CNC DXF FILES

[lorenzo]

Hello

First of all apologies if this is in the wrong part of the forum.

I use vectorworks 2017 fundamentals to design parts to be cut out on my  shapeoko XL CNC machine , i then export the file to a dxf and import it to carbide create to produce machine tool paths etc.

this works great on the 27" iMac .

If i do exactly the same process and export options on my mac book pro 13" or the MacBook pro 15" i come up with an LUA error

all the machines have the same software and all are up to date with build numbers and updates

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

Thanks in advance

laurence

 

[Claes Lundstrom]

Check that you have the same (A) Codex and (B) Line Feed settings in both files in a programming oriented word processor such as BB Edit or Text Wrangler. Some of these programs have problems with Mac style line feeds, which are different from Windows style line feeds. 

 

 

/Claes

 

 

 

[lorenzo]

Thanks Claes

BB Edit won't load the dxf and all my machines are Mac running VW 2017

I did have trouble with Vectorworks 2015 loading on one machine when I upgraded the operating system

Mac 27" Sierra would not run VW 2015

but Mac book pro 15" laptop running Sierra would run  VW 2015 fine

 

The company that sold me Vectorworks said some machines it runs on  some it does not

and charged me £1500 for an upgrade to 2017

cheers

 

 

bb.dxf

[Claes Lundstrom]

These milling programs often tend to be both a bit flaky and fragile, so here are a few other tips:

 

- Save as an older version of DXF (try V14 or V12)

- Simplify as much as possible:

      - Avoid using symbols

     -  Avoid using filled objects 

      - Explode (decompose in VW) objects before exporting and then Undo it back to civilization once exported (many programs have problems with VW polylines consisting of a mixture of corner types, holes etc,  

        even from bigger suppliers like Adobe, Graphtec Silhouette Studio, etc)

      - Check that the receiving program actually reads curves properly. A super safe bet if it's a problem is to use lines, arcs and circles only for 2D paths. 

      - Export DXF as TEXT and not Binary

- Export and the import it again into VW to see if it reads properly. Test import the model in another free program such as Draftsight or SolidWorks E-drawings (none of them are particularly nice to work with but they do have very competent import filters). 

[lorenzo]

Thanks for you comments Claes

 

The issue is with the 2nd computer

same CNC programme

same Vectorworks programme

same operating system

everything identical

 

Still the dxf won't load

 

The Hunt goes on

 

Happy new year

 

[Claes Lundstrom]

Step 2 are as follows:

 

Import the DXF again into VW. Does it work? Try importing it into another program for reference, for example SolidWorks E-drawings or Dassault Draftsight (Both can be download for free). Does it work ?

 

If it works, you can be pretty sure that there is something wrong with the CNC side. Check with the supplier. Re-install, and so on.