Eagle Plasma LLC How to Make a Sign Accessing the included step by step.dxf files The following tutorial is designed to teach beginners, screen by screen, to create a simple sign project. In this lesson you will learn how to use some basic tools in Qcad, how to import the completed.dxf file into SheetCam TNG, which creates the individual cut operations, and generates the G code. The G Code will then be imported to Mach3 for the final cut. Included on the Eagle Plasma software disc are.dxf files whose names correspond with the figure numbers of each completed step in Qcad. This allows the user to access individual points in the drawing process. For instance you may wish to start out with the frame and add your own text or patterns. You can also jump straight to the completed Welcome sign and import it directly into SheetCam, generate the code, open with Mach3 and get cutting. Fig a Qcad must be opened to access the.dxf files. Select File/open and navigate to the Eagle Plasma software disc; open the Welcome folder and choose the figure number that corresponds to the screenshot in the lesson that you want to start with. Page 1 of 32
Fig 1 Open Qcad. Notice the divisions of the window (Fig 1). Select the Line Tool. Fig 2 Qcad now displays several Line Tools. Select the 2 Point Line tool. Page 2 of 32
Fig 3 The Tool Icon has changed to the 2 point line tool and the snap selection is set to Auto. Select the line start point by left clicking on 0.0 coordinates (red crosshairs). The mouse icon at the bottom of the screen is telling what the next step is. Next point is defined by the left mouse button, right click for Done. Move the mouse diagonally to 5.5 coordinates and left click. Right click to drop the line tool. At this point you could draw more lines or right click the second time to drop the tool. Fig 4 In the Property Editor tab, change the length of the line to 5, and the angle to 0. The line will look very small. To scale the window to the drawing, click the 3 rd magnifier from the left. Page 3 of 32
Fig 5 This time we will create a line using the Horizontal Line tool. Choose the tool and set the length to 5. Fig 6 Click on the 2.0 position and you re done! Right click once to drop the tool. As you can see there are many tools to use. Finding the one to get the job done easily requires practice and experimentation. Page 4 of 32
Move/Copy Function Fig 7 Fig 7a Use the Zoom Out magnifier to see beyond the ends of the lines. Choose the Arc Tool (Fig 7), and choose the 2 Points & Radius Arc tool. (Fig 7a). Fig 8 Change the Radius setting to 1, direction icon is top to bottom. Left click the end of the top line, Qcad will display a small end sign to confirm that you are starting at the end of the line. Left click at the end of the lower line. Right click to drop the tool. Qcad shows alerts in tool mode, end confirms you are connecting to the end of the line. If Grid is displayed, you are attempting to connect inside of the line. Page 5 of 32
Fig 9 With the 2 Points and Radius tool still selected (check the upper left corner where the selected tool is displayed), change the direction of the arc from bottom to top. Left mouse click on the end of the upper line (start point), click the end of the bottom line. Right click twice to return to the selection (arrow) tool. Fig 10 Great! We have a completed inside frame. In the next section we will use some new tools to create our outside frame. Page 6 of 32
Move/Copy Function Fig 11 Using the selection tool, select the bottom line. Fig 12 Select Modify, Move/Copy from the menu bar. Page 7 of 32
Fig 13 Select the reference point at the beginning of the bottom line. Notice the word Intersection. This confirms that you are exactly at the beginning of the line. (Fig 13) In the Move/Copy Options window, select Keep original. (Fig 13a) Click Ok. Fig 13a Click above the top line on X- 0 coordinate. The ruler located above the drawing window is X. The to the left are the Y coordinates. In the Property Editor, change the Y Start Point and End Point to 2.25. (Fig 14) Fig 14 Page 8 of 32
Fig 15 Click anywhere on the black portion of the screen and the new line changes to white. Select a line and repeat Modify, Move/Copy, this time place the line on X-0 below the inner frame. Change Y start & end to 0.25 in the Property Editor. The Property Editor is an extremely useful tool! The changes we made to the Y start & end points placed the line exactly ¼ above (2.25) and below (-0.25) the original lines. If needed, we could change the start and end of X. If you hadn t copied the line exactly on X-0, it could easily be fixed by changing the X start point to 0, and the end point to 5. Fig 16 This step should be familiar. Select the Arc tool set, select 2 point arc and radius. This time we will change the radius to 1.25, making the arc ¼ larger than the first set. Select the top to bottom icon and left click at the left end of the top line to set the starting point. End the arc at the beginning of the bottom line and right click to complete the arc. Page 9 of 32
Fig 17 Select the 2 point arc tool and change the direction icon. Click on the right end of the top, outer line to start, click on the end of the bottom line, right click to finish. Now that we have our completed frame, we will learn how to add text. Click the Back arrow below the selected tool to return to the main tool list. Fig 18 Fig 18a Select the Font tool, choose a font and set desired formatting. Keep the Height set at 1.0 or 1. Type Welcome or a name, address, etc. If it doesn t fit in the frame, you can change the size of the font or change the size of your frame. Page 10 of 32
