no prusa frame dxf files working. please help

Hi folks,
new to the game and questions already.
Obviously eyeing off the prusa i3, probably einstein variant, so I dl'd all the
different frame dxfs to price etc. The files I have are,
Prusa3_SC10UU-v1.dxf
Prusa3ALU-FREZOVANY-v4.dxf
Prusa3WOOD-v4.dxf

Annoying none of them open to view. I have tried AutoDWG, AutoCAD 360
and Solidwork 2015 and none of them open or display anything on the screen.
Can anyone please help me?
Oh, all the files came from Github, um can't remember the second site, within
the past 2 weeks.


Many thanks,
Andrew

Try inkscape
[www.inkscape.org]

When you open the dxf use a scale factor of 1

Steve

---

My updated Instructable on our Prusa i3 Build
[www.instructables.com]

Hi John,
Tried Inkscape and no joy. Also DL'd DWG Trueview, no joy.
Tried on another laptop and was able get the sc10uu file to display but
a dirty great triangle went across the middle.
Grabbed the files from Josