I created a simple job in Sheetcam that contained holes and outlines. Holes were assigned to one layer and outlines were assigned to different layer so I could control inside and outside offset.
The job completed successfully and I thought we were done, but then CrossFire returned to initial cutting point and started cutting again as if it had decided to rerun the same program. When I looked at FireControl, it had generated new holes to be cut that had already been cut as if it didn’t remember it had already cut those holes.
I stopped the program, so no foul, but FireControl thinking the job wasn’t completed and recutting what had already been cut is not the first time this has happened.
The picture I attached is of FireControl after the job had completed showing the new holes and the movement paths it generated and wanted to recut after I stopped it from repeating the job.
Any ideas? I searched the forum and couldn’t find any previous discussions.
Post your job file or tap. My first guess is you doubled the operations in sheetcam.
Edit- the easiest way to tell is by what number line your g code was on when it “restarted”
I’ve accidentally restarted cuts before.
Sheetcam also detects closed contours within other closed contours and will adjust the offset accordingly. I haven’t separated layers in a very long time because I design everything as one shape.
As mentioned, there is no need for separate operations for inside and outside offset cuts. Just select “outside offset” and the correct offsets will be applied on inside, outside and open contour cuts.
Firecontrol only does what the code tells it to do, so the extra cuts were definitely in the code generated by Sheetcam. The drawing likely has multiple layers of overlapping contours. In other words, there is a drawing on top of the drawing.
Thank you for your reply.
I checked the Sheetcam jobe operations and there are only 2 operations, cut inside and cut outside. I do this because I required inside and outside lead ins for my shapes so I don’t burn a noticeable hole in the cut paths on the initial pierce, especially on more delicate paths.
I looked at the gcode and found that it does indeed repeat a small part of the complete gcode, which included one outside cut and 3 holes.
I’ll look at it again and see if anything else stands out.
I design in adobe illustrator, but only on a single layer, so no more than one layer is imported into Sheetcam.
My shapes required that I include an inside Lead In on some of the thinner lettering cutouts. Not having used Lead Ins in past projects, the plasma leaves an obvious and unsightly hole along the cut path on initial pierce. Since I include both lead in and lead out cuts, the burn hole is no longer an issue.
It is my understanding that you can only separate Lead In and Lead Out cuts in Sheetcam by separating inside and outside cuts onto separate layers. Are you saying that I don’t have to do that and Sheetcam will automatically program an inside Lead In for inside cuts? That hasn’t been my experience.
Yes. If you select “outside offset” in the jet cutting operation. The following will happen automatically:
it will assign inside contours an inside offset and place the lead in/out on the inside.
it will assign outside contours an outside offset and place lead in/outs on the outside.
it will assign open paths (lines that are not closed shapes) no offset(will cut directly on the line) and no lead in/out. This assumes that you have not clicked the boxes for “offset open paths” and “leadins on open paths”
Note: if you select “inside offset” it will reverse all of the above offsets.
When you import your drawing, it should show outside cuts in Red, inside cuts in Yellow and open paths in White. If those colors are correct on your drawing, selecting “outside offset” in the operation will automatically assign everything correctly.
I have been using Sheetcam for 3 years and I’ve only moved things to another layer twice due to problems with the drawing.