Adding Text Fig 19 Position the word inside of the main frame, click and right click to drop the tool. Fig 20 Left click on any letter to select all of the font. Page 11 of 32
Fig 21 Click Block on the menu bar, select Explode. Fig 21a Now the font has become an object that can be manipulated. Explode is a very important step when using fonts. If the font isn t exploded, when you bring your finished.dxf into SheetCam, the word will not be recognized and therefore, can t be cut. Page 12 of 32
Fig 22 Click anywhere on the black area and the blue points will disappear. Now we can select segments to delete and tie the word to a base. Let the fun begin! Fig 23 Select the bottom line of the first part of the letter W. Press the Delete key to open that portion. If a portion is deleted by mistake, press the ctrl (control) and letter z keys simultaneously to undo. You can also use the Undo & Redo buttons right below the menu bar. Page 13 of 32
Fig 24 Repeat select, delete along the bottom of each letter. The curved letters will select a larger area that isn t exactly at the bottom. Go ahead and experiment, have some fun with it! Fig 25 Now that we have opened up each letter, it s time to learn how to connect them to our frame. Page 14 of 32
Fig 26 Select the inside arc on the left side of your sign. Select the Spline Tool. Fig 26a Select Spline (Fit points) tool. Page 15 of 32
Fig 26b Choose On Entity. This selection allows us to add points, at intervals, along the original arc. Fig 27 Begin selecting at the top of the arc. Watch for the Intersection indicator when hovering over the start point. Left click at intervals along the original arc. The tool will follow the contour better when the selections are close together. Page 16 of 32
Fig 27a Right click to drop the tool close to the bottom of our font. The crosshairs are helpful guidelines for this task. Fig 27b Now select the original arc below the spline end point. Delete the original. Select the inner line, below Welcome and delete it, as well. Page 17 of 32
Fig 27c Select the inner arc on the right. Trace most of the arc with the spline tool, Spline (fit points), On Entity, as we did on the opposite side, drop the tool. Select the original arc and delete it. Next we will connect the letters to the inside frame. Fig 28 Select the Spline tool, On Entity. Move the mouse to the end of the right, inside arc and left click. This is the start point of our connection. Notice that Qcad lets you know when you are at the end of the arc. If you don t see an End indicator, make sure that the Auto button is highlighted. This is very important information! Ninety percent of the time you will want to connect to end points or intersections. Page 18 of 32
Fig 28a For the second point in our spline, click a little below and centered from start to the end of the W, or end point. Left click at the end of the first opening of the W. Right click to end the connection. Continue this procedure across the remaining openings. Experiment with different shapes to connect the openings. If you don t like the way it looks or would like to change a connection, just click undo or CTRL & Z keys simultaneously. Fig 29 Now that we have tied the word Welcome to the frame, it will remain intact when we cut the sign. Page 19 of 32
Fig 30 In this exercise, we will change the size, or scale, of the sign. Choose Select from the menu bar, Select All. Fig 30a Fig 30b Choose Modify, Scale, from the menu bar. Select a Focus Point by left clicking a point (Fig 30a). In the Scale Options window (Fig 30b), choose Delete original and type 3 in Factor x: box, click OK. Click anywhere on the black background to deselect all. Next we will create Layers and move separate parts, or objects, of the sign to a layer. Page 20 of 32
Create Layers Fig 31 Fig 32a On the menu bar, select Layer, Add Layer (Fig 31). In the Layer Data box, name the layer Inside, change the color to Red and Line weight to 0.00mm (Fig 32a). Fig 32 Now that we have a new layer, we will select parts of our drawing to move onto the Inside Layer. Select the bottom spline of the W. Hold the Shift key and click to select all of the sections. Page 21 of 32
Fig 32a In the Property Editor window, change the Layer from 0 to Inside. Fig 32b Click on the black area and you can see that the inside of the W is now outlined in red, the color of our inside layer. It is always a good idea to change the colors of separate layers. Now we have a visual cue denoting our layers. Page 22 of 32
Fig 32c Continue selecting all of the enclosed areas of text, the e, the o, the two parts of the m and the last e. If a piece of the section remains white, simply select the section that was missed and move it to the inside layer. Fig 33a We need to add one more layer. Select Layer from the menu bar, Add Layer. Name it Outside, change the color to blue, and line weight to 0.0mm. Select all 4 sections of the outside frame. In Property Editor, change the layer to Outside. Click on any black area and you will see your finished sign. Page 23 of 32
