Author Topic: Nesting part inside another part  (Read 1476 times)

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Offline jaysomlamTopic starter

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Nesting part inside another part
« on: Aug 14, 2019, 14:06:34 PM »
I would like to know if this is possible to nest a part inside another part.  Let say we have a LARGE screen that is a Machine-Cut item.  The part to make the frame of the large screen results with a large empty rectangular hole inside.  This creates a lot of waste.  Can CAMduct nest other parts inside the rectangular hole?

If this is not possible, can we setup the screen in a way that its Cut-Type will become "Equipment" instead of "Machine Cut" if the screen size is larger than a certain size?

Please let me know.  Thanks.

Jaysom

Offline Bonedigger

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Re: Nesting part inside another part
« Reply #1 on: Aug 14, 2019, 14:13:08 PM »
Yes, you can. Under the Autonest options, check the "Pre-Nest Parts in Holes" box.
Chris
Autodesk Fabrication CAMduct 2019 v3.07.545 (2019.1.0), Autodesk Fabrication ESTmep 2022 v22.0.110.2 (2022.0.0.F) Windows 10, 64-Bit

Offline jaysomlamTopic starter

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Re: Nesting part inside another part
« Reply #2 on: Aug 14, 2019, 14:24:49 PM »
This is very odd.  That "Pre-Nest Parts in Holes" option is already turned ON.  But parts still cannot be nested inside the big hole.  You can see from the attached picture of the nest.

Jaysom

Offline Bonedigger

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Re: Nesting part inside another part
« Reply #3 on: Aug 14, 2019, 14:27:24 PM »
Are you using a Process to nest? If so, it needs to checked in the nesting options for that process.
Chris
Autodesk Fabrication CAMduct 2019 v3.07.545 (2019.1.0), Autodesk Fabrication ESTmep 2022 v22.0.110.2 (2022.0.0.F) Windows 10, 64-Bit

Offline jaysomlamTopic starter

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Re: Nesting part inside another part
« Reply #4 on: Aug 14, 2019, 14:46:32 PM »
I believe you may be onto something.

Yes, I use a process to nest the job.  And you are right that the "Pre-Nest Parts in Holes" option was not turned ON for that process.  Unfortunately, after I have turned ON that option in the process and re-nest the job, I don't see any change in nesting.  They are nested on the same sheet.  But the small parts are not inside the big hole.  Yes, I have deleted the previous nest before I starts a new nest.

I thought might be CAMduct still remembered the old setting or the job file still somehow kept the old setting.  I restarted CAMduct, created a new job file, added the same fittings to the job file, and re-nested.  Unfortunately, the result didn't change at all.

I have also slightly enlarged the screen, and slightly reduce the size of the small straight duct.  But this doesn't change the result.

By the way, my version of CAMduct is 2019.0.0.F (29), Build 3.07.545.2019.1

I welcome any help that I can get.

Jaysom

Offline Bonedigger

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Re: Nesting part inside another part
« Reply #5 on: Aug 14, 2019, 14:53:14 PM »
That is strange. The nest below was nested using CAMduct 2019.0.0.F (29), 3.07.545 2019.1 also.
Chris
Autodesk Fabrication CAMduct 2019 v3.07.545 (2019.1.0), Autodesk Fabrication ESTmep 2022 v22.0.110.2 (2022.0.0.F) Windows 10, 64-Bit

Offline Sirius

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Re: Nesting part inside another part
« Reply #6 on: Aug 14, 2019, 15:08:20 PM »
Check that the inside cut of your frame is actually set as an "inner", it should show as a red line, as does Bonedigger's example.
If it is set as an "outer" and appears as a blue line CAMduct thinks it is already a part within a part and won't put other parts on top.

Offline jaysomlamTopic starter

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Re: Nesting part inside another part
« Reply #7 on: Aug 14, 2019, 15:30:20 PM »
Seem like the problem has to do with the connector that I have assigned to the screen.  Currently I have a flange-in 3/8" connector that we have customized assigned to the screen.  With this connector, the small parts cannot be nested inside the frame of the screen.  If I change the connector to "Hem In 1in" connector or "Flange In - 1in" (I have not messed around with either one), the small parts can be nested inside the frame of the screen as shown in the attached picture.  Seem like I may have changed something in the connector that is causing the problem.  I will compare my flange-in 3/8" and the flange-in 1" connectors to see what is the difference.

Hello Sirius, I am not sure about the red-line that you are referring to.  Where is the setting that affects the line color?  By the way, you can see from the attached picture that the inner line is shown in blue, and small parts still can be nested inside the frame of the screen.  Therefore, I am not certain that the line color has anything to do with this.  Please let me know if you have any additional info about this.  Thanks.

Jaysom

Offline Sirius

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Re: Nesting part inside another part
« Reply #8 on: Aug 14, 2019, 15:43:21 PM »
If you open the part in "Profiler" (Edit Developments) you can check if the inner line is set as an inner or outer cut.
It is the "Cut Side" that is relevant rather then the colour, as the colours are able to be customised, however the default is for "outer cuts" to be Blue and "inner Cuts" are red.
Edit developments of the part with the connector that works and the one that doesn't and you might see the problem.
Select the inner line and check the "Cut Side" in the Tool Use dialog box that pops up.

Offline jaysomlamTopic starter

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Re: Nesting part inside another part
« Reply #9 on: Aug 14, 2019, 16:23:56 PM »
Thanks for the detail about checking the cut side of the frame.

Unfortunately when I go to check the Profile of the inner line of the frame, I find that its setting is correct -- meaning that the red line shown in Profile is "Cut Side = inner".

Moreover, after I go to the Edit Development mode, I find that previously OK connector like "Hem In 1in" doesn't work any more -- meaning that using that connector cannot allow the small parts to be nested inside the big hole.  Therefore, I don't have a "known good" setting to compare with.

I am really stuck...   :'(

Jaysom

Offline jaysomlamTopic starter

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Re: Nesting part inside another part
« Reply #10 on: Aug 14, 2019, 19:45:18 PM »
I managed to allow small parts to be nested inside the big hole using "Hem In 1in" as the connector of the screen.  Somehow I need to reduce the size of the small parts further than the original.  Somehow doing this triggers CAMduct to nest the small parts inside the big hole.  Seem like the small parts have to be quite small in order to fit inside the hole.  Please see the attached picture of two small parts that are somehow not considered as small enough and are placed outside the hole.  We can see that the small parts should be small enough to fit inside the big hole.  Not sure why CAMduct considers them as too big.

Please also see another picture of two slightly smaller parts that are somehow considered small enough to fit inside the big hole.

Further testing reveals that I can assign other connectors to the screen and the small parts can fit.  For example, the connector flange-out 3/8" that used to give me problem is now OK -- but the small parts must be really tiny.  The result is that the big hole will have a small number of tiny parts inside with plenty of space left.  This means this still leaves a lot of waste.

Jaysom

Offline jaysomlamTopic starter

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Re: Nesting part inside another part
« Reply #11 on: Aug 20, 2019, 13:52:50 PM »
Because of the fact that this feature seems to only work if the small parts are really small, I have a feeling that this feature may not be that useful for us.  The size of duct within one job file tend to be very similar.  If the screen is so large that it leaves a big hole that I want to fill, the chance is good that the other duct in the same job file are also large.  This means we cannot really take advantage of this feature.  Therefore, there is a high chance that we will not use this feature.

Sorry for taking up your time in trying to help me.  I appreciate your help though.

Jaysom