Have you ever needed your CAM software to be able to
automatically fill waste in board space with a standardized
component.
Well in this video we're going to explore the capability within
the nesting module of the partner product SWOOD using our
finished kitchen cabinet model.
We now need to apply the desired material choice or pre laminated
Premium White 18mm MDF.
However before we can continue on to the nesting stage of the
workflow we shall quickly model the standardized component which
will be used to fill in unused board space using a standard
panel template means we can quickly and easily create the
desired geometry by reducing the sizes of the length and width to
create a square profile of 100mm. The thickness and
material applied to the filler part itself will have to match
the top level assembly so they get collated onto the same board
type within the nesting stage.
Saving this into the SWOOD data directory means it is now stored
in the library and can therefore be globally accessed by any
other user within the company to be used in any nesting program
in the future.
If we launch the nesting application from our kitchen
cabinet assembly it enables the file set to be imported
automatically rather than manually browsing for the files.
If we inspect the general set up options of the nest you will
notice that we can control the tool diameter of the Cutter
being used as well as an offset value.
These two are used to provide a space in clearance between the
different panels orientated on the larger board.
We can also dictate the increment of degrees of rotation
for the panels but this can often be overridden to 180
degrees.
For example if the boards have a dictated grain direction. The
filler options can be set to one of three choices, of entire
sheet, tile the nested height or tile the nested height in the
last sheet.
Only if we generate the nested layer at the moment we'll be
left with the most effective use of board space via SWOOD's
algorithms to position and re-orientate all panels within
the kitchen cabinet assembly.
However if we return to the main nesting interface and right
click on source files means we can manually browse for
additional cabinets or other finished frames.
But in this case we will choose the 100 by 100 profile panel.
The filler is now highlighted in the parts for nesting folder.
Where we can specify the desired maximum quantity value,
specifying a maximum of 100 doesn't necessarily mean that
all 100 will be nested.
And this is dictated by the option chosen within the filler
nesting settings. With entire sheets selected and use filler
on last sheet unticked, it is calculated that it can fit the
filler component forty nine times using all remaining
leftover space on the first board.
If we launch the manual nesting mode this can be clearly
illustrated with the visual of the two boards where we can see
that the last board is ignored so that the larger space can be
used to nest panels in the future.
Modifying the settings to tile the nested height and rebuilding
the nest has dramatically changed the quantity value of
the amount of fillers used.
This is because it uses just the leftover height or vertical
space on the board leaving room for longer panels to be cut out
in the future.
Choosing the last option of tile the nested height for the large
sheet only will also require us to enable the option below to
make sure the last sheet is no longer ignored
for filling purposes. Regenerating the nest provides
the outcome of filling the entirety of all previous sheets
but on the last board only the empty vertical height is used.
Therefore maximise the large remaining space in the board to
be kept for other projects.
After a green tick a new SolidWorks assembly is created
where part level tool paths are pulled up to the top level nest,
whilst being easily able to flip between different board sheets
at any time.
I hope you found this SWOOD CAM video informative and
efficiently using leftover board space to cut out common
standardized parts within your company.