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00:00:00
hey everyone today we're going to be00:00:01
looking at the top most common mistakes00:00:03
that I see people make with vetc00:00:05
software and if you don't know who I am00:00:07
my name is Kyle elely and I teach vetri00:00:10
in my online programs called learn your00:00:12
CNC Academy I've helped trained over00:00:15
6,000 students already and I've seen00:00:17
lots of mistakes being made with those00:00:19
students and today I'm going to00:00:21
summarize those top 10 mistakes in this00:00:23
video to hopefully help you avoid making00:00:25
those mistakes and if you want to learn00:00:27
more about my vetri training programs00:00:29
you can check those links out down in00:00:30
the description if you really want to00:00:32
take your vetc skills to the next level00:00:35
but let's get started and we're going to00:00:37
be covering our first mistake and that00:00:39
is forgetting to set your material size00:00:42
correctly this is a very common mistake00:00:44
people make when they first starting out00:00:46
even when you get more experience you00:00:48
still may forget this step but when you00:00:50
are first setting up your job it is00:00:52
critical that you set up your job size00:00:55
correctly now this may seem very basic00:00:58
but this will make a big difference when00:01:00
whether your project is successful or00:01:01
not so here's an example I'm setting up00:01:04
a job 12 x 12 in and my material00:01:07
thickness is set to 1 in and also pay00:01:10
attention to your zero positions but00:01:13
once you have that all set up if you go00:01:15
check out what this looks like on your00:01:16
CNC machine it's going to look something00:01:19
like this so you can see the work piece00:01:22
that we're working with is 12x 12 and is00:01:25
exactly 1 in thick the thickness is the00:01:28
most critical in most most cases to get00:01:30
your tool path correct because if this00:01:33
material thickness is different from00:01:35
what you enter into vric that will make00:01:38
a big difference whether or not your00:01:40
tool pass will cut correctly you may00:01:42
have even experienced this if you've00:01:44
been using cnc's for a while your00:01:46
machine actually cuts into your spoil00:01:49
board below your material and a lot of00:01:52
times that is caused by either having00:01:54
the incorrect material thickness set up00:01:57
or having your zero not zero correctly00:02:00
on your machine so keep that in mind00:02:02
whenever you're working with material00:02:04
measure it very accurately and it's even00:02:07
more useful if you have a digital00:02:09
caliper or set of calipers that you can00:02:11
measure the thickness of your material00:02:13
because that will produce a much better00:02:16
result if you have that entered in as00:02:19
accurately as possible and that takes us00:02:21
to our second mistake that I see very00:02:23
commonly and that is not zeroing your00:02:26
z-axis at the correct00:02:28
location so you notice when you set up a00:02:31
project you're going to have two options00:02:33
for setting up your z0 position that is00:02:36
going to be on the material surface at00:02:38
the top or on the machine bed which is00:02:41
going to be below your material both of00:02:43
those are going to allow you for zeroing00:02:47
at a different location sometimes you00:02:49
may want to use one over the other some00:02:51
common things that I would use the00:02:53
material surface zero position for is if00:02:56
you're doing Pockets or VC carving or00:02:59
inlay or anything on the surface of your00:03:01
material where the thickness of your00:03:03
material is not as00:03:05
critical and then the times I would use00:03:07
the machine bed as my zero position is00:03:10
if I'm Machining all the way through the00:03:12
material with a bunch of profile Cuts or00:03:15
let's say you're doing a 3D carve and00:03:17
your material surface is going to be all00:03:19
removed away you may want to zero off of00:03:22
the machine bed that way you have a00:03:24
consistent zero location you can always00:03:26
reference from now I will tell you this00:03:28
if you zero off the material surface00:03:32
your thickness is not going to be as00:03:34
critical to get it exact and that's00:03:36
because you're referencing from that top00:03:39
surface if you zero off of your machine00:03:42
bed that's going to be when it's going00:03:44
to be more critical to get that00:03:46
thickness more00:03:48
accurate because your vric software is00:03:51
zeroing from the bottom of your material00:03:54
so it will be referencing from the00:03:55
thickness that you have entered into00:03:57
vric so if that's incorrect your tool00:04:00
path depths are going to be incorrect00:04:02
and we can take a look at that in a00:04:04
machine example this 1in thickness that00:04:07
we have set here if this was correct and00:04:11
if you were zeroing off of the material00:04:12
surface in the lower left corner this is00:04:15
exactly how you would zero this and like00:04:17
I said if your material thickness was a00:04:19
little bit off let's take this material00:04:22
and make it a little bit thicker as an00:04:24
example so now it is greater than 1 in00:04:28
and you can see now it's 1 1 and00:04:30
316 so that 3/16 difference would be00:04:33
made up for when you zero this off of00:04:36
the material surface so this would now00:04:39
be zeroed up here at that top00:04:44
surface and your carving would not have00:04:47
an effect if you're just Machining on00:04:49
the surface of that material for example00:04:52
a pocket a VC carving or an inlay00:04:55
anything like that in the top surface00:04:57
will not be affected the depth will00:04:59
still save the same as you programmed it00:05:01
in00:05:02
vric however if you had a profile cut00:05:05
cutting all the way through your00:05:06
material it's only going to cut that 100:05:08
in depth that you set it in vric and00:05:11
then that extra material is going to be00:05:13
left over at the bottom that's when the00:05:16
issue would come into play now if we00:05:18
look at this from a different00:05:19
perspective if you were to zero this00:05:21
tool off of the machine bed instead00:05:23
inside of vric then your zero location00:05:27
if we move this down to the bottom00:05:30
would look more like that and if we set00:05:32
this job in vetri as being 1 in thick00:05:36
that extra material is going to be at00:05:37
the top now and vetri is not going to00:05:39
know that extra material is there so if00:05:42
you don't have your bit raising up high00:05:44
enough to clear that you're going to00:05:46
have issues with it crashing into that00:05:47
top surface material and then another00:05:50
thing you're going to have is if you do00:05:51
any Pockets or any cuts on the surface00:05:55
of the material it's not going to be00:05:57
cutting the correct depth because of00:05:59
that extra material that is now above00:06:01
the material where you set it in vric so00:06:04
if I were to put a guideline here at 100:06:07
in in00:06:08
thickness right here is all the extra00:06:11
material above so this is the 1 in mark00:06:14
That's where vric thinks your material00:06:15
top surfaces because that's what you00:06:17
entered in vric and it's not going to00:06:20
know all this extra materials here and00:06:22
then like I said if you have a pocket00:06:25
set up to cut a half inch deep it would00:06:27
be referencing from this line at a/ in00:06:30
so it'll cut down to here and you will00:06:34
see if we measure this from this top00:06:37
surface to here is 1 in and that is what00:06:39
we set vric to set up as and then from00:06:44
here to here it's still cutting that/00:06:46
inch depth like we programmed it but if00:06:50
your material is actually thicker than00:06:52
what's shown here you could see the00:06:54
depth is actually going to be greater00:06:56
and that's all because we're referencing00:06:58
from the bottom of of your material00:07:00
which is your machine bed so hopefully00:07:02
you understand that a little bit better00:07:04
