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Nesting module in WOODEXPERT
Nesting CNC’s are gaining popularity in woodworking business. Among their advantages we can list higher efficiency, simultaneous cutting and drilling & much better optimization for non-typical shapes. Of course, they require according software. Let’s see what WOODEXPERT has in store.
Setting up a nesting task
When opening “Nesting” tool, a list of all the panels in a project appears. Some parts may be automatically excluded from the task e.g. if we have specified a material as unfit for nesting. We can freely exclude or include parts, control their amount, turn grain direction on or off or multiply the whole set.
Nesting tool – list of parts. |
In „Sheets” tab I control the materials used in nesting. Default sizes are loaded from material definitions. However, I can set up a non-standard sized sheet. Let’s say I have a leftover sheet of white plate 1000 x 2070 mm and 1 sheet I had used to cut a non-typical shape. I can model that non-typical sheet (instructions here) and load it into the program.
“Sheets” tab. For white plate the program will first use 1 sheet 1000 x 2070 mm, then 1 sheet loaded from a DXF and then sheets 2800 x 2070 mm. |
In the last tab, “Settings”, I can e.g. set minimal distances between parts, from the edge of the sheet, select 1 of the 3 placements algorithms or change the template for label generation.
Nesting calculation
A new window appears. In the bottom left corner I can see a countdown from 60 seconds and in the main graphic area – “dancing” panels.
Nesting calculation window. |
In the set time (1 minute by default) the program will rotate each piece (by default 4 times by 90°) and test all possible placements. When it finds one better than the current one (better fulfilling conditions of the selected algorithm) it updates the graphic area (hence the “dancing panels” effect).
Calculations end after 1 minute or when the user stops it manually. I can see placement of the panels on the sheets. I can read the report and see the utilisation percent & whether all pieces have been placed.
I click “Generate assembly”.
Generating data
Program proceeds to generate data. For each sheet it will create an assembly file, a PDF with a set of labels and a DXF.
Finished nesting assembly. Generating a CNC file is a matter of a couple of clicks. |
The labels can contain e.g. a schematic drawing of a part (showing edgebanding, drillings and grain direction), a drawing showing part position on a sheet, part’s name, its dimensions, material etc. Universal PDF format guarantees compatibility with every type of printer.
Each sheet gets a PDF with a label set. |
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