The important part about 2D cutting is that you need to have a vector file as a .dxf (.svg or .ai works as well though you might loose color and layer information) that we can import into v-carve. You DON'T need a 3D file, but in certain cases it is possible to retrieve 2D vector file information out of 3D models. Also make sure your file doesn't get crazy large (>50MB) or the software might have issues dealing with them.
Overview
Dxf files can be exported from most 2D vector-based software like illustrator, inkscape, coreldraw etc or using most 3D CAD-software like Rhino3D, Onshape, Fusion 360, Autocad etc. (if you use Affinity designer it's also possible to export as .svg)
Note: importing a non-vectorized image into a vector-based software and exporting that image straight to a dxf-file does not result into a correct vector file. There are however ways to automatically convert images to line drawings in Inkscape or Illustrator. Instructions can be found on this link.
In your drawings you will need to consider the different operations you want to execute with the machine. These operations are called toolpaths and the 3 most common are Drill toolpath, Pocket toolpath and Profile toolpath (= Cutting).
Left: Drill toolpath - Middle: Pocket toolpath - Right: Profile toolpath —- comparison of different types toolpaths, as described above, to the same geometry. The blue circle is the geometry where the toolpath is applied to, the red lines show the way the machine will run with the milling bit.
When you prepare your drawings you place curves according to how things will be cut out. The most important things to remember is that you will get round off inside corners due to the nature of cutting with a rotating tool and that you will need some spacing in between pieces to fix materials to the machine. More on that will be explained below.
Prepare your drawings in mm, as this is the unit system we will use later in VCarve (CAM). The shopbot, our cnc-machine, can reach a precision of 0.05 mm so if you have pieces that slot into each other you'll need to be precise with drawing. Joints can be drawn without tolerance as we can add that later in Vcarve, up to a certain extent.
For cutting through materials the shopbot uses a milling bit. The diameter will greatly depend on the material and thickness you are trying to cut and an important thing to be aware of is that inside corners will get round off to the radius of the milling bit. This is something the milling machine does automatically, so no need to add this to your drawings, just something to be aware of.