and keep those two tips in mind when you00:07:06
are setting up your jobs and when you're00:07:08
setting up your zero location inside of00:07:10
vric software now mistake number three00:07:13
that I see a lot of people make is using00:07:15
the wrong tool for the job now as you00:07:17
may know there's many different CNC bits00:07:20
that you can choose from there's00:07:22
endmills there's ballnose bits there's00:07:24
compression bits V bits tapered balln00:07:28
there's surfacing bits there's all types00:07:30
of bits and many different ones to00:07:32
choose from and when you're first00:07:34
starting out with vric it's going to be00:07:35
really hard to determine which bit you00:07:37
actually need to use for each job each00:07:40
bit has their own specific purposes and00:07:43
also depends on the material you're00:07:44
using so there's so many different00:07:46
options you can choose from whether or00:07:49
not your project is going to turn out as00:07:51
a good result or a bad result so a lot00:07:53
of this is going to come with experience00:07:55
the more you use the tools the more00:07:57
you're going to recognize when you00:07:59
should use them and when you should not00:08:00
use them and if you're just starting out00:08:02
and you're not sure when to use which00:08:04
tools I do have a vric tool path cheat00:08:07
sheet that I made that tells you which00:08:09
tools can be used for each different00:08:11
tool path this is a free download you00:08:13
can get I'll link it down in the00:08:15
description if you want to check that00:08:16
out for more information on selecting00:08:18
the right tools for your jobs and00:08:20
speaking of tool pass that brings us to00:08:22
our next mistake that I see commonly00:08:24
made and that is not previewing the tool00:08:27
path before running your job and this00:08:29
could even be that you do preview it but00:08:31
you may not be previewing it closely00:08:33
enough and I'll show you what I mean by00:08:34
that in this example of a 3D model that00:08:37
I created and you'll see we have three00:08:39
different tool paths for this job we00:08:41
have a 3D roughing 3D finish and a00:08:44
profile tool path so if we go to our00:08:48
preview tool path option and click00:08:50
preview all tool paths you can see00:08:52
there's the 3D roughing after that's00:08:55
done it's going to do the 3D finish tool00:08:57
path and then when that is complete00:08:59
complete it's going to do a final00:09:01
profile cut to cut the shape out and if00:09:03
we look at this when it's done it looks00:09:05
really good and in most cases you would00:09:08
be thinking that this is going to be all00:09:10
good and you're ready to cut this out so00:09:13
you'll go ahead and save your tool path00:09:15
and run it on your machine only to find00:09:17
out when you run it on your machine00:09:19
there's going to be issues that you're00:09:21
going to come across those issues could00:09:23
have been found if we looked at this00:09:25
tool path a little bit closer and slowed00:09:28
things down a bit so when I'm doing a00:09:30
job like this I like to preview it just00:09:32
like we did here just to make sure the00:09:34
final result is where we want it which00:09:36
this does look great I would be happy if00:09:38
it carved just like this however after I00:09:42
do that preview of what the final result00:09:44
looks like I want to take a better00:09:46
closer inspection to make sure I'm not00:09:48
going to have any issues with the tool00:09:50
pass crashing into things cutting too00:09:53
deep or doing something they're not00:09:55
supposed to be doing this is going to be00:09:57
another one of those things that come00:09:58
with experience00:10:00
but as you preview these you can see we00:10:02
can reset the preview and now if we00:10:05
wanted to we can preview them one at a00:10:07
time and that's what I like to do just00:10:10
so I can take a closer look not only00:10:12
that up in the top where it says tool00:10:15
pass if you go to preview simulation00:10:17
quality it's going to be default to00:10:20
standard if you turn this up to a higher00:10:23
quality this will preview the tool path00:10:26
at a much higher quality now if you have00:10:28
a slow computer this might slow it down00:10:30
a little bit but this is just the00:10:31
preview quality and it's going to be00:10:33
much better quality if you turn this up00:10:36
so you see if I turn this up to maximum00:10:38
and take a look at that first tool path00:10:40
the 3D roughing you can click preview00:10:44
and not only can you change the quality00:10:46
you'll see the quality is going to slow00:10:47
down a little bit you can also change00:10:50
the speed slider here in the tool path00:10:53
preview settings and by slowing this00:10:56
down allows you to take a better closer00:10:58
look at what this tool path is actually00:11:00
doing if you don't see this tool showing00:11:03
up in your 3D preview you want to make00:11:06
sure the draw tool option is turned on00:11:08
and also the animate preview option is00:11:10
turned on in your preview tool bath00:11:13
settings also if you're using an older00:11:15
version before version 12 you're not00:11:17
going to be able to move your view as00:11:19
it's previewing so version 12 and above00:11:22
you can actually zoom in take a better00:11:24
look you can move around your view to be00:11:27
able to keep an eye on everything as00:11:28
it's PR previewing that's a really nice00:11:30
feature that they added in version 12 so00:11:33
we can speed this back up and also if00:11:37
it's going very slow for you and you00:11:39
have to abort this preview you can click00:11:42
the red X down on the lower right corner00:11:45
that's going to stop your 3D preview and00:11:48
then if you want to change your00:11:50
simulation quality and turn it down a00:11:52
little bit to have it go a little faster00:11:55
you can do that it will reset every time00:11:57
you change that quality now we can00:12:00
preview that 3D roughing again and00:12:02
you'll see this will preview much00:12:04
faster so as we're previewing this you00:12:07
can see this one does not look bad it's00:12:09
cutting one depth per pass and it's00:12:13
doing multiple passes that's how we have00:12:14
it set up in the tool path it's cutting00:12:16
at a raster 45° angle and everything's00:12:20
looking good this is with a larger00:12:22
quarter inch NM so with this I think00:12:25
it's going to be okay nothing looks out00:12:28
of place there no really deep Cuts or00:12:31
anything like that so I would be happy00:12:33
with running that tool path now let's go00:12:35
to our next tool path which is the 3D00:12:37
finish tool path this is going to be00:12:39
with a smaller 16inch tapered ball nose00:12:42
so this smaller bit anytime you're using00:12:44
that smaller bit you want to make sure00:12:48
you don't cut really deep in any areas00:12:50
in one full depth pass and if you're00:12:53
familiar with 3D finish tool pass they00:12:56
always cut in one full depth pass so any00:12:59
Parts you're going to have to be careful00:13:00
of this is a very common thing that I00:13:02
see happen where people break bits or00:13:06
ruin a project because they were not00:13:07
paying attention to this so if we slow00:13:10
down the preview again and click preview00:13:13
for this second tool path you can see00:13:15
this is starting at the00:13:17
bottom and although it looks okay if you00:13:20
take a closer look you can see when it00:13:23
gets to the edge of the project it's00:13:25
going over the side you can even slow00:13:27
this down more if you need to00:13:29
and you can see the bit travels across00:13:31
the surface and then drops down the full00:13:34
depth of that cut and not only cuts that00:13:39
really deep but also cuts the sidewall00:13:42
you can see this really tall sidewall00:13:45
here it's cutting all that at the same00:13:47
time every time it plunges across the00:13:49
bottom of the edge of that sign and on00:13:52
both sides is doing that so that's going00:13:55
to be very stressful for that tool not00:13:57
only that if the cut flutes are not tall00:14:00
