So I’ve got my ER11 collets finally so tomorrow I will try (for the first time) at cutting something. I’m going to put a spoil board in place and I will need to run a flat bit over it to cut it so it’s level.
How do I do this on estlcam? The bit would obviously need to travel the whole X or Y, move over abit, then go back and so on until the whole board is done.
Is there a Gcode that someone can share or a tutorial how to draw that on a design software?
I created a box in 123design the size of my cutting surface, exported to dxf. Opened that in estlcam and put the zero at the center, then did a hole with a pocket and peel cut it at .5mm depth of cut. You could use anything to make the dxf, but any program that works like adobe illustrator(inkscape) just confuses the crap out of me.
Thanks Barry. I get the box part and .5mm depth of cut, but how will this do the whole board? Do I have to make a box inside a box inside another box and so on? until I get to the centre? Sorry but very new to all this?
No, you just make one big box (I would use libreCAD, but not trying to start a flame war). You then do a pocket operation in EstlCAM, which will compute the coordinates to cut out the whole thing.
You’d just click hole, then the box, then the pocket button.
Just play with it a little, try the different pocket strategies and look at the preview.
If you make a pocket in Estlcam like Barry mentions it will clear everything inside the pocket. That’s why its called pocket. Play with the Estlcam program a bit and it will show you the toolpaths in a preview so you can see how it will cut. I will be doing this myself soon. Good luck!