How To Use Inkscape for CNC Plasma Cutting

[@justinsturgeon1]

I use inkscape and sheetcam for plasma. All I can say is our drawing styles are very different in the way we prepare files for cutting. Don't think either one better, but just like myself you apply certain tactics to speed up production of drawings.

[@td1830]

Have you ever tried to open a dfx in the fusion 360 . I am having issues with converting to dfx from Inkscape and opening it in fusion 360 or in torchmate table. Lines are not connected two many lines etc. or am I not converting correctly in the Inkscape. Thanks Dale.

[@prometalfusionllc4017]

When you save as dxf from inkscape, are you saving as polyline? I had a similar issue but it turned out its cause I did some edits in between with Qcad before 360. So whatever default program you have on your computer to open dxf files (ex. Qcad ect) if you open it to view it, DONT SAVE it. That's what fixed my problem. Hope you figured out your issue by now!

[@matthewcorbin1417]

Following this method, when I import the dxf file to my CAM software, it shows a preview of the part but that imports an empty part. New to all this, so maybe I’m doing something wrong?

[@twistedtrail8414]

I watched your makertable series. it was really helpfull. Just got my table operational this weekend.

[@MakerTable]

William Cartwright that's awesome, well done!

[@NahMan-Gaijin]

Hey nice video. I'm recently trying to take over the plasma drawing for my fab shop as we lost the guy who was handling it. The drawing program is clunky, i've used illustrator and this seems more user friendly for the vector drawings. Only problem is the existing clunky drawing software is nice because it can make drawings using arcs and lines which our plasma table does better with. Splines and polylines give it trouble. what is your cutting software? I'm wondering if there is a workaround with the software we have or we need new cam software or if its an issue with the table. I don't know if this question even makes sense. I'm new to this.

[@zzemscrew7305]

Thank you Adam, very helpfull!

[@raynermaker4692]

Ah love open source - never realised you could save it as a dxf and then drop it back in to that sheet metal program. Pretty neat! 👍

[@stanislasnguimatsa2555]

Hello I have Inkscape and I would like to know if I should install the plugins or do some expansion

[@zachdaniels8112]

When you were working the bitmap on the 3" medallion, how were you shifting the selected line segments/nodes over incrementally to make room for the kerf width?

[@momentoffaith2735]

I think i heard him say the bit map tool

[@davework5922]

Hey mate. Love your videos and the work youre doing. I don't use sheetcam but I do use Inkscape in a similar way, however I do all my tweaking/drawing in Skechup, then export as dxf/dwg from there. Like you, it's just a way that I have found which works for me. Sketchup is very simple to use. All the best!

[@MakerTable]

Thanks bro! I've never spent enough time in sketchup to get efficient with it. I'm trying to force myself to learn Fusion360 instead. Someday there will be cheap design software that is designed to handle CAM programs, until then we'll keep sharing our hacks and shortcuts!

[@Vaibhav_Jadhav]

What are some open source cam softwares who will work like sheetcam Which one's the best open source cam software for plasma cutting

[@SegoMan]

You have come a long way my friend.. thumbs up to you! I am about to the tear down and paint mode on my 6x12 build. I need to finish up some fab work and do precise measurements for the gantry's .

[@MakerTable]

Thank you! I've had a lot of fun figuring all of this stuff out. Do it man, keep me posted on your progress. Lmk if you run into issues, I'm happy to help you out.

[@inspiringminds6822]

Thanks for the video bro. Is this a good design program for beginners?

[@MakerTable]

All the 2D graphic design programs have a learning curve but a lot of the tools are similar between programs they just have different names. Inkscape is very user friendly for beginners because it's free and there's tons of support online to teach you all the essentials.

[@clarksburg4hclubclarksburg849]

What version of inkscape are you using?

[@laghomtallanziko1630]

How do we generate the Gcode, for plasma CNC, whith Inkscape?

[@zzemscrew7305]

We use Sheetcam, send the file to Sheetcam. Once you set your outside offset and IPM, it will figure your gcode.

[@jefferywages4083]

Good day just found the link to the plasma cutter thank you

[@shawneliason790]

hold.. why not "path union" and just save to svg vs saving to png... organization?

[@MakerTable]

It works for some things but I have trouble with some fonts when merging and doing path union. Or when I get multiple layers going sometimes features go black on me. This is "A" the most reliable way and "B" I like the way it's organized with a clean .png for every version then I can change the .svg at will and extract new versions as a .png to sending to customers.

[@prometalfusionllc4017]

I wish I actually knew what you were doing to save it this way lol. I watched a few times but my Inkscape will not do the scale to fit part, there's some sort of message there about it not being recommended. WTF??? Anyways, I wish I would have known how to do this from the beginning and had nice and clean, easy to use folders...... now I have a whole years worth of cluttered files....Uhhhgggahhhh...….. anyways cheers dude, and awesome job on your table. Dig your values and feel very similar in my own thoughts and ideas.

[@shawneliason790]

your doing it just like me.. I havnt found a better way yet..

[@MakerTable]

It gets the job done. I've had a few people ask what software I'm using and they all think I'm joking when I say Inkscape. It's kind of a PITA but it gets the job done pretty quickly once you learn the key strokes.

[@VintageSpeedwerks]

that seems like ALOT of steps, why not use inscape for all of it?

[@GoofyGarton]

Check out video tutorials from Nick Saporito for Inkscape. He has some awesome ones on how to combine all of the pieces into one path. Thank you for your videos too! I have a 4x8 table and use Inkscape and Sheetcam too. I was wondering how come you save as a .dxf for Sheetcam instead of just bringing it in as a .svg?

[@MakerTable]

Hey thanks for the tip I'll definitely look up those tutorials. I was having some scaling issues and some issues with layers when I went straight to an .svg file. Now I do this weird work around and resave everything a bunch of times to end up with a clean .dxf file. Now that I do it this way everything is merged together and scaled correctly. I feel like there's a faster way but I haven't been able to find it yet.

[@GoofyGarton]

Maker Table Select all then shift+Ctrl+c, then shift+Ctrl+g, then Ctrl+(+). That will make everything a path, then ungroup it and then union it all together. I am pretty sure that is the shortcut sequence 🤔 this is off the top of my head....

[@GoofyGarton]

Some things you have to do stroke to path on also.

[@GoofyGarton]

Here is a good video that explains the path functions kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGnPdmWtrsuGj7s Hope this helps---Nick has a ton of videos.

[@gman561]

Due explain what u r clicking u started off good slow down

[@MakerTable]

Sorry bro, I got carried away

[@jordynpuckett4367]

It is pretty hard to follow but what I caught helped a lot. But I need to see how to start from the beginning when making something custom. Every time I try to move to to sheetcam something wrong with the offset.

[@ridingsolo2932]

lol everything you did in that video could of been done easier and quicker lol

[@DanRu13]

please explain