I have a 2D object 24.5" long that I traced in Fusion 360 calibrated in inches and saved as dxf file. When I open it in Estlcam and select centimeters it loads at the correct scale. When I save it as gcode and drop into CNCjs it is about 22 mm long. Can anyone help me find the translation error?
You can set the workspace size or grid in estlcam. I would guess you need to import it as inches. If that is right and it still isn’t. sized right in cnc.js, then look at milling basics and make sure your export settings are right.
When I import in inches it’s about 2.5 times too big in Estlcam.
I use Fusion360 with design in inches. Export, then import into Estlcam - specifying inches, and it works for me. How are you determining the “2.5 times too big in Estlcam”? What is your grid size set to in estlcam? Just a guess, but if grid size is 10mm a properly imported inch sized line would extend about 2.5 grids…
I am following along, I was trying to generate my first gcodes today for the Cnc (drawing with a pencil) and I was either way too large or way too small.
Thanks
Way too large or too small is almost always units. 25x or 2.5x is usually because of the conversion in software somewhere.
Somewhat too big or too small is usually steps/mm. Sometimes people will buy 20T pulleys by accident, for example, so it will be 20% too big.
Barely too big or small (1%ish) is usually about picking the right options in cam to work around mechanical flex.
That is sounds like a voice of experience troubleshooting. Thanks.
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Are you using Inkscape to make your files? If you save as DXF it ask you what units you want the file to be saved as, you probably don’t have that set to inches when you save. I leave mine set to mm and just set my grid to be inches in Estlcam.
Let’s try this again.
I traced a PDF in Fusion 360 after calibrating the PDF to 22" long then saved it as a dxf. I opened the dxf in Estlcam and selected inches. In Estlcam the object is 56" long. When I save as a gcode and drop into CNCjs the object is 56mm long (CNCjs does not have an inches setting that I can find).
It sounds like you’ve got two problems then. One is that you have a setting wrong in estlcam settings. Check them against the ones in milling basics. Marlin will not do inches.
The other is the 22/56. 56/24=2.54. So it looks like fusion is exporting in cm. So you were correct to import it in cm in estlcam. Estlcam can do the conversion properly, as long as it is imported with the right units.
OK, I finally got it right. Fusion 360 is apparently exporting in cm so I have to load into Estlcam in cm. In Estlcam basic settings I had to set [Length unit Estlcam] to cm and [Length unit CNC programs] to mm.