enough on that it's also going to be00:14:02
rubbing on the side here where it's00:14:04
really deep and could cause burning or00:14:06
even start a fire so you have to be very00:14:09
careful of that so this I would consider00:14:13
as not a good technique for this00:14:15
specific tool00:14:16
path so right there like I said before00:14:19
when we previewed it it looked fine from00:14:22
an overall view but now that we're00:14:24
looking at this closer and slowing down00:14:26
and zooming in to those locations we can00:14:29
see this is going to be a big issue when00:14:31
it comes time to actually run this tool00:14:33
path if you ever ran a tool path like00:14:35
this you would know the issues that00:14:38
causes when it goes over the edge like00:14:40
that it's going to make a real loud00:14:41
noise every time it cuts into that00:14:43
deeper part especially if this is a00:14:45
hardwood or something you're most likely00:14:47
going to break the bit or ruin the00:14:49
project and if your machine is not00:14:52
really sturdy you can also cause your00:14:54
machine to skip a step or something and00:14:57
then your quality is not going to be up00:14:59
to par with what you're looking for so00:15:02
what we want to do is get rid of this00:15:03
tool going over the edge like it is now00:15:06
because we have a profile tool path at00:15:08
the end that cuts that edge anyways so00:15:10
we do not need this to go over the edge00:15:13
so what I would do in this case is I00:15:15
would stop the preview and then double00:15:17
click on that tool path to open it up00:15:20
figure out what the issue is in most00:15:22
cases with a tool path like this it's00:15:25
this boundary offset number here so you00:15:29
would either have to get rid of that set00:15:30
it to zero or set it lower than what you00:15:33
have already and I'm just going to get00:15:35
rid of it and set it to zero and then go00:15:38
ahead and calculate the tool path again00:15:40
after that tool path is calculated00:15:42
you're going to be able to see if00:15:44
there's any changes made you can see00:15:46
already that the tool path preview is00:15:48
not showing that tool path going over00:15:50
the edge at all now it's staying above00:15:52
the surface this is another really good00:15:55
way to see if you have really deep parts00:15:57
of your tool path you can turn on the00:15:59
check mark next to the tool path to turn00:16:01
on the visibility and take a look at it00:16:03
in the 3D view to see if there's any00:16:05
really deep parts of that tool path this00:16:08
looks much better now so what we can do00:16:11
is you can actually click undo last and00:16:15
it'll undo that last preview that we00:16:16
just saw and now we can select that tool00:16:18
path again click preview selected tool00:16:21
path and if we take a better look at00:16:24
this now you can see it's no longer00:16:25
going really deep in those edges of the00:16:28
sign so now we can speed it up if we00:16:30
need to and this looks much more00:16:34
reasonable it's no longer plunging real00:16:37
deep and it's no longer cutting to those00:16:39
sidewalls you can see it just caught00:16:41
that little sidewall there so that might00:16:43
be another issue we need to fix and that00:16:45
could be fixed by putting an offset00:16:47
bigger on the roughing tool path as you00:16:50
could see we wouldn't have seen that if00:16:52
we did not zoom in and slow down the00:16:54
tool path to take a better look so this00:16:56
what I recommend anytime you're dealing00:16:58
with with tool paths that you're not00:17:00
sure of or a new project or a tool path00:17:04
that's going to take a really long time00:17:06
to cut because you don't want those to00:17:08
mess up halfway through a really long00:17:11
carve we're going to let this preview00:17:13
all the way through and keep an eye on00:17:16
it as it's going00:17:17
through you can see after that's done we00:17:20
can also zoom in take a look make sure00:17:22
nothing cut out of the ordinary or real00:17:25
deep or anything like that the only00:17:27
issue I saw this time was that little00:17:29
bit of a sidewall that it caught right00:17:31
here in this corner I don't think it'd00:17:33
be a huge issue but we could fix that by00:17:36
setting the roughing with a larger00:17:38
offset but other than that this looks00:17:41
really good now that you're happy with00:17:44
it then we can double check the last00:17:46
tool path which in this case is a00:17:48
profile tool path and you can slow this00:17:50
one down and preview and you could see00:17:54
this one is going to cut out the outside00:17:57
and you can speed it up however ever you00:17:59
need to it's going to do multiple passes00:18:01
and cut that final shape out so this one00:18:04
is one I'm happy with I think that'll be00:18:06
fine you can always add tabs or anything00:18:08
else you need to but previewing those00:18:11
tool paths really closely like that is00:18:13
going to help you find those mistakes00:18:15
and allow you to save yourself lots of00:18:17
headaches and broken bits and we all00:18:19
know we don't like to break bits so if00:18:21
you can avoid that definitely take the00:18:24
extra time to take a look at those tool00:18:26
passs a little bit closer and now that00:18:28
brings us to our next common mistake00:18:29
that I see people make and that is00:18:31
running tool pass without setting the00:18:33
correct feed and speeds for that00:18:35
specific tool this is another one of00:18:37
those topics that is going to vary00:18:39
widely and also be based on experience00:18:41
it is hard to recommend exact feed and00:18:44
speeds that is going to work for00:18:45
everyone's situation every machine every00:18:48
material and every setup is all a little00:18:51
bit different so there's no set answer00:18:53
that's going to answer this 100% however00:18:56
there is a great way to get as close as00:18:58
you can the first try and then alter it00:19:00
from there if you need to and that is by00:19:03
going to the manufacturer's website or00:19:05
wherever you purchased your CNC bits and00:19:08
a lot of those if you scroll down on00:19:10
their Pages you will see a download00:19:13
section that has the feed and speech00:19:16
chart if you click on that this is going00:19:19
to give you different tools that you can00:19:22
set up for different diameters of the00:19:24
tools different materials that you can00:19:26
set it up for and recommend recomended00:19:29
feed and speed options now you do have00:19:31
to be careful with these feed and speeds00:19:33
as you can see in the top right corner00:19:35
this is for industrial setups so a lot00:19:38
of these feed and speeds are not going00:19:40
to be as useful for those of you using a00:19:43
smaller hobby machine you can use that00:19:44
as a general reference however just be00:19:47
careful you don't go too fast and you00:19:49
also have to be careful you don't go too00:19:51
slow one common thing I see people make00:19:54
is slowing down their tool path because00:19:56
they're afraid to break the bit how00:19:58
however going too slow is actually00:20:00
really dangerous for your bits as well00:20:03
and the reason for that is the slower00:20:05
you go the more friction it's going to00:20:07
build up on that bit and the more heat00:20:09
it's going to generate and that heat is00:20:12
what really kills your bits and makes00:20:14
the sharpness and durability wear out00:20:17
very fast not only that that heat is00:20:19
going to transfer to your collet and00:20:21
that's also going to wear your CET down00:20:22
most people don't know that collet needs00:20:24
to be replaced every once in a while as00:20:25
well because of that heat getting cooled00:20:28
and Heating cooled and heating it's00:20:30
going to really break down that material00:20:32
so the less heat you generate on your00:20:34
bits the better and longer they're going00:20:37
to last and the best way to reduce the00:20:40
heat build up on your bit is to run00:20:42
those tool paths faster so in reality00:20:45
your goal should be to cut as fast as00:20:47
