Nesting Software

[pclscl@netup.cl]

I have requests from potential customers about cutting aleatory odd shapes with my PR96. The problem is that in order to be competitive I must figure out the most efficient way of nesting the parts into 4 x 8 Ft. boards.
Surfing the web I have found two programs that looks promising (but expensive): "Optimizer for Any Shape" from SAMTEC/India and, "Profilelab" plus a Shape Nesting module, from CadLink.
Question: Does VectorCam offer something in this area?, I would love to have it from them since I already have spent a good amount of time playing with Vector8 and consider it a great program (or better, I am too old to start learning another one).

Anybody using or knows about some decent and not so expensive alternative?

Thanks,

Bill Pullen

[sea_nc@bellsouth.net]

Bill,
ProfileLab's Nesting Module does an excellent job of true nesting automatically of all selected objects onto your material blank. You can create an array of objects easily in Vector, but it won't nest an irregular object within another (unless you drag the object manually). I don't know anything about the SAMTEC Optimizer, but you might try a search on google.com for alternative optimization software.
Dave

[jkforney@yahoo.com]

Dave
If you copy the item and paste the number of copies you can easily nest odd shaped parts. Sometimes you need to rotate the parts in paste to get a group that will better use the space.

I did a file that had rocking horse bows (the bottom curved part) that nested together very well.

This method is not as easy or fast as nesting but it is free.

Bill
If you email me a ccd of the part, I will attempt to nest it for you. However, I use vector 9 which is incompatible backwards with 8. I can however describe the method.

John Forney

[ohurleys@shaw.ca]

Just wondering if anyone knows of a nesting method or program that would allow different files to be nested on the same sheet of 4 x 8 plywood. We want to cut 3 port side panels & 3 starboard side panels for the bow & stern sections of kayaks on the same sheet. New to this system & slowly getting sorted out. The nesting program we recieved seems to allow for only one .sbp file per sheet.
Any guidance would be appreciated.
Brian Kelly

[gerald_d]

Brian, 6 parts per sheet is probably done quickest by hand on a CAD program. Nesting software sounds like an overkill for this application. If you want a hand with this, mail your dxf (or dwg, or ccd) files to me at mechtron@iafrica.com (mailto:mechtron@iafrica.com).

A little bit surprised about "the nesting program we received". What is it called, and where did it come from? We are always on the hunt for good nesting software that is being handed out as freebies!

[billp]

Brian, Gerald, If you go to http://carlsondesign.com you can download a FREE copy of his "Hulls"program. It is specifically made for designing boats from sheet goods. It allows you to manually "nest".dxf part files within the program pretty easily. As for doing it when the file is already converted to the .sbp format, I'm not sure what would let you do that unless you got a copy of Ed Coleman's SB viewer program where you can "see"multiple .sbp files on the screen at the same time. Of course you can run the SB preview mode as well, but sometimes all of those lines crossing each other can get confusing..

[bill.young]

Brian,

There are programs that will nest cabinet parts and other rectangular parts, but the good ones are pretty expensive. My guess is that they would choke on something as strangely-shaped as a kayak panel.

As Gerald says, though, it's pretty easy to manually nest your panels in a CAD program by drawing a rectangle the size of your plywood and then dragging the panels onto it. If your panels haven't been offset for your router bit yet, make sure you leave enough room between them for the offset.

Hope this helps and feel free to get in touch if you have any problems... it's something I do all the time.

Bill Young


p.s.

Gerald,I'd bet he's talking about the s_nest.sbp file in your SBPARTS folder. It lets you place multiple copies of an sbp file on a sheet by specifying the size of the part and the spacing between parts, creating sort of an array.

[threadfx]

ArtCam 2d has a nesting feature that works very well. It's priced lower than some of the nesting only programs, and you get a whole host of features.

www.delcam.com

Aaron

[ohurleys@shaw.ca]

Many thanks for your help guys. We are going to use S-NEST.SBP & do one group of a part per sheet at a time for the time being. Will be looking at carlson designs program also. John O"Hurley, the bossman, is all excited at getting the unit up & running & looking at improvements later. Again many thanks.

[gfacer@istar.ca]

Aaron,

What is the price on the 2D artcam? roughly.

Greg Facer