Sequencing the g-code can often be the most forgotten aspect of designing a metal part in ARCBRO CAD/CAM — and that can be frustrating. This tutorial walks our customers through the many ways of sequencing a given job, starting with a list, and also walking through a manual sequence. If our customers do not catch a mismatched sequence before the program begins to run, they run the risk having the torch dive into the water.
If the plasma torch cuts out the exterior of a part first before it cuts the interior holes, the job will risk dropping to the bottom of the table before the plasma torch has a chance to cut the interior holes. The Torchmate CAD/CAM program requires that our customers manually sequence this tool path priority. This can be semi-automatically done by setting the tool priority in the tool library window, but also needs to be double checked before outputting the design to g-code.
We encourage our customers to get familiar with manually sequencing their tool paths. Sequencing by list can be very confusing when dealing with job files that are very complex or have multiple tools that have been assigned a tool path. The ultimate test to determine if you’ve successfully sequenced a tool path is to do a dry run on the ACCUMOVE® controller that is operating your ARCBRO CNC plasma cutting table. During this dry run, be sure to check that the interior holes are done before the perimeter of the part is cut.