The
CADucopia Toolpath Viewer is a RhinoScript that displays a G-Code toolpath in Rhino. RhinoScript is the scripting tool of the
Rhino CAD software, so this viewer can only be used in Rhino. Note that it will also work with the free evaluation version of Rhino: as saving is not needed for a viewer, this will still work when the evaluation period has expired.
The Viewer reads G-code files and displays the toolpaths in Rhino as polylines. It has been tested using the Taig postprocessor, but will accept most other G-code files as well. Only G0, G1, X, Y, Z and M30 are used for generating the polylines, all other G and M codes and special characters (with the exception of a comment character) are ignored. Rotary toolpaths are not yet supported.
As the G-code file is used, you are sure to view exactly the toolpath that will run on the machine.
The workflow is as follows: The script has to be loaded and started in Rhino. It will ask for the name of the NC file to be imported, and next present a Properties dialog where you can change toolpath layer names, colors, and more. After that a dialog will pop up that displays part of the NC code, and the toolpath will be added in 3D to your Rhino drawing. Note that in order to draw the toolpaths exactly around your geometry in Rhino, the Translation in the
DeskProto Part parameters needs to be set to None for all axes. You can of course also translate the toolpaths in Rhino to achieve this.
The CADucopia Toolpath Viewer is a
FREE download ! To obtain the viewer you need to download the file
caducopia_toolpath_viewer.zip (5 Kb)
The zip file contains two files: the file "CADucopia Toolpath Viewer Vnn yymmdd.rvb" (where nn is the version number and yymmdd is the build date) is the actual script to be loaded in Rhino, and the file Readme.txt gives you the instructions for installation and use.
CADucopia, LLC, based in New York, develops custom scripting for CAD/CAM applications. They state:
"It is our hope you will consider us should you, a colleague, or your company need custom scripting done. And, yes, we hope to support rotary (XAZ) G-Code toolpaths at some point if XYZ proves useful. We look forward to your feedback."
Contact:
info@caducopia.com
Copyright (c) 2006 CADucopia, LLC
The
CADucopia Cutter Profiler is a RhinoScript that draws a cutter (it's profile) as defined by a DeskProto cutter definition file. This script can be used in preparation for the Offset calculator shown below.
For more information and for a free download see the
CADucopia website.
The
CADucopia Offset Calculator is a RhinoScript that Calculates the offset for a certain cutter at a certain depth. This is especially handy for conical cutters, as the offset needed to machine a certain 2D contour depends on the cutting depth.
For more information and for a free download see the
CADucopia website.