SheetCam Open SheetCam. We need to create a Tool. Select Tools from the menu bar, New jet cutting tool, or click the Jet Cutting icon in the lower left Tools window. Fig 34 Please note: The settings used for this tool match our plasma cutter, Miller Spectrum 625 cutting 1/8 steel. Create a tool using the settings in Fig 34a. You can choose a name for this tool, uncheck Automatically generate name, or allow SheetCam to name the tool. Fig 34a Most operators will be cutting a variety of materials and thickness. Therefore, you will create a tool to match the cutting conditions for many types of material. The tool we created in this step is generic and may not be the best settings for your particular cutter. I highly recommend cutting the 2inch circle.tap file (2cr.tap), located in the Software CD/Back up folder, to determine the settings that give you the best possible cut with your plasma cutter. Page 24 of 32
Select File, Import Drawing from the menu bar. Navigate to the file you created in Qcad, or open Figure 33a Welcome Complete.dxf located in the Software CD/Welcome folder. Fig 35 Fig 35a Fig 36 Set the Drawing options to match Fig 35a. Create a Plasma cut operation by clicking Operation, Plasma cut or click the plasma operation icon in the Operations window (Fig 36). Page 25 of 32
Set the first operation as shown in Fig 36a (Feed rate and material thickness settings are generic). Contour method can be set 3 ways. Inside Offset will cut inside of the drawing line, Outside Offset will cut outside of the drawing line, and No Offset will cut right on the line. Material thickness can be changed by clicking the Edit material button (Fig 36b). Fig 36a Change the Job options to match Fig 36b. Rapid clearance setting denotes how far above the material the torch should be when moving from the end of one cut to the beginning of the next cut. Click OK, click OK in the Jet cutting window. Fig 36b Page 26 of 32
Create a 2 nd operation. Fig 37 In this operation, we will keep the same contour method and other settings but, choose Layer 0. Click OK. Fig 37a Page 27 of 32
Now we will create the last operation. Notice that the 2 nd operation, in the Operations window, is highlighted and it is shaded white in the drawing display. By selecting the operation we can see what will be cut, and in what order. We can also change the order of operations by left clicking, holding down the mouse key, and dragging the operation to the preferred position. Fig 38 For our final operation, choose Outside offset for the contour method, and Outside layer. Fig 38a Page 28 of 32
Select File/Run post processor, or click the green P icon in the upper left hand corner. For this lesson I used a Eagle plasma (edited) for my post processor. If you have advanced to using Floating Head & THC, use a Eagle plasma FH (edited). To check which processor is in use, select Options/Machine and the post processor tab. Fig 39 Take note of where you are saving the.tap file. In Fig 39a, I am saving to a folder named my DXF s. At this time you can change the name of the file, or SheetCam will use the drawing name. Make sure the file type is G-code (*.tap). Fig 39a In the window shown in Fig 39b, you have the option to hide this message if there are no errors to report. If SheetCam lists errors, they are most likely originating in the.dxf or drawing file. You will have to go back to Qcad and find the errors. Common mistakes are found in connections or intersections of the drawing. Fig 39b Page 29 of 32
Fig 40.1 Fig 40 Open Mach3 with the Mach3 Loader icon, choose the eagleplasma profile. Choose a motion control device. Fig 40a Fig 41 Choose File/Load G-Code or click the Load G-Code button. Navigate to the.tap file created in SheetCam (Fig 41a). Page 30 of 32
Fig 41a Fig 42 Click Reset if it is flashing and with the control box off, press Cycle Start. Mach3 will run the code line by line (Upper left), the coordinates window will show the movements of each axis (Upper center), and the display window crosshairs (Upper right) show X & Y-axis movements, along with a tiny green arrow for Z. The Torch On/Off block will light up when Mach3 sends the signal for torch on. Whenever you are ready, click Stop (Alt-S) and Rewind Ctrl-W. Move X and Y-axes to the zero corner of the table, or material. If you have not changed the stock Eagle Plasma profile, the left arrow key will move X-axis toward its zero, and the down arrow will move Y toward zero. Otherwise, press the arrow keys and watch the numbers in the coordinates window. When the numbers are getting smaller, the axis is moving toward zero. Page 31 of 32
Fig 43 The completed sign is approximately 22.5 wide and 7.5 high. Your material, or metal, must be a few inches larger than the sign s dimensions. Continue moving the X & Y axes toward zero until the torch head is about an inch inside the corner of your metal. This is where we are going to set our X and Y zero in Mach3 by pressing the zero X, zero Y, buttons in the coordinates window (Upper, center of the screen). Notice the information in the display window; the center of the crosshairs is X and Y zero, the red line from that point is where Mach3 will move to start the first cut (mine is the left, inside area of the W). Bring the torch, Z-axis, down until the tip is just touching the metal; press the Zero Z button in the coordinates window. Raise the torch back up to safe travel height. With the plasma cutter turned off, press Cycle Start. Mach3 will begin to execute the G-code. When you are sure that Mach3 is executing the code as you expected, hit Stop and Rewind. Now you can power up the plasma cutter and cut out your sign. Page 32 of 32