Using a Laser With the New Sketch Carve Toolpath in Vectric V12 

Thats brilliant! When I was testing those post processors I ran it on a Vcarve toolpath for kicks and I thought it was sorta cool, but couldn't really think of a good use for it. Thats the cool thing about the RU-vid channel, I put stuff out there and get some really good ideas back on the comments. I'm gonna have to try it, but that makes sense, if you use the one "With Z" it should track the laser all the way up the corners and everything. I bet that would look really good on light wood.

I'm not too familiar with the software thats typcially used on the CO2 lasers. How do you normally burn vector files with that? Vectric can export as DXF, SVG, or PDF.

@@JNWoodworks Question is if when I use this sketch feature, can I then export as a .dxf or SVG. Not sure if VCARVE simulates these vectors for use ONLY in the tool path creation or if it indeed creates the vectors and can be exported for use or editing. Any help would be appreciated and thanks for the quick reply.

@@dankinsky9543 Ah, I got you. I loaded up that file and took a closer look. It does not seem to ever create a vector file, just some kind of internal format that it temporarity displays. You can run a simulation on it and save that as a bmp, jpeg, etc., but I don't see a way to save it as a vector format in any way. That would be a good feature to ask for. You could load the jpeg or bmp and raster burn it I'm sure, but that may not have as good of resolution. I personally like to burn vectors unless I'm doing detailed pictures. That makes me ask (because I have no idea), does the software on most CO2 lasers allow you to load in some kind of Gcode files? If so, then a Vectric post processor could be made that would work for this.

@@jimneeb2362 Thanbks for confirming that part! Would have been ideal if it could export the vectors though!

@@dankinsky9543 I agree. That would be a good thing to ask Vectric for on the next release. Does your machine allow loading any kind of Gcode files? If so, I could help you make a post processor that might work.

My air system is a little bit overkill for just air assist 🙂 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zDu10hs-lug.html I can't say for sure, but I would guess you can start with the post processor I wrote, but would probably have to make some modifications. My modifications to convert spindle RPM to laser power, and to add the laser on/off commands to feed moves and rapid moves would be the same, but I would guess that the actual laser commands themselves between the ESS controller I have and the shopsabre are probably different. However, if you send me your laser post processor from the shop sabre, I might be able to figure it out for ya. jnwdwks@gmail.com