Ok. Rather than guess and speculating wildly, I downloaded the ZIP file for the chair and had a look at the DXF file…
…and the instructions in the PDF file!
I opened the file in QCAD (natch). Turns out my guesses were all good.
The trim 1x layer is the ‘inner’ cut for each part, and should be 6mm deep for 18mm MDF.
The trim 2x layer is the ‘middle’ cut and should be 12mm deep for 18mm MDF.
In the instructions it says to split the thickness of the material into three and use 1/3rd of the thickness for these cuts. Obviously ‘Trim 1x’ means 1x1/3rd=6mm, and ‘Trim 2x’ means 2x1/3rd=12mm.
It’s not clear to me if the lines are the edges of the cuts or centrelines. The instructions are a bit ambiguous, although it might be more obvious by looking at the other file formats (Grasshopper, Partworks, or 3DM). Anyone?
My guess to run this on Maslow would be the following:
Use whatever tools to export the parts of the drawing in smaller groups. For example:
top left group of seat/back
top right group of seat/back
lower left (inner leg)
center left (outer leg)
center right (outer leg)
lower right (inner leg)
For each group export all layers, although note that ‘Scre holes - outer’ only appear on the centre left and right leg pieces, and ‘Screw holes’ do not appear on these pieces)
For each object in each group set the appropriate cut:
‘Hold down holes’ can be ignored, or it could be a shallow cut circle which you can use to mark an area that you can put a screw through the MDF into the waste board to hold it in place, or it could be a hole in the centre of the circle to put a screw through.
‘Scre holes outer’ not sure why these are different, unless they are milled slightly bigger to accept a screw to hold the two layers of the legs together. Can be peck-drilled to 18mm with the 1/8" bit, or milled slightly bigger to accommodate the screws. If you peck-drill them to 1/8" then you can easily open them up later. Probably the outer face needs to be countersunk.
‘Screw holes’ are for the dowels that stitch the chair together and align the pieces. Can be peck-drilled to 18mm with the same bit (1/8")
‘Trim 1x’ 6mm deep cut
‘Trim 2x’ 12 mm deep cut
‘Cutting lines’ the outer shape of the piece, cut to 18mm. In the instructions a cut depth of 4.5mm per pass is specified. On Maslow you probably want 3mm or less (same for the Trim layers). Cut this last!
Still not sure if the lines are centrelines for the toolpath, or edge lines for the edge of the cut.
Run each group as a Maslow job in the centre of the cutting area. Mark each piece with a pencil so you know the assembly order.
I can’t thank you enough for making sense of this for me.
We had to sell a lot of our stuff, including all of our furniture to move when I found work. I bought the Maslow kit with my first check so I could start replacing furniture. Its been fun, but a real learning curve!
when I was laid off several years ago, we sold off most of the furniture and I made many new pieces and then bought the maslow.
@dlarue, I know how to do inkscape gcode. It is all I do because I learned it first and have not taken the time to learn anything else. You could take segment groups and assign them to layers and then you will get the depth differences with each layer cut. If you set the line width to your tool width, it will cut where the line is. This design has a huge number of segments though and will take a long long time to process and cut.
No worries. It’s like a detective puzzle. I have to say however, it’s a rather ambitious project.
Looking again at the DXF and the photos I strongly believe that the ‘Cutting lines’ layer is an edge cut, that is, cut around the outside of the shape. I also believe that the two ‘Trim’ lines are centre cuts, i.e. the tool follows the line and is not offset to the left or right.
I know what you mean about making furniture. When I moved to New Zealand I was disappointed to discover there was no Ikea, so I had to make my own furniture. I didn’t have a Maslow either, as they hadn’t been invented yet.
Ok, I didn’t have to make my own furniture, but furniture is expensive here, even the cheap stuff.
In January, Ikea announced that they would be building a store in Auckland.
Ok. I’ve had confirmation from the designer that the ‘Cutting lines’ layer in the DXF is an outside edge cut, ‘Trim 1x’ is a 6mm deep centre cut, and ‘Trim 2x’ is a 12mm deep centre cut.
If you (@Chad_Marshall) make some files to cut this on a Maslow, please re-publish them for others to use. The procedure I outlined above is still exactly how I would suggest to do it (and now I know exactly how to interpret the cuts).
