Onshape dxf exports for laser cutter

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#1

Has anyone ever used onshape to design parts for laser cutting before? I used it for the first time to design the earring display in this thread, but we had some issues when loading the dxfs into ruby. I couldn’t find any option for units/scale while importing, and my parts seemed to come in at totally random scales. They weren’t off by 1000x like m vs mm, or 25.4x like inches to mm or vice versa, each one was scaled by a different totally random amount, so I had to go into onshape and measure what the bounding box dimensions should be to scale the parts in ruby.

Has anyone ever had this issue before/does anyone have any recommendations for better file types/methods of exporting to the laser?

Thanks :slight_smile:

#2

It’s a Ruby bug. If OnShape can export SVG use that instead. The same issue occurs with the Fusion360 dxf export.

You can create a reference object which is something like 10cm so you can rescale the image in Ruby, but be careful if there is any automatic kerf calculations going on in your CAD.

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#3

Ah okay, thanks for the info! I’ll have a hunt around in onshape next time I use it and see if there’s any other way I can export the parts, potentially by making a drawing first or something. Cheers.

#4

I’ve used onshape for designing parts to CNC. I think I’ve had similar problems with vcarve. I assume you’re right clicking on a surface of the part and using the export dxf/dwg option? I think I tried exporting to an older dxf version with some success.
You’re right that you can also create a drawing and export that as an SVG, it’s a bit of a faff though, as it will try and mark the centre of holes with a dotted line, and you need clear all the borders, etc. But it does work

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#5

I ran into the same issue during the sublimation printing workshop. Vector outlines fit to the source image I was going to print, but then had to write down the bounding box dimensions and rescale after importing to Ruby THEN repacking for efficiency 🤦

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#6

Hmm, annoying. Well if anyone finds a file format that ruby doesn’t screw up that would be useful info! :joy:

#7

We use LaserCut on a 150W laser. I use Inkscape to do the design, and some folks use Adobe Illustrator. I’ve tried exporting to both DXF and PLT/HPGL file formats to import into LaserCut. DXF has some issues, especially with arcs and circles. Does Ruby allow you to import from PLT or HPGL (they are the same format, just different extensions)? That has worked the best for me, and you can set the input scaling, at least in LaserCut. Circles and arcs are circles and arcs, and vectors are connected into continuous paths.