you can without causing issues or00:20:50
breaking bits now that sounds backwards00:20:53
for those of you getting started because00:20:55
I know when I started I always try to00:20:57
run as slow as I can I wasn't concerned00:20:59
about how long it took however what I00:21:01
didn't know is by going so slow I was00:21:03
wearing down my bits and then when I did00:21:05
Future projects they just didn't turn00:21:08
out as well as I wanted them to and I00:21:10
didn't know the cause was because I was00:21:12
cutting too slow so what I would00:21:14
recommend is checking out these feed and00:21:17
speed settings from these different00:21:19
manufacturers see what they recommend00:21:21
you can see some of them get pretty high00:21:23
like 345 in per minute most hobby00:21:27
machines are not going to be able to00:21:28
handle those00:21:29
but this is also a larger bit that most00:21:31
hobby machines are not going to be00:21:32
running either so I would stick more00:21:35
with the smaller bits like/ qu inch00:21:38
diameter or less and you see this one00:21:40
recommends 180 in per minute in wood or00:21:43
plywood if your machine can handle that00:21:46
that's great go for it if your machine00:21:48
cannot handle those speeds then dial it00:21:50
down just a little bit but try not to go00:21:53
too slow like I mentioned and a little00:21:55
trick is if you have to slow it down a00:21:57
little bit you can reduce your cut depth00:21:58
per pass which will be easier on your00:22:01
machine so if you have a hobby machine00:22:03
that can't handle these speeds at least00:22:06
you can run a smaller depth per pass00:22:08
which will allow you to run a little bit00:22:09
faster rather than trying to cut a00:22:11
really deep pass at a really slow feed00:22:13
rate so those are some things to keep in00:22:15
mind you will have to study up on these00:22:18
and get some experience with a lot of00:22:19
practice like I said there's no one00:22:22
answer to answer everyone's speed and00:22:23
feed questions so practice practice00:22:26
practice that's going to make it a lot00:22:28
easier for you you to get a little bit00:22:29
better at that as you get more00:22:31
experience now let's go to mistake00:22:33
number six that I see people commonly00:22:35
make with vric and that is forgetting to00:22:38
add tabs or making them too small and00:22:41
this is going to be if you use tabs or00:22:43
not some people love tabs some people00:22:45
hate tabs and some people don't even00:22:47
know about what tabs are I personally00:22:50
try to stay away from tabs when I can00:22:52
but when I do need them they come in00:22:54
really handy I'll show you some tips on00:22:56
using tabs and if you don't know what00:22:59
tabs are they are basically little00:23:01
bridges that hold your material in place00:23:03
after you're done cutting it out and00:23:05
then you have to clean those up later to00:23:08
be able to remove your parts from your00:23:10
material and they are in the 2D profile00:23:12
tool path if you were to cut an object00:23:15
out you'll see if I do this tool path00:23:18
cutting all the way through with no tabs00:23:20
added I'll just calculate this and click00:23:24
preview it's going to cut all of our00:23:26
parts out but as you'll see esecially00:23:28
with these smaller parts like the middle00:23:30
of this letter A those pieces are going00:23:32
to want to break free and possibly cause00:23:36
some issues when they pop out of there00:23:39
or they even get sucked up in your dust00:23:41
collection and maybe clog up your dust00:23:43
collection hose or something like that00:23:45
but these can all cause issues as you're00:23:48
cutting those smaller parts out if you00:23:50
have certain hold down methods like00:23:52
double-sided tape tape in superg glue00:23:55
method or sometimes even a vacuum table00:23:58
that can help help hold some of these00:23:59
parts but sometimes even with those00:24:01
methods when you get a really small part00:24:04
it could cause issues with them breaking00:24:06
free so that's when Tabs are going to00:24:08
come in place to keep those parts held00:24:10
in place and not cause issues when00:24:12
you're cutting all the way through your00:24:14
material so the way to add tabs is to go00:24:17
to your 2D View and open up your profile00:24:20
tool path and there's going to be an00:24:22
option that says add tabs to Tool path00:24:24
you're going to select that and you can00:24:27
specify the length and thickness here00:24:29
these you don't want too big because00:24:31
it's going to cause you to have more00:24:32
cleanup work later but you also don't00:24:34
want them too small because then they00:24:37
will break easily and they may even00:24:39
break before you cut your tool path all00:24:41
the way out so you're going to have to00:24:43
have some kind of balance there where00:24:44
you make them big enough to hold but not00:24:47
too big where it's going to cause you00:24:48
cleanup issues later if you're worried00:24:50
about them then bigger is going to be00:24:52
better in this case it just causes you00:24:54
more cleanup work later but if you make00:24:57
them too small I've had issues00:24:59
especially in solid wood where they00:25:01
break before I even finish cutting the00:25:03
tool path and then those tabs are kind00:25:06
of useless because they already broke so00:25:08
just be careful of that and once you set00:25:11
up your size I typically go a length of/00:25:14
in to 3/4 if it's a material I know it's00:25:18
going to hold well if it's a material00:25:19
that I'm worried about I'll go a little00:25:21
bit bigger for the length and then00:25:23
thickness I usually go at least an00:25:25
eighth of an inch and then like I said00:25:27
if I'm more worried about it I can go00:25:29
bigger sometimes I even go up to a/4 in00:25:32
so you can decide the size that you like00:25:34
for your tabs and then to place them00:25:36
into a location you're going to click00:25:38
the edit tabs button there is a form00:25:40
here to automatically set them up and00:25:42
you could set up exact number you wanted00:25:44
let's say four and you can avoid the00:25:47
corners and curve regions and then you00:25:50
can click add tabs and you'll see if00:25:52
you're using text it's going to give you00:25:53
this message letting you know you have00:25:55
to convert it to vectors first so I'm00:25:58
going to click yes to convert it and now00:26:00
you can see those tabs been00:26:02
automatically generated however I would00:26:04
highly recommend to double check these00:26:06
and make sure they're in a location it's00:26:09
going to be easy for you to clean up00:26:11
later for example you want to stay away00:26:14
from any sharp Corners like this or any00:26:17
tight Corners where it's going to be00:26:18
hard to clean those up so this one I00:26:21
would not want so you can either click00:26:23
on those to remove them or you can click00:26:25
on the tab and drag it to a new location00:26:27
typ quickly I would like to put them in00:26:29
a long stretch somewhere in the middle00:26:32
where it's easier to get access to those00:26:35
I want to stay away from corners or any00:26:38
areas that's going to be hard to clean00:26:40
up and typically the way I would clean00:26:42
these is with a flush trim router bit on00:26:45
either a router table or a handheld00:26:47
router so you can go through each part00:26:50
and individually place these tabs00:26:52
wherever you like also if you have two00:26:54
parts that are close together to another00:26:57
you can put a tab close like that where00:26:59
they line up that way there is a bridge00:27:02
going all the way across between those00:27:04
two cutout shapes that's going to help00:27:06
hold that better so keep that in mind00:27:09
whenever you're adding tabs like this00:27:11
and you have Parts close together you00:27:13
want to make sure everything's going to00:27:14
be held together even this part here we00:27:17
can line these up a little bit better00:27:19
one above the other that way it's going00:27:21
to be a little bit stronger in that00:27:23
location so of course the more tabs you00:27:26
