Hi, I have just finished my ZenXY Table and it is sweet! I have been using Sandify to create the patterns which works great, however, I am looking for other solutions for creating drawings. I can create single line dxf files fine, however, when I try to create GCode for these files (using EstlCam, or DXFtoGCode, or similar) it assumes there is a Z lifting mechanism which adds unwanted moves to the GCode. Are there any settings to tweak in EstlCam that would eliminate the unwanted moves associated with Z lifting? Or, are there other options for CAM software or conversion software that can create GCode that is XY only and will retrace the pattern instead of Z lifts and the unwanted lines that come from that operation? Hope that question is clear. Thanks in advance for your help on this!
You could play silly tricks like setting the clearance plane and max depth to 0. But that won’t stop it from thinking it can just drive over your work.
It might be helpful to know what kind of shape. If you have multiple shapes you need to connect, you should be able to engrave one, save it, and import it into sandify as a layer. Then connect several of those together.
Thanks for your quick reply! So i haven’t tried importing different parts of the image into Sandify, I may give that a shot and see. I tried the tool called SisyphusForTheRestOfUs (https://sftrou.omarelamri.me/) and it created a .thr file that did not have any unwanted travel moves. The downside is that it does not accept vector files as input.
I would love to just plug a dxf into software like this and have it spit out a GCode file without any unwanted travel moves. Any advice would be helpful.
I don’t have a good answer for you. I made sandify because we needed something to make these paths. It grew when sisyphus got involved and then grew more when bobnik came in to push it forward.
I haven’t ever looked at importing dxf. I wouldn’t wait for sandify to get it.
So, this seems to be the only tool that I can find that will create a file with no z axis lifts or unwanted travel moves.
https://sftrou.omarelamri.me/
It seems as though there is a GitHub project that predates this web-based version. However, I am not savvy enough to compile it. On this thread:
the author of the software posted a .msi of the original version. It works great however it adds an erase to every drawing that you create. In the GitHub version here:
it looks like this erase is an option that can be disabled. Awesome! It also looks like this GitHub version will accept vector based images as input which would be awesome! But I can’t figure out how to compile/run the GitHub version. I’m a noob at these things. Can anyone either provide a .msi for this GitHub project or help me understand how to create one for myself? Thanks!
I make my patterns from jpeg, via CAM software (mrsoft) take the output as Gcode. There are diagonal paths, which can not be used
My table has parallel erasing tracks- see `zen table on kickstarter
When the Zaxis moves up, (to move the “ drill bit” to another section of the drawing is usually a diagonal track) I adjust the code so that it moves along an erasing track up or down, then change the move along the Y axis to the start coordinate of the next move, so the ball moves along the other erase track up or down and then continuous the “ write” in this way there are no diagonal lines connecting the draw-clusters
Tool chain: jpg-mrsoft-gcode-slicer ( 1 slice) mega2560/RAMPS-pronterface (gives you graphics of the drawing and paths and motor control
Good luck