Hole drilling...

[ATX Poly Products]

Hi Guys,

I have a ShopBot on the way and have been testing the waters with Partworks and have a question...

I have a 48 x 48 work piece with around 120 identical pieces that are somewhat of a triangle shape. I've got copying with the block feature down pat, along with nesting tool pathing,layering ect. But,

In each part I will drill 3 (.1875) holes before cutting the part. I layed out these three holes in one piece. What would be the smoothest way to copy those 3 vectors to the remaining 119 parts?

This is probably a elementary question, so thanks for any help given...
Adam

[rww]

I usually draw one complete part then copy or nest it onto your sheet. then set up the drilling and cutting tool paths.

[zeykr]

As Jason says, draw one complete part with the holes, then place the holes on a layer called 'holes' and place the outline vector on a layer called 'cutout'. Group the holes, then group the entire part and nest or copy. You can now turn on just the holes layer and create your hole drilling toolpath, then turn off the holes layer and on the cutout layer and create your cutout toolpath.

[curtiss]

You can't beat using proper layers to keep your drawings easy to work with.

I would think you would need to draw one part near the 0,0 corner and then set up an array of 11 rows and 11 columns. (121 parts total...)

The "gaps" between the parts will have to be a bit bigger than your "cut out bit..." say .28 for a .25 bit.

You may want to cut out your parts a few rows at a time, rather than run the whole 121 at once.

[ATX Poly Products]

Thanks Guys,

I got it now, Layers are the way to go. Is a limit to how many layers one can add?

I've used up to 5 at once so far

[Brady Watson]

Thanks Guys,

I got it now, Layers are the way to go. Is a limit to how many layers one can add?



Probably at least 100. I've used about 20 on a very complex project.

Yes...layers are the way to go.

-B