across the width of the sheet rather than with the length of the sheet. I just did that and ran it through nest diagrams and looks like it worked to me. The cabinets look funky because the grain is opposite of what you normally see.


Dennis

[Brad McIntosh]

Dennis,

You are correct as was my initial "temporary fix with a twist". But, as I pointed out, that is really a "work around" for the situation that Georgi is faced with depending on what material he has available for the job - long or cross grain sheets. Also, the "funky" cabinets with the rotated grain may not be suitable for displaying to clients (hence my definition of a material with a rotated image and then rotating the grain - aka "the twist").

Again, by being able to define a material with a Grain=Along-X or Along Y, then a mass material substitution could be easily made in eCab before creating the TWD. (No need to individually modify every component to rotate the grain direction.) An Along-X or Along-Y material substitution/switch could even be made at the machine if the material thickness matched.

[Rick Palechuk]

The true fix would be: While creating your seed cabinet, having the ability to hi-lite a part, then right click and select "No Grain" from the menu. This way the part will still nest in the same material, yet the program will "fit it in" wherever it can. This would result in a better use of materials, and ultimately, less waste. Just my two cents.

[Brad McIntosh]

Rick,

While your "True Fix" is needed by many, it is not the "True Fix" that I believe that Georgi was looking for in his original posting in this particular thread. His issue dealt with having cross-grain material (material where the grain runs across the width of the sheet) and needing to take cabinets with standard grain direction and nest them in this material so that the grain runs in the correct (standard) orientation on the final parts.

Again, I am not saying that your "NO GRAIN" would not be a nice feature - I in fact tried to include it in my suggested solution for Georgi problem.

Note: While working on the grain "direction identification" thing (Along-X or Along-Y), perhaps having grained parts with a "grain-not-important" flag and the ability to have CN "fit them any-which-way" could be looked at. (Although this would require the addition of the "grain-not-important" flag into eCabinet Systems' part definition too.)

So, although yours is not the "True Fix" in this case, it would be a nice addition to the optimization features.