Estlcam 12 Alpha

Thanks, that explains why I have been having a problem.

@christian-knuell is there any plan to add “Move DXF” like in V11? Its nice to be able to add the file but I cant find a way to move it. Right now I have to create the tool paths and then move those. It makes for a very easy to get confused situation.

Also when I have a bit set up for Trochoidal Milling and also have the Drill section set up it ignores the tool path depth for drill and just does a straight plunge with no pecks. Is there something I need to do differently for this to work?

With the move tool selected, use the Right-Click to select the DXF parts

You can mix and match Left and Right clicks and move the toolpaths and the drawings together.

The workflow is a bit clunky though. I do wish it was a bit easier to move between selecting and moving things

Damnit. I keep forgetting about all the left and right click stuff. Thanks @Michael_Melancon

Hopefully @christian-knuell has an answer about the drill function though. I know someone made another post about it as well

That was me. I have the same issue with pecking…

oh…and also I see now

not just you or me. @RegPye too lol

edit, you beat me to it LOL

If the file opened with Update is an updated version of the original file, v12 does not have the v11 limitation of changes having to be in the original X+,Y+ quadrant and I stand corrected… Any additions outside X+,Y+ will require a Zero : Margin = 0 to recover the left-bottom origin.

Maybe it’s a language issue, but replacing one version of the file with an updated version (VS “replaces one drawing with another one”) is the only practical use for the Update function. Anything else will require paying attention to the embedded source file origin.

Update is a much better way to add objects to a project than the v12 Add function because the objects can be added to precise locations anywhere in the drawing. How is Adding objects that sit atop the X axis (original or reset?) and 10mm to the right of the original drawing elements a useful function?

You can move them wherever you want after addig them. How is that a problem?

Yes you can use the Move function, but how do you move them to “precise locations” when you don’t know where they are, i.e. what their precise location is relative to the origin point?

…How did you read and reply to my post within seconds?

…with the v11 Insert function there is no need to Move anything and, once the origin of the Inserted file (e.g. that custom SVG engraving) is set, the file is editable and reusable (just like the saved .e10).

You can measure by clicking and holding the middle mouse wheel

Then use 11, you can use both. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Because of changes/losses in v12 I am doing just that. The only thing I currently use v12 for is setting my origin point. I love my new center finding macro (so much faster and more consistent than manual probing) and was starting to think about how I might live w/ the v12 out of order Carve pocketing (to have the importance of that issue, and apparently this one, not understood is disheartening) by switching doable tasks to v12. The Add function not working like Insert has me back to thinking I’m stuck w/ v11.

I found a possible solution that may be of some help.
I had a CAD file with multiple elements in it, all situated where I needed them.
I wanted to add another element (just for testing) and I used the add function.
When I did that, the original file shot off to the left and down.
What I did then was to start over with my CAD program and I drew a bounding box around the elements of the first drawing, (added a line box) loaded it into Estlcam again and then proceeded to add the other element as before.
Once again the first CAD file shifted off to the lower left again, but this time I had a bounding box line that I could easily and accurately position the zero point at the lower left corner
I could then add and then shift the added element to where I wanted it within the original CAD drawing layout,

1 Like

I allways draw a small cross to set the milling origin in the original drawing. this is because I often mill text into planks of uneven shape and use the center line as a reference. In combination with a good layer stucture it is not neccessary to add “elements”

I usually add a small circle to the centre of a CAD file for the same reason. Most times I use crosshair laser to position the tool for quick jobs that don’t need perfect accuracy, like for cutting a keyhole for hanging a plaque.
This small circle becomes my reference point that I can come back to if needed for setting up again. I physically draw a diagonal cross on the stock with a pencil to reference the crosshairs

1 Like
  1. The New objects (and E12 paths) may not overlap the existing project elements at all. They can be optional and or customized components that are designed to register with the existing components (inside the initial bounding box). Retrieving the V11 e10 default requires manual measuring and two Moves (…selecting the paths and then using a D + click to include the drawing does it in 1) in V12.

  2. What is “cumbersome” is a matter of perspective. The only use case where adding a new file some unknown distance to the right of the project origin is less cumbersome is if you don’t need that file to register with the project origin or to be located at some specific location relative to the project origin.

If the location of the added file is important, the easiest first step is to manually measure its location relative to the project origin and (…click the drawing with the D key pressed to Select it so you can) Move it to the project origin, i.e. to where V11 would have put it in the first place. The file is now where it needs to be or can now be moved to the desired coordinates. While moving the file directly from the default offset location to some desired X,Y distance from the project origin is possible, it requires some math and - at least in my case - is more error prone.

As others have covered, the file needs to include an origin marker (bounding box, L, circle, etc.) so that the measuring tool can be used to manually measure the distance Estlcam has chosen to offset the file origin from the project origin. With v11 that registration marker is the origin point embedded in the file (DXF or E10) or top-left of the page (SVG).

As others have noted, the V12 project origin can randomly change (even when all work is done in the default X+,Y+ quadrant) when adding files. Including an origin marker in all project files makes it easy to reset it (e.g. before adding another file).

This bit me a couple days ago, as I would not have expected my manually set Zero point to change by adding an additional drawing that is placed out to the right.

I was working for a long time with a file layout like this

After making a few cuts, I wanted to check the size of a new exported part against one that was already there. Adding that file caused my zero point to be completely recalculated.

That’s when I realized that (stupidly of me) I had not saved the file in a bit, and there is no undo to get it back to where it was.

My only recourse was to spend a bit of time, going out out to my machine and taking measurements on the stock and manually trying to place the zero point in a “close enough” spot to hopefully not cause an issue on the next piece I cut out.

It definitely feels to me like an Add operation should not change where the Zero point is in relation to all the drawings that already existed before the add.

2 Likes

He only added it because it was asked for and said it might be clunky. :slight_smile:

:slight_smile:

That’s fine. Just offering feedback. That’s the only way software gets better for the users.

He can fix it or not, but it’s good for developers to see actual use-cases so they can understand the impact.