add the stronger it's going to hold how00:27:28
however that's going to also be more00:27:29
cleanup work you have to do later so00:27:31
keep that in mind here's another example00:27:34
where I would avoid putting a tab right00:27:36
in this curved region I would rather put00:27:39
it over here in this flat region so I00:27:41
would remove this one and put a new one00:27:43
over here same with here I would put one00:27:47
over here in the flat part and get rid00:27:48
of anything on the inside there that's00:27:51
going to make it much easier to clean00:27:53
these up later and this one here we can00:27:55
click and drag and move it into a better00:27:57
location00:27:58
another thing I would mention about tabs00:28:01
is if you're working with solid wood you00:28:03
have to pay attention to your grain00:28:05
Direction one solid wood in particular00:28:08
is oak or Ash those are more of a porous00:28:11
grain and I've actually had issues if I00:28:14
have the tab going with the grain so for00:28:17
example if the grain was going top to00:28:18
bottom in this example this tab here00:28:22
would be weaker than a tab being on the00:28:25
end grain so for example one up here00:28:27
that that would be going across the00:28:29
Grain and I just find if you have a tab00:28:32
on the edge here going with the grain00:28:34
it's more likely to break along that00:28:36
grain rather than having a tab up here00:28:38
going against the grain it's going to be00:28:41
stronger keep that in mind if you're00:28:43
working with solid wood and also like I00:28:45
mentioned earlier having bigger tabs is00:28:48
going to help with that as well and once00:28:50
you're happy with your tabs you can00:28:51
click close and another thing to mention00:28:55
if you want to use a different style of00:28:57
tab there's also an option if you click00:28:59
show Advance tool path options at the00:29:01
top of your profile tool path now you're00:29:04
going to have an option to do 3D tabs00:29:08
you can see that here by this check mark00:29:11
the 3D Tabs are going to cut quicker so00:29:14
instead of stopping and raising the bit00:29:16
and going over and then dropping down00:29:18
and cutting again it's now going to ramp00:29:20
up ramp down and keep going so those00:29:23
ones will cut faster if you want to use00:29:25
those and cause less issues with your00:29:28
tool path so I would recommend doing 3D00:29:31
tabs if you can once you're happy with00:29:33
your tabs you're going to click00:29:35
calculate and then reset your preview00:29:38
and now you can see the location of all00:29:40
those tabs in these tool paaths here you00:29:42
can see where it ramps up and ramps down00:29:44
that's the 3D tabs because we select00:29:47
that that00:29:48
option now if we click preview and take00:29:52
a look at this you could see all those00:29:54
tabs holding the material in place and00:29:56
this is where you can get a good idea of00:29:57
what the this will look like and if you00:29:59
want to move these around anywhere you00:30:01
definitely can so for example here's00:30:04
where the two tabs do not line up you00:30:06
have one over here and then one over00:30:08
here it's going to make it a little00:30:09
weaker here so you may want to move this00:30:11
tab to line up with this one same thing00:30:14
with these two letters that are close00:30:15
together you may want to move one of00:30:17
these tabs to line up those tabs a00:30:19
little bit better that's all going to00:30:21
make everything stronger and held00:30:24
together much better but those tabs will00:30:26
now hold everything in place and keep00:30:28
you from having any issues with these00:30:31
small parts falling out and causing any00:30:34
tool breakage clogging of your desk00:30:36
collection or just Parts flying all over00:30:39
your shop so this is going to be a much00:30:41
safer way to cut these so hopefully that00:30:43
helps you understand those tabs a little00:30:45
bit better and how you can use them00:30:48
let's move on to mistake number seven00:30:50
and that is not cleaning up your nodes00:30:52
or your vector quality before making00:30:55
your tool pass and I have this example00:30:57
for you this is some wavy lines that00:31:01
we're going to be carving and this heart00:31:03
shape here and you could see from the00:31:06
distance it doesn't look too bad but if00:31:08
you zoom in you can see these waves are00:31:11
actually00:31:12
messy and another thing I want to do is00:31:16
take this heart and offset it to create00:31:19
another shape that I'm going to cut to00:31:21
so I'm going to select that heart and go00:31:24
to the offset tool I'm going to offset00:31:27
it outwards by half in and click offset00:31:30
and then click close And you can see00:31:32
everything looks good from a distance00:31:34
however you'll see that original heart00:31:36
that we have if I go to the node edit00:31:38
mode on that it looks really good it's00:31:41
clean and only a couple nodes and this00:31:43
heart shape is from our clip art library00:31:46
inside of vric but if we go to the00:31:49
offset one you could see is very messy00:31:52
with lots of nodes and if you don't know00:31:54
what nodes are that's basically all00:31:56
these points which where your tool path00:31:59
is going to create a line of G-Code for00:32:01
each one of those I like to imagine this00:32:05
line as basically a subway station route00:32:08
and then each one of these dots is a00:32:10
train stop that's going to stop at so00:32:13
just imagine if you had to travel along00:32:15
that whole route and you had to stop at00:32:18
each one of these it's going to take you00:32:19
a long time to get to the Final00:32:22
Destination whereas if we had this other00:32:25
train route and we only had to make00:32:27
these couple stops here you're going to00:32:28
get there very quickly so it's the same00:32:31
thing when it comes to Tool pass the00:32:33
less nodes you have the quicker it's00:32:35
going to machine same thing with these00:32:37
wavy lines that we have you can see they00:32:40
have a lot of extra nodes that do not00:32:43
need to be there so the more nodes you00:32:45
clean up and get rid of the quicker your00:32:47
tool path Machining is going to be and00:32:50
also the smoother it's going to be if00:32:52
you have really jagged lines or a lot of00:32:55
extra nodes it's going to make your tool00:32:57
pass not run as smooth and cause issues00:33:00
and the reason we have that node issue00:33:03
when we offset the lines is because00:33:05
these lines are bezier curves and you00:33:08
can see that by these handles here00:33:11
anytime you have a handle like that on a00:33:13
node it's going to be considered a00:33:16
bezier curve line so that line whenever00:33:20
you offset it with vric it's going to00:33:22
convert it into small straight line00:33:25
segments and that's just the way vetri00:33:27
does it when you offset a curved line so00:33:30
you do have to fix that00:33:32
afterwards if you offset a straight line00:33:35
or an arc line it's not going to cause00:33:38
that issue you could see if I draw a00:33:41
rectangle these are going to be straight00:33:42
lines and if I draw a circle which is00:33:45
going to be considered circular arcs and00:33:48
then if I'll draw a ellipse the ellipse00:33:51
will be considered bezier curve so these00:33:54
are the three different line types you00:33:55
can work with if we go to note edit mode00:33:57
just type in the letter N you can see we00:34:00
have straight line segments we have00:34:02
circular arcs and we have beer curves so00:34:07
those are the three different types of00:34:09
line segments that you can have so if we00:34:12
took all three of those and go to the00:34:14
offset tool and offset them all and then00:34:18
click00:34:19
close And if we take the original and00:34:21
the offsetted one and go to the note00:34:23
edit mode you could see straight line00:34:25
segments are perfect no extra nodes00:34:29
circular arcs perfect no extra nodes00:34:32
anytime you have a bezer curve this is00:34:34
when it's going to convert it into these00:34:37
