Download Setup and Operation Manual

Introduction
Welcome to SheetCam, an affordable but powerful 2 1/2 D CAM program.
SheetCam has been designed to fill a niche in the CAM marketplace by providing an easy to use
application for machining 'sheet' goods (metal plates, plastic sheets, thin woods etc.) It will
generate the required code for inside and outside contours, pockets and drilling cycles and will
work with milling machines, routers, engravers and plasma cutters.
SheetCam accepts data in the form of DXF files (CAD drawings), HPGL files (line art), SVG
files, G-code drawings and Excellon files (circuit boards) and has several, configurable, post
processors to meet the needs of the many control packages available. Custom post processors
can also be written to cope with non-standard applications.
SheetCam will allow the nesting of parts and has features for copying, duplicating, rotating and
mirroring parts to reduce wastage to the minimum. SheetCam can also allow for parts that are
not aligned perfectly along the machine axes by aligning the drawing to the actual part.
SheetCam will show cutter paths, rapid moves, layers etc. and the part can be rotated in three
dimensions in the view panel to check for errors prior to machining.
Document navigation
This PDF file has been created to make navigation to relevant information easier for the user.
Please use the 'Bookmarks' on the left to jump to specific chapters and sub-sections. Clicking on
a line item in the 'Table of Contents' will take you to that specific page. Clicking on a line item
in the 'Index' will take you that specific topic. Blue text is a 'hot link' which will take you to the
relevant section of the document.
Work flow
New users are sometimes confused as to the 'correct' way to get SheetCam to manipulate their
drawings/files. The information below is intended to be a guide to the optimal steps in the
process from drawing to compiled G-code. There are normally three or four steps in any
CAD/CAM process:
1. Create your part/design in either a CAD package or an 'art' application like Corel Draw.
2. Open/import the drawing as a DXF, HPGL or Excellon file into the CAM program and
set up your tooling sizes and cutting operations. Once these are set run the 'post
processor' to generate the required G-code.
3. (Optional but very worthwhile) Run the generated G-code in a CNC simulator (lots of
free versions available on the net) to check for any errors. (e.g. CNCSimulator
http://www.cncsimulator.com)
4. Once the code has been verified open the G-code file in your CNC control package and
run the program to create the part.