Free CNC software imports, flattens, nests, Sketchup files

[tomlang]

I just returned from a seminar on Vectric software which I use daily with my Shopbot CNC machine.

Trial Version: http://www.vectric.com/products/vcp/trial.html

The latest version of the VCarve Pro has a unique and clever way to import Sketchup files. Provided the Sketchup files are arranged according to components (The T18 Tuba and David Sketchup files I have from Bill are and I suspect the rest are as well), these components can be imported directly into the trial version VCarve Pro software. When you import a .skp file, a dialog pops up with a series of questions, relevant to CNC machining but also of some use to those who want to see what the panels look like laid out on a sheet of plywood, the size of your choosing (you set the size in the software).

In a matter of seconds, the image below shows what the T18 panels look like imported and arranged on a 4x8 sheet of plywood. From there, you can use the dimension tool to find angles and distances to lay out your parts and print out the results. I used the Snipping tool to save the .jpg but you can print directly from the trial software. I purposely did not dimension any critical items to protect the intellectual property.

Since each part is looked down from above, you can see a double line where the part has an angled edge. You would still have to use the Sketchup model itself to set a table saw angle but in my case, where everything is cut via the CNC machine, there is a new gadget from Vectric coming out in June 2014 that will automatically generate and machine the miters on each piece using a 3-axis CNC machine!

I suggest viewing the following videos referenced in this Vectric forum post if you are interested.

http://forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=19906

[LelandCrooks]

Awesome. Thanks.

[Wingman]

thank you.