line segments and they're all straight00:34:39
line segments now so now we have to00:34:42
convert these back to bezier Curves to00:34:46
have less nodes so that's how we're00:34:47
going to clean these up so I'll show you00:34:50
if you select that offsetted one go to00:34:53
your tool in your edit objects menu it's00:34:56
this one here called curve fit00:34:58
you're going to select that tool and00:35:00
you're going to change it to bezier00:35:03
Curves and the smaller tolerance that00:35:06
you make this the more closely it's00:35:07
going to follow that original line but00:35:10
also the more nodes it's going to have00:35:11
and then if you make it a bigger00:35:13
tolerance it's going to have less nodes00:35:15
but also be further away from the00:35:17
original line so it all depends on how00:35:19
important that original line location is00:35:22
to you whether you turn that tolerance00:35:24
up or down I usually like to start with00:35:26
0.400:35:28
inches in tolerance and then if you have00:35:31
sharp Corners you can keep those and00:35:33
also where it says replace selected00:35:35
vectors I would recommend turning that00:35:37
on because then it will delete the00:35:39
original and put in a new one keep an00:35:42
eye on which layer you have active00:35:43
because it will go on a different layer00:35:45
if you have a different layer active but00:35:47
you'll see once I click preview all of00:35:50
those nodes have been removed so you can00:35:52
see if I undo that these are all the00:35:54
nodes that are there and if I click00:35:56
preview now we only have a few nodes so00:36:00
when I click okay and go back to the00:36:02
node edit mode by clicking the letter N00:36:05
you can see this is much better only a00:36:07
couple nodes and this is going to carve00:36:09
much quicker and smoother you can still00:36:12
edit the nodes afterwards if you need to00:36:14
but that's a quick way to reduce those00:36:16
so going back to our project from before00:36:18
we could select everything and go to the00:36:21
curvefit tool and you'll see all those00:36:24
extra nodes this actually slows down00:36:26
your computer a lot too you can see if00:36:28
you zoom in and out it's going to make00:36:29
it really slow so it's a good idea to00:36:32
save things before you do any operations00:36:34
like this because I've seen it crash00:36:37
computers as well when you try to00:36:39
convert these to Curves because it takes00:36:41
up a lot of data so just be careful of00:36:43
that you may have to do them one at a00:36:45
time if you have a slower computer I'm00:36:47
going to deselect the original Heart by00:36:49
holding shift and deselect that because00:36:51
that one's already really good all the00:36:53
rest here have lots of extra nodes so00:36:55
I'm going to click preview and you'll00:36:57
see the outer heart looks much better00:37:00
but these curved lines still have a few00:37:02
issues so I can deselect the outer heart00:37:06
and now if I wanted to I could change00:37:08
the tolerance I'm going to make00:37:10
tolerance a little bit bigger and click00:37:12
preview and you'll see that will reduce00:37:14
more nodes like I said it will make your00:37:17
lines go a little bit further away from00:37:18
the originals but it's going to be00:37:20
cleaner so all depends on how critical00:37:23
that is for you once you're happy with00:37:25
the amount of nodes you can click okay00:37:27
and then we can go to the node edit mode00:37:29
by clicking the letter N you can see00:37:31
these are much smoother and crisper00:37:33
lines and everything's much faster now00:37:36
and you can see if you have any issues00:37:38
like the sharp Point here we can right00:37:39
click on it click it to a smooth point00:37:42
to be able to fix that and make it look00:37:44
a little better so you can still do a00:37:46
lot of editing to this but like I said00:37:48
this is going to speed up your tool pass00:37:50
make them cut smoother and also keep00:37:53
your computer nice and fast while you're00:37:55
working on these projects as well so00:37:57
those are a couple things to consider00:37:59
when working with vectors and making00:38:01
sure they're clean and crisp lines when00:38:04
you're ready to set up the tool pass our00:38:06
next common mistake that we're going to00:38:07
be looking at is forgetting to00:38:09
recalculate tool pass after you make00:38:12
changes an example I'm going to show you00:38:13
for that is if we make a sign here's an00:38:17
example I'm making a sign and I go to00:38:19
preview the tool path and it looks great00:38:23
although I find out I have a very major00:38:26
spelling error and as you could see it00:38:29
says lie laugh love and this is a common00:38:31
sign people make that it says live laugh00:38:33
love and you can see it's missing one00:38:36
critical letter that really changes the00:38:38
meaning of this sign so if I did not00:38:40
catch that in my preview and I close00:38:44
this and then click save tool path and I00:38:47
saved it as a G-Code file to my computer00:38:50
or taking it to my machine even if I cut00:38:53
this out later on I would know this is00:38:55
incorrect I need to make some00:38:58
adjustments to this tool path so00:39:00
whatever the case may be it could even00:39:02
be it's a wrong size or anything like00:39:04
that anytime you need to make changes to00:39:06
an existing tool path always make sure00:39:09
to recalculate it so I'll show you how00:39:11
to do that first let's fix this we're00:39:14
going to go to the 2D view we're going00:39:16
to go to our design tab we're going to00:39:18
select the text and go to our text tool00:39:21
this is going to allow us to correct00:39:24
this for that critical mistake we made00:39:27
by the way there is a spell check00:39:29
directly inside of vric you'll see if I00:39:31
just type some random word there it00:39:33
underlines it in red and you can right00:39:35
click on it and go to spell check and it00:39:38
will give you some suggestions however00:39:40
in this case my misspelling is still a00:39:43
word but it's the wrong word so in this00:39:46
case I'm just going to add that letter00:39:47
that I need which is the letter V now it00:39:50
says the correct thing I wanted which is00:39:52
live laugh love and now I'm going to00:39:54
click close And this is now correct00:39:57
correct however the tool path is not00:40:00
correct even though we change the text00:40:04
or any vectors anything you want to00:40:06
change the tool path is still going to00:40:08
be the original that you have set up so00:40:11
this is going to be the part where I00:40:12
mentioned is critical to recalculate00:40:15
your tool path you'll see that tool path00:40:17
we still have is there and if I preview00:40:19
it again it still says the wrong word so00:40:23
I'm going to reset this and there's a00:40:25
couple ways you can recalculate this00:40:27
this if you have a lot of tool pass to00:40:29
recalculate all at once you can click00:40:31
this button here that says recalculate00:40:33
all tool passs it's a green button here00:40:37
in the tool path tab that will00:40:40
recalculate every tool path you have in00:40:42
your project however if you have a lot00:40:44
of toolpath and only one of them needs00:40:46
recalculated that button is going to00:40:48
take a long time to recalculate00:40:49
everything when it only needs to00:40:51
recalculate one or two so if you only00:40:53
have a few that you need to recalculate00:40:55
you can right click on one00:40:57
go to recalculate and you can either00:41:00
recalculate the one that you have00:41:01
selected you can recalculate all of them00:41:04
from here as well or if you check mark a00:41:06
few of them you can click recalculate00:41:09
visible and it will only recalculate00:41:11
those ones with the checkbox turned on00:41:13
so you see no matter which one you use00:41:15
once we click00:41:16
recalculate it's going to give you a00:41:18
message if they did it successfully or00:41:20
not and then you're going to click okay00:41:23
and now if you go back to your preview00:41:25
and preview it again you'll see now it00:41:27
