My first experience with nesting software was last week. I’m using DeepNest. I use Fusion for all my CAD/CAM, but I also have EstlCAM and I’m mildly proficient with Inkscape because I have a Glowforge. Anyway, I ran into a couple of challenges.
The first issue I had was DeepNest resizing parts. In my case, the original drawings were in inches and were in dwg format. Note: I’m keen on paying close attention to my units when importing/exporting because of my laser experience, but I prefer metric and my default units in Inkscape and Fusion are mm. Deepnest only does dxf and svg, so I uploaded the dwg to Fusion and converted it to a dxf, still in inches. DeepNest has settings for dxf import units and export units. It also has PX settings for svg files as that is a common unit used in vector art. Anyhow, I import my dxf as inches and after nesting, export as a dxf in mm. When I import the nested dxf into Fusion, the parts are all about 25% smaller! My workaround is to export from DeepNest as an svg, open in Inkscape and save each nested sheet as a dxf. When I import this dxf, all is (almost) well. The parts are all the correct size, and Inkscape has substantially reduced the number of points and/or vector nodes so it doesn’t choke down Fusion. And that leads me to my next issue, the center points of my circles are gone. Not sure if they were deleted by DeepNest, or Inkscape because I didn’t have time to chase every lead once I found a way. Now here’s the problem with circles with no center point.
For some reason, Fusion’s CAM function doesn’t like holes in bodies that are made when extruding around base circles with no center point. You lose drilling and boring functions. Pocketing still works, but only for holes significantly larger than the bit diameter. My workaround is to draw new 2 point circles on top of the existing circles. That creates a center point that allows drilling. But unless you delete the original circle and then extrude the body around your new base circles, you still can’t bore. Best bet would be to not lose the center points.
If you have dealt with this and can see where I may be dropping the ball, please advise. I’m going to start a second project soon and would like to avoid repeating this journey if possible.