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--- pcbetching [2022-02-12 17:54] – jtdburton
+++ pcbetching [2022-02-14 14:49] – [Cutting (CNC)] jtdburton
@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 Open up FlatCam and use File - Open Gerber to load your edge cuts and File - Open Excellon to load your drill plot.
+//Tip: at each stage of the FlatCam process below you can save your settings for next time by going to Options - Transfer options - Object to Application.//
 It's a good idea to go into the "Options" tab at the left here and make sure "mm" is selected as FlatCam defaults to inches.
-Double-click the drill plot in the file list. You can skip over all the CNC settings here, just enter your tool size under "Mill Holes" (a 0.7mm bit is usually good) and click "Generate Geometry".
+Double-click the drill plot in the layer list. You can skip over all the CNC settings here, just enter your tool size under "Mill Holes" (a 0.8mm bit is usually good) and click "Generate Geometry".
-Now go back to the "Project" tab and double-click the new drl_mill layer.
-Enter your CNC settings here. Typical values will be around -1.6mm cut Z (this is the thickness of your board), 1mm travel Z, 200mm/min feed rate, and 10,000 RPM spindle speed. Click "Generate".
-Back in the "Project" tab again, you'll have a new .drl_mill_cnc layer. Double-click this, and enter "M30" in the "Append to G-Code" box (this is an "end of program" signal, and LinuxCNC won't process a file without it). Click "Export G-Code". Grab the SD card from the CNC laptop and save your gcode file on there with the file extension .ngc.
+Now go back to the "Project" tab and double-click the edge cuts layer. Enter the same tool size under "Board cutout" and set your Gap size to something reasonable. This setting creates either two or four gaps in the edge cut so your board doesn't come completely free of the stock. Four 3mm gaps is a good starting point.
-The procedure for the edge cuts is similar. Double-click the .gbr layer in the Project tab, enter your tool size under "Board cutout". The Margin setting is best left at 0. The Gap size setting can be used to add a few points around the  edge of the board where it's not fully cut out from your stock, so it stays anchored in the CNC router. 4mm tabs are a good size. Once all these are set, hit "Generate Geometry". Then go back to the Project tab, double-click the new .gbr_cutout layer, enter your CNC job parameters again, and click "Generate". Back to the Project tab one more time to open up the .gbr_cutout_cnc layer and export the g-code.
+Back in the "Project" tab again, you'll have new .drl_mill and .gbr_cutout layers. Select both of these and go to Edit - Join Geometry. You'll see a new "Combo" layer. Double-click this and enter your CNC settings. Typical values will be around -1.6mm cut Z (this is the thickness of your board), 2mm travel Z, 200mm/min feed rate, and 10,000 RPM spindle speed. Click "Generate".
-Tip: at each stage of the FlatCam process you can save your settings for next time by going to Options - Transfer options - Object to Application.
+Double-click the new "Combo_cnc" layer and enter "M30" in the "Append to G-Code" box (this is an "end of program" signal, and LinuxCNC won't process a file without it). Click "Export G-Code". Grab the SD card from the CNC laptop and save your gcode file on there with the file extension .ngc.
 From here, pop the SD card in the CNC laptop, load it into LinuxCNC, and proceed with the usual CNC process.