is correct and like I mentioned earlier00:41:31
this happens too if you change the size00:41:33
or anything let's scale it down and if00:41:37
we look at our preview and go back00:41:40
you'll see it is still the original size00:41:44
so anytime you make changes just right00:41:46
click on it go to00:41:48
recalculate and then reset the preview00:41:51
and preview it again always recalculate00:41:54
and preview anytime you make changes00:41:56
like that00:41:57
that's going to show you exactly what00:41:59
you see here is exactly what's going to00:42:00
cut on your machine also if you save00:42:03
your tool pass outside of vric in an00:42:06
earlier step and you made changes like00:42:09
this make sure you resave those tool00:42:11
pass again and get rid of those old ones00:42:14
with the wrong G-Code because of that00:42:16
spelling error that we had so00:42:18
recalculating tool passs like this will00:42:21
help you save any mistakes that you00:42:23
possibly may make on your machine so00:42:26
it's always good good idea to check00:42:27
everything before you save it and make00:42:30
sure everything is correct another00:42:32
common mistake that I see a lot of00:42:33
people make with using vric software is00:42:36
not adding ramps to your tool pass and00:42:39
this is not so much a mistake as it is a00:42:42
benefit for making your tools last00:42:45
longer and your machine have less wear00:42:47
because these ramps are going to make it00:42:50
easier for your tool and your machine to00:42:52
cut your material so if you're not00:42:53
familiar what ramps are I'm going to00:42:55
show you an example this is with without00:42:57
a ramp if I slow down the preview and00:42:59
show you it's going to enter into the00:43:01
cut straight down and then cut out your00:43:04
shape or whatever you're cutting and00:43:06
then when it exits it comes straight up00:43:09
and that's fine if you're just cutting00:43:10
out a piece of material like that00:43:12
however that entry cut going into your00:43:15
material going straight down like that00:43:18
is going to be tough on your machine and00:43:20
that's because your bits are not usually00:43:22
set up to be cutting on the bottom00:43:25
they're usually set up to cut on the00:43:26
sides of the bit bit and plunging00:43:28
straight down into your material like00:43:30
that will also put pressure on your CNC00:43:32
machine and push up on it as you're00:43:34
pushing down so that's going to cause00:43:36
some wear on your machine and also wear00:43:39
on your tools as you're cutting this is00:43:41
where ramps come into play if we open up00:43:44
this profile tool path you can see we00:43:47
have an option for ramping the plunge00:43:49
moves and this is going to allow you to00:43:52
come in at a ramp rather than straight00:43:54
down into the cut most of the toolpath00:43:57
in vric have the ramping option so it's00:44:00
a good idea to add those when you can00:44:02
and it's going to ask you for a distance00:44:05
you can set that up I would say at least00:44:07
double the diameter of your tool that's00:44:09
a good reference point to start from but00:44:12
a longer ramp is going to make it easier00:44:14
on your tool so anywhere you want to00:44:16
make that ramp it's not super critical00:44:18
on the distance just make it at least00:44:20
bigger than double the diameter of your00:44:22
tool this example I'll use a 2in ramp00:44:25
and calculate that and you'll see this00:44:28
specific ramp is going to be a zigzag00:44:29
ramp it's called so if I reset the00:44:32
preview and slow this down and preview00:44:35
it you see it's going to come in at a00:44:37
ramp and then zag back go down at a ramp00:44:40
and then cut out the shape and the00:44:42
zigzag helps remove some of that00:44:44
material away as it comes down and then00:44:46
comes back that's one option for a ramp00:44:50
if you want some more options with00:44:53
different techniques if we open up that00:44:55
profile tool path again click on the00:44:57
show Advance tool path options there are00:45:00
many more ramps options to choose from00:45:03
down at the bottom there is smooth which00:45:05
is just one smooth ramp in that zigzag00:45:08
that we just looked at or a spiral which00:45:10
would go around the full length of your00:45:14
cut and the full depth as it's going00:45:16
down so it's up to you which one you00:45:18
want to use I typically use the smooth00:45:20
or zigzag the most but the smooth one is00:45:23
usually my go-to so if we set that one00:45:25
to smooth and then calculate it and00:45:28
reset the preview you'll see now it's00:45:31
going to go one smooth ramp down and00:45:33
then cut around and that will cut out00:45:36
your material and this example I have at00:45:39
a full depth pass you can of course do00:45:41
multiple depths per pass and it's going00:45:43
to ramp at every depth per pass so this00:45:46
is just an example to show you what that00:45:48
ramping would look like and then if you00:45:50
want to look at that last option which00:45:52
is the spiral you'll see this one does00:45:55
not give you the option to set a00:45:56
distance00:45:57
and that's because it's going to ramp00:45:58
along the full shape of your project so00:46:02
if we reset this and then preview it you00:46:05
can see it's going to start ramping00:46:07
along the full distance and by the time00:46:09
it gets to the end it's going to do a00:46:11
full depth ramp however you could see it00:46:15
usually slows down your machine this way00:46:18
that's why I don't typically use this00:46:19
one too often it really slows down your00:46:22
cut some machines handle this better00:46:25
than others you can try it out if you00:46:26
like00:46:27
but in my experience with this option it00:46:30
slows down the tool path a lot just keep00:46:33
that in mind and you'll see now it got00:46:35
all the way the full depth and it's00:46:36
going to go all the way around again to00:46:37
get rid of that rest of the ramp just00:46:40
another option you can use if you need00:46:42
to that spiral one we just showed is00:46:44
really great if you're cutting circles00:46:46
or something like a hole it spirals down00:46:49
into the hole as almost it's drilling00:46:51
that hole into your project so just some00:46:54
things you can explore but adding those00:46:56
ramps is going to make much better use00:46:58
of your tool and reduce the amount of00:47:01
wear and tear you have on your bits and00:47:04
on your machine the final mistake that I00:47:06
see people commonly make with vric00:47:08
software that we're going to be looking00:47:10
at is not avoiding clamps or obstacles00:47:13
with your tool pass and if you use00:47:15
clamps or screws or anything that holds00:47:18
down your material when you're cutting00:47:20
it out you may have experienced this00:47:22
before or may even seen somebody else00:47:24
experience this your machine sometimes00:47:27
will go right over top of those clamps00:47:28
and crash into them and you didn't know00:47:30
it was going to do that and then it00:47:32
breaks your bit or damages your machine00:47:35
or ruins your project or all of the00:47:37
above and it's definitely not a good day00:47:39
when that happens so vetri made a00:47:42
solution for this in their newer version00:47:43
12 and above that makes it much easier00:47:46
to avoid those types of things so you'll00:47:49
see this example here we have some00:47:50
circles being cut out and if I preview00:47:52
this tool path it looks great and00:47:55
everything's cut out properly the way I00:47:57
want it and if I were to see this00:47:59
preview I could see that some spots for00:48:03
clamps I can put a clamp down here at00:48:05
the bottom and one up here at the top00:48:07
those would be two great locations to00:48:08
add those clamps however if you did not00:48:11
pay attention to your toath preview if00:48:13
we turn that preview back on you can see00:48:16
this red line here is the machine00:48:19
stopping one cut raising up and going to00:48:22
the next cut and then going back down00:48:24
and that traveling over this area here00:48:27
