I have created a design which is essentially a bunch of profiles that I need to send to a CNC routing firm to get the parts cut from MDF. I have so far sent them an STL of the design, but they have asked to receive this in a 2D format so that they can calculate the material and cutting requirements. I cannot find an easy way to do this. I cant for some reason take individual components from the design, and easily format them into separate A0 sized PDF/DWG sheets. Is this going to be a case of having to export each component out as a separate DXF file, and then organise these into sheets using a separate software? Be great if I could do what I need within Shapr. But if someone has an idea that would be great.
I just reread your post. If you’re looking to “break apart” a 3D body into individual 2D components, then Shapr3D is not the solution. However, if you need to export the 2D files for CNC work, then here’s how that’s done.
The way I do this is to draw everything on the Top View. If you haven’t used the Top view, you can move them to the top view using a number of techniques.
From the top view, you can export the sketches using Export, Sketches, DXF (turn of dimensions). You can do all your components, or hide individual ones.
If you’ve created bodies, project them onto a top view plane. Then hide the bodies. We only want to work with the sketches. Let me know if you need further clarification.
Thanks for your suggestion. This is pretty much how I have organised it in the end. Didnt organise it by using the top view, but created a new construction plane the same size as ISO A0. I then aligned the components to this new build plane (after making a duplicate of the project I should add). I then exported the components as a DXF Sketch as you suggested (cannot remember if I excluded measurements or not), and PDF with measurements.
I have since submitted these to the CAD CNC firm, and they have advised that they are suitable so now I am waiting for the quotation to see if it is financially viable for me to continue down this path.
I was just wondering if there existed a more efficient way to do this, but it seems like the method I used was close to your suggestion.
Do you know if it is possible to export out sketches and drawings to custom sized outputs other than ISO? The CAD CNC firm can route up onto very large sizes of MDF. A0 is the largest output I can see, which does equate to around 2 sheets of A0 = 1 sheet of this MDF with some wastage. It would just be nice to design/output to a custom size output.
Interestingly I never provide drawings to any CNC or for my CNC either. I only upload DXF files to my steel suppliers, or use DXF files on my CNC. I have 5’ x 10’ laser and router CNCs.
