Laser DXF Postprocessor issue

[nigel]

Hi Folks,

After a few issues to do with not using  up to date builds of ArtCAM (now sorted, thank you Dillon.Moulder) I can finally produce sliced dxf files for 3d rest machining on our laser, however, ArtCAM seems to use R11 format DXF files and the laser software requires 2007 format DXF files. I know that this has been solved for some people through a.n.other third party company dealing directly with Delcam on their behalf, obviously prior to Autodesk. The contact that I was given is no longer available after the transition to Autodesk, so I'm now at a loss. Can anyone give me a clue how to get this resolved? It is possible to convert with 3rd party software, but I'd rather not have to purchase more software if I don't need to, mostly because of the hassle I have dealing with our IT admin. Even getting access to the Autodesk downloads site took over a week because of the restrictions imposed!

Any help/advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks

Nigel

[dillon.moulder]

Hi @nigel,

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nigel wrote:

ArtCAM seems to use R11 format DXF files and the laser software requires 2007 format DXF files. I know that this has been solved for some people through a.n.other third party company dealing directly with Delcam on their behalf, obviously prior to Autodesk. The contact that I was given is no longer available after the transition to Autodesk, so I'm now at a loss. Can anyone give me a clue how to get this resolved? It is possible to convert with 3rd party software, but I'd rather not have to purchase more software if I don't need to, mostly because of the hassle I have dealing with our IT admin. Even getting access to the Autodesk downloads site took over a week because of the restrictions imposed!

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What laser software are you using? Please provide further information.

What post-processor option are you selecting from the Save Toolpaths dialog's Machine file format list when saving your toolpaths? Please confirm.

What method are you using for exporting DXF files (*.dxf) from ArtCAM JewelSmith 2015 R2.SP3 (64-bit build 860) or Autodesk ArtCAM Premium 2017 Service Pack 5 (build 270)? Please check and confirm.

If you're selecting the Vectors > Export menu option, the Vector Export dialog includes a few options when exporting in DXF format:

You might want to try experimenting with these options in order to see if a particular one provides for compatibility for your laser software. For example, Old export.

Thanks in advance for your time and cooperation.

Kind regards,

[nigel]

Hi Dillon,

The software is Coherrent-Rofin VLM (Visual Laser Marker) and is running a VB script that loads in the DXF slices (layers) one by one. I'm creating the slices using the Laser machining option and saving the toolpaths individually using Laser DXF Post processor, all in 2017 Premium (SP5 Build 270). Over 600 slices in total, hence the need to produce the dxf's in the correct format rather than trying to convert each slice onie by one.

Like I stated in my original post, ArtCAM is producing R11 dxf format (identified using the save toolpath method and inspecting the file header $ACADVER AC1009) , and VLM requires 2007 DXF format. If I export a single vector (Vector>Export) as dxf, they import into VLM fine (Header reads $ACADVER AC1021).

I would have thought that the dxf version would be standard throughout the software, but it appears not, and I can't see anywhere to change the DXF version when using the Laser (.dxf) post Processor. Have I missed something do you think?

Thanks again

Nigel

[paul.hadley]

Hi @nigel,

---

nigel wrote:

The software is Coherrent-Rofin VLM (Visual Laser Marker) and is running a VB script that loads in the DXF slices (layers) one by one. I'm creating the slices using the Laser machining option and saving the toolpaths individually using Laser DXF Post processor, all in 2017 Premium (SP5 Build 270). Over 600 slices in total, hence the need to produce the dxf's in the correct format rather than trying to convert each slice onie by one.

Like I stated in my original post, ArtCAM is producing R11 dxf format (identified using the save toolpath method and inspecting the file header $ACADVER AC1009) , and VLM requires 2007 DXF format. If I export a single vector (Vector>Export) as dxf, they import into VLM fine (Header reads $ACADVER AC1021).

I would have thought that the dxf version would be standard throughout the software, but it appears not, and I can't see anywhere to change the DXF version when using the Laser (.dxf) post Processor. Have I missed something do you think?

---

The post processors are de-coupled from ArtCAM. This is a deliberate design feature; one benefit is keeping the post processor formats consistent, as generally all CNC machines tend to want a consistent file format. For example, a CNC machine may be 15 years old, so it's .CON file (for the ArtCAM Post Processor) may have not changed for the last 15 years.

For the same reason, the DXF output from the LaserDXF post-processor is simple and fixed within the DLL - fixed at an older version for all the older CNC controllers out there.

ArtCAM itself connects to the latest version of the Autodesk Manufacturing Data Exchange Utility, which reads/writes DXF using the Autodesk approved library formats. So the version could update, whenever a new version of Autodesk Manufacturing Data Exchange Utility is released; the latest available version is 8.6.10.

Regards,

[nigel]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your response.

I have just checked and I have the latest version of Autodesk Manufacturing Data Exchange Utility installed. Is there anyway for me to modify which format DXf ArtCAM will give me when using the Laser DXF PostP? Can the DLL be changed to give me the correct format? I know something was done for Rofin last year by Delcam, for this exact purpose. Files were supplied by Delcam, that had supposedly come straight from ArtCAM. These files are how I knew that the DXF format were not correct. Is there another way to produce the same output? I am producing 666 slices per mm (0.0015mm per slice) so my other option is to batch convert somehow, but I would rather take the files straight from ArtCAM. We have a lot of time and Money invested in the software (I still have version 2 on 3.5" floppy disks!) but this using it like this is totally new to me.

Thanks again for you help Paul

Nigel