I have been digging around this site, the wiki and the interwebs about drag knives. While I found a nice design to print tomorrow for the actual knife, I am lost as to what software to use.
Can Carbide Create along with the excel spreadsheet from Donek create the right GCode? What packages do others use? Has anyone used Fusion 360 for this?
Thanks for any info.
Austinious
In order to use Carbide Create you’ll need to use the technique for getting from .egc to standard G-code:
In addition to the Donek spreadsheet the one other software tool I’m aware of (listed at: Shapeoko CNC Router, Rigid, Accurate, Reliable, and Affordable ) is:
Alternately:
If a design will accommodate rounding all of the corners, one can cut it without the need for special cornering action moves. Without them, any CAM software should give you a workable result with a Drag Knife. Simply use an engraving style (follow) toolpath which follows the line in your design which you would wish to have cut.[28]
Thanks, it’s a place to start experimenting, which is what I needed.
There is a drag knife widget in Vcarve Pro that I plan to try some time. Gotta make a vacuum table first though and it hasn’t been a priority.
Thanks, the price tag on the software is killing me, especially when there is so much that is free.
SheetCam has optional drag knife support.