Using Flat Pattern Export in Inventor to Create CNC cut files | Design ...

Back in October Craig Bashor (Twitter @MFG_N_3D) tweeted asking how Inventor users following him get CNC cut files out of Inventor. I told him I would consolidate my knowledge into a series of blog posts, so Craig I’m sorry its taken until now. The moment has probably passed for Craig but I figured it could be of some use for followers of Design & Motion all the same. So here I am.

I know of 4 distinct ways to get what CNC programmers need out of Inventor. The best method for you entirely depends on what you are cutting and the software you are using to program it. Depending on your situation you may be able to produce the perfect output for your needs, we have had to resort to some fairly lengthy procedures to get what we need. In my industry the difficulty comes in dealing with the grain direction of the veneers on our parts and subsequent grain matching. As a result I have investigated lots of options and discovered a few tricks along the way. Nevertheless, its my strong opinion that Autodesk should be making much more of an effort to make the transition of CAD data to CAM software a lot less painful than it can be. Currently they don’t appear to be doing anything about it. Hopefully this will ease the pain for some of you.

Part 1 Flat Pattern Export

As you may well know in a Sheet metal part you can create flat patterns. Once a flat pattern has been created you can save out a dwg/dxf to AutoCAD which will allow you to develop the cut file further if need be.

Pros:

• Merge Profiles into Closed Polylines
• Spline Conversion to Polylines
• Object Recognition, Inside & Outside, Features on the upper & lower faces.
• Rebase Geometry to 1st Quadrant
• Ability to control the layers to a certain extent
• Semi-Automated Length, Width & Thickness values for BOM & Parts list.

Cons:

• No support for exporting text with the cut file/flat pattern!
• No feature recognition, so there is no means to include feature depths in the 2D data.
• Has to be carried out manually on each part. The same repetitive process over and over again.
• Sheet metal thickness won’t link through to body extrusion thick easily when using multi body modelling techniques.

There is some scope to run a macro in AutoCAD to do some clever post processing on the flat patterns to streamline the CAD to CAM process. For most people this would mean getting the part number into the cut file.

I’ve created a video to help talk you through the process. Hopefully my voice doesn’t bore you and instead inspires you.

Next Posts:

Part 2 Export Face/Sketch As

Part 3 Create a Drawing

Part 4 Solid Model

You can follow Scott on Twitter @scottmoyse