would crash into a clamp if we had one00:48:29
there one way we can avoid that is by00:48:31
having it raise Higher by changing our00:48:34
safz height in the material setup but if00:48:38
you still had a clamp there that's going00:48:40
to be an issue there is another way to00:48:42
do this inside of vric software and that00:48:46
is by drawing a shape typically a00:48:49
rectangle let's say we have a clamp here00:48:51
I'm going to draw a rectangle there and00:48:53
let's say we have a clamp up here as00:48:55
well so I'm going to draw those two00:48:57
rectangles to represent where I'm going00:48:59
to be adding clamps you can also see00:49:01
these in the 3D view as well so those00:49:04
are the areas my clamps are going to be00:49:06
and you'll see the tool path travels00:49:09
over those areas in both locations and00:49:12
this doesn't have to be clamps it could00:49:13
also be screws or anything you have in00:49:15
the way that you do not want your00:49:17
machine going near so inside of vric if00:49:21
you have version 12 or above and if00:49:23
you're using a pro version or Spire00:49:26
you're going to have what's called keep00:49:28
out zones if you're using a desktop00:49:30
version you're not going to have this00:49:31
feature unfortunately but you'll see00:49:34
inside of the tool path tab you're going00:49:36
to see this button here that says keep00:49:37
out zones you're going to click on that00:49:40
you're going to select those two00:49:41
rectangles that we drew earlier you can00:49:43
do this in the 2D or 3D View and you'll00:49:46
see right now the tool path is going00:49:48
across those two rectangles and if we00:49:50
want it to avoid those areas we're going00:49:52
to click the create from selection and00:49:54
you'll see now it makes those as keep00:49:57
out zones and now we'll bend the tool00:49:59
path to go around00:50:01
those and it's going to make a clearance00:50:04
of zero to start with that means it's00:50:05
going to go where your bit is just going00:50:07
to go right to the edge of that if you00:50:09
wanted to go a little bit more you can00:50:11
add a bigger clearance let's say/ inch00:50:14
and you'll see that will automatically00:50:15
update in your 3D view changing where00:50:18
the tool path location is now it is a/00:50:21
inch away from that line that we made so00:50:24
this will allow you to keep tools from00:50:27
going into those zones and allow your00:50:31
machine to go much safer and not be00:50:33
worried about hitting any clamps or00:50:35
anything in those locations and of00:50:37
course you can add as many as you need00:50:39
or remove them totally up to you and if00:50:41
you don't need them anymore you can also00:50:43
click clear zones to get rid of those00:50:45
but those keep out zones are going to00:50:48
definitely help if you use clamps or00:50:50
anything that will get in the way of00:50:52
your tool pass that's all the tips I00:50:54
have for you today hopefully you learned00:50:55
something that will help help you avoid00:50:57
mistakes I know I wish I had something00:50:59
like this when I started because I00:51:01
definitely made a lot of mistakes when I00:51:03
first started with cnc's and if you ever00:51:05
want to learn more on how to master vric00:51:07
even better we have lots of online00:51:10
training programs and courses and00:51:12
memberships that you can join we have00:51:14
the links down in the description we00:51:15
have taught thousands of users how to00:51:17
use vric software more efficiently and00:51:20
make those projects that they've always00:51:22
dreamed of making so if you want to join00:51:24
us you can click down in the link Below00:51:26
in the description we would love to see00:51:28
you inside let me know in the comments00:51:30
if you found any of these usefulDescription:
Get my free Vectric Toolpath Cheat Sheet: https://academy.learnyourcnc.com/vectric-toolpath-cheat-sheet Join Kyle Ely from Learn Your CNC Academy as he delves into the top 10 common mistakes users make with Vectric software. Kyle, an experienced Vectric instructor, shares insights gathered from training over 6,000 students. Key topics include setting material size and Z-axis zeroing correctly, choosing appropriate tools, previewing toolpaths in detail, setting proper feed rates, using tabs effectively, cleaning up nodes, recalculating toolpaths, adding ramps, and using keep-out zones to avoid obstacles. These tips aim to help you avoid mishaps and improve your CNC projects using Vectric software. 👇 Resources Links 👇 🔹 Take Your CNC Skills to the Next Level 🎓 Vectric Master Training Course (VCarve, Aspire, & Cut2D): Step-by-step video lessons to master Vectric software at your own pace, even if you're brand new. https://academy.learnyourcnc.com/lp/vectric-master-training-course 🧠 Live Vectric Group Training Community: Join weekly live lessons, Q&As, monthly challenges, and get direct support to stay motivated and keep progressing with your CNC projects. https://academy.learnyourcnc.com/lp/weekly-live-vectric-group-training 🏆 Monthly CNC Project Challenges: Enter our community contests, show off your skills, win prizes, and get inspired by other makers! https://academy.learnyourcnc.com/cnc-project-challenges 🎁 Sign Up for Training Program Giveaways: We regularly give away free access to our premium training programs, don’t miss out! https://academy.learnyourcnc.com/giveaway 📂 Digital CNC Project File Store: Download ready-to-cut CNC project files designed to save you time and spark creativity. https://academy.learnyourcnc.com/digital-cnc-project-files 📚 Free CNC Resources & Training: Get access to free beginner guides, training, cheat sheets, and more. https://academy.learnyourcnc.com/free-cnc-resources 🛒 Recommended CNC Tools & Gear Check out my go-to CNC products, software, and tools: https://academy.learnyourcnc.com/product-recommendations 📘 Free Learning Community Join over 60,000 makers in our free Facebook group for Vectric Tips & Tricks: https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser 📅 Book a 1-on-1 Training Session With Me Need personal help with your CNC workflow or a tricky Vectric project? https://academy.learnyourcnc.com/schedule-a-training 👕 Get Learn Your CNC Merch Grab t-shirts, mugs, stickers, and more to rep the community and support my channel: https://www.learnyourcnc.com//merch 🧾 Buy Vectric Software Through My Affiliate Link If you're buying or upgrading Vectric software, using this link helps support the free content I create: https://www.vectric.com/ref=cnc Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to Common Vectric Mistakes 00:35 Mistake #1: Incorrect Material Size Setup 02:20 Mistake #2: Incorrect Z-Axis Zeroing 07:12 Mistake #3: Using the Wrong Tool 08:20 Mistake #4: Not Previewing Toolpaths 18:27 Mistake #5: Incorrect Feed and Speeds 22:32 Mistake #6: Forgetting or Misusing Tabs 30:48 Mistake #7: Cleaning Up Nodes for Smoother Toolpaths 38:06 Mistake #8: Recalculating Toolpaths After Changes 42:32 Mistake #9: Adding Ramps to Extend Tool Life 47:05 Mistake #10: Avoiding Clamps and Obstacles in Toolpaths 50:53 Conclusion and Further Learning Resources 🎯 About Me: Hey, I’m Kyle Ely, the founder of Learn Your CNC. I've been using CNC machines since I was 16 years old and I've helped over 6,000 makers master Vectric software and bring their CNC projects to life with clarity and confidence though our online training programs. Find me online: ■ Website: https://www.learnyourcnc.com ■ Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser ■ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser ■ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LearnYourCNC ■ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@learnyourcnc ■ Blog: https://academy.learnyourcnc.com/blog Affiliate & Transparency Disclaimer: Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase. But you can trust that I would never recommend a product I wouldn’t personally use. I’m not in it for the money, I only promote tools and resources that I believe truly add value to our CNC community.
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