Out put direct from Part Works

[Sean]

I have been cutting some plywood that varies from 0.245 -0.270 in thickness. the material is not my choice so I can not change that. most of the cuts are through but no all. I have been going back to Part Works changing my cut depths and saving the file then opening with the shop bot console. There is an option to output direct to the machine but I have not tried this. Does anyone use this? If yes how do I do it?

Thanks Sean

[srwtlc]

It depends on whether or not the post processor you are using has the needed piece of code to trigger it and that the file 'ShopBot_run.ini' is also present in the PartWorks PostP folder. If it's not, this file can be found in the C:\SbParts\PartWorksPosts folder. As far as the post processor, if you open the one that you are using in a text editor (found in your user data folder), look for this line...

DIRECT_OUTPUT = "DIRECT to ShopBot|ShopBot_run.ini"

If all that is in place, when you save a file in PW with the check the box for 'Output direct to machine' checked, it will save the file and open SB3 with the file open dialog set to that file.

I don't see that it saves much time if you already have SB3 open.

That said, if your cuts are all to be through the material, set your Z zero in PW to be at the table surface and then process the file. That way, varying material thickness won't matter.