I admit that I feel a bit awkward making any requests considering how amazing I find ecabinets and appreciate the fact that it is provided to us for free.
However, I know that the Thermwood team are always trying to improve on the software and I believe these requests may do just that.
Use the thickness of a material as a numeric variable. This variable would then always be used by the deck inset. For example, assume a 2" high bottom rail. For deck inset, the value would be 2 - MT, where MT equals material thickness. Now, if you get a batch of material that is thinner or thicker then the last batch you used (which is always the case), you can just change the material thickness in the material editor once instead of changing the deck inset on each of the cabinets in your batch or your room layout.
Additional Joinery Methods:
[list=A]
Full Dado With Pilot Holes or Blind Dado With Pilot Holes. Five variables could be defined.
[list=i]
Distance from front of dado to first hole
Distance from end of dado to last hole
Diameter from top of dado to center of pilot hole
Distance between each hole
Diameter of holes
[*]Pilot Holes Only[/*]
The variables would stay the same, but there would be no dado. As an example of this use, drilling screws through the cabinet back into the deck of the cabinet.
The goal here is to try and get pilot holes to line up with the middle of the material that the screws are going into.
[/list]
[/list]
I'd love to know if any of you guys/gals think that this would be helpful to anyone other then me.
1). Not sure about face frames since I don't use that feature.
2 A-B). You can do this by creating an RTA pattern that is just a pilot hole and use lock dado, 100% thickness. If you just want the hole use RTA as joinery method.
I agree with the material thickness. It is aggravating to have to change the deck inset on every cabinet when you change the material thickness. Even if it is only 1/32" it dose throw every thing off. The deck placement should be set to the top of the bottom rail with the option to set the deck float to be higher or lower than the top of the bottom rail That is if you are using face frames. If frameless cabinets the deck placement should be set by the toe kick height. As for the pilot holes you can achieve this with part editor and constraints. But where the program could be improved upon is the ability to constrain these holes to the dadoes themselves. not just to the corners of the part. so for example the holes for the deck could be constrained to the middle of the dado for the deck
If there is no dado then the holes should be able to be constrained to the toe kick cutout.
Daniel Odom wrote:1). Not sure about face frames since I don't use that feature.
2 A-B). You can do this by creating an RTA pattern that is just a pilot hole and use lock dado, 100% thickness. If you just want the hole use RTA as joinery method.
This works well but beware of the material thickness If I am thinking correctly if the hole pattern is set to drill through 3/4 thick material the hole pattern is 3/4 deep if you use the same pattern on 1/2 inch material it will still cut 3/4 deep but it will start at the top of the 1/2 inch material and cut down to 3/4 thus cutting 1/4 past the bottom of the material.
Eddie,
All of your proposed joinery methods are possible right now.
You can draw a hole pattern in the hardware hole editor and apply it to any cabinet as an RTA pattern. In fact, you can change the pattern 'per edge' of any part if you wish. You can combine this with blind dado joinery via the "lock dado" joint or you can apply the pattern by itself. You can make a full dado with this method by defining the tenon thickness at 100%.
All of the insets , dimensions, and setbacks or centers you've asked for are able to be controlled per edge by the application of the RTA fastener.
Explore this joint and the techniques for applying it, you will find this software has a lot to offer.
Hope this helps,
jnr
Josh Rayburn
Hall's Edge, Inc.
CNC Machining Service
I can see an advantage to having it as a official construction method that automatically centers as opposed to our work-around method; less time having to fiddle around in the hole pattern editor.
Well, I was obviously lucky enough to come across the folks that know this software best so I am going to see if I can't stretch the inch you guys just gave me into a mile (or at least another inch)
I am wondering if there is a way that I can add notes on a cabinet by cabinet basis into the batch file or any other part of the cabinet assembly. I provide my shop guys the batch file to work off of and I want them to be aware of some details that can only be explained via notes.
Hi Eddie If you are using the cultist feature in eCabinets then there is a section at the bottom of the cut list reports to enter notes. As far as the batch reports the only notes you can enter are for example if you click on the blue text in the batch item name field then you can type what ever you want for example you have a cabinet in your library named base 1 opening you could change that name to base 1 opening finished left door is hinge right.
Oh and you can also put notes on your line drawings if you use that feature
I have found those options and they are all almost what I need.
As an example, I want to right notes for Cabinet #B1:
1. Flush Finished Right
2. Glass Shelves
3. Stained Interior
And notes like that for all cabinets, one by one. Is there a way to
do that and can I submit that as a possible feature for the future
if others feel like that would help.
Eddie The best way to submit your suggesting's are 1 just like you are doing now by posting them on the forums and 2 click on the communications tab and select feedback the programmers do monitor this forum but if you send your feed back directly they will for Shure get your email. The best way that I know of to put notes for a Cabinet on a cabinet by cabinet bases is the line drawing editor. this way your shop floor gets the drawings in hand when they are working on that cabinet.
Thank you again for the help, I'll use the notes function that exists and see if they folks at Thermwood feel it's worth adding the functionality of notes in the batch file.
Another question, if I may.
I have created a triangle cabinet and need to apply edgebanding to the parts that have been cut into the shape of a triangle. I can not seem to be able to do that. Any help, as always, is greatly appreciated.
If you are cutting the parts in part editor then I don’t think you can add edge banding to the cuts themselves but you can allow for the thickness of the edgbanding in the cuts.
As far as notes, I sometimes sneak them in to user part names or in the cabinet name. When you put a cabinet in a batch, click on the name and rename it. Assembly marks are also really handy to convey information.
