Inkscape gcodetools tutorial 02: Mill a spiral in 7 clicks

By V.Kalyaev kalyaev.com. gcodetools homepage

Inkscape setup

  1. Download Inkscape from inkscape.org. Current ver. 0.47 and install it.
    EMC² 8.04 users: install Inkscape from inkscape_0.47.0-1ubuntu3~hardy1~ppa2_i386.deb or copy using dpkg: 
    sudo dpkg -i inkscape_0.47.0-1ubuntu3~hardy1~ppa2_i386.deb
  2. Place gcode_tools-develope.py and gcode_tools-develope.inx to inkscape/share/extensions folder.
    Windows users: right mouse click on both files and select "Save as..." to C:\Program Files\Inkscape\share\extensions folder.

If you have problems downloading these files - take all of them inside one package gcodetools_tut02.zip

Path-to-gcode: spiral milling in 7 clicks.

You are reading a very short tutorial and right now you can try it by yourself in 4 minutes! Just download files, open Inkscape and make 7 mouse clicks to mill a spiral:

  1. Select "Spiral tool"
  2. Draw a spiral
  3. Select "Extensions" from upper main menu
  4. Run "gcodetools (dev)"
    N.B.: If you can't see "gcodetools (dev)" item - refer to Inkscape setup section.
  5. Click on "Preferences" tab. File: test.ngc
    (Windows users) Directory: c:/     (or e:/ for the "E:" flash drive)
    (Linux users) Directory: /home/username
  6. Click on "Path to Gcode" tab.
  7. Click on "Apply" button.
    You see warning message that default tool and default scale are added to drawing. Later on you can change these default values.

The job is done! Output file is already saved to    c:/test.ngc   or   /home/username/test.ngc    and should look like this:

%
(Generated by gcode_tools from inkscape.) 
M3 
G21 (All units in mm)
 
G00 Z1.411111
G00 X29.999999 Y149.999996

G01 Z-0.282222 F100
G02 X31.695094 Y143.967656 Z-0.282222 I-1.318073 J-3.624712 F400.000000
G02 X26.666674 Y140.833326 Z-0.282222 I-6.955098 J5.557370
..... skipped

All files including this tutorial inside one package: gcodetools_tut02.zip

Defaults explanations (Advanced difficulty).

Short "defaults" explanation: 10mm cylindrical cutter 1mm per pass and 10mm material thickness (from Z=0 to Z=-10). Default 1:1 scale is applied, no rotation, no translation Points: (0,0)→(0,0) and (100,0)→(100,0)

To apply 4:1 scale you should only change second point (100,0) to (400,0) (using text tool) and your Spiral will be enlarged 4x times inside Gcode!

Milling pictures

Actual milling process images will be there in 3 days. Come back later!

 

Visit gcodetools homepage to see other gcodetools tutorials and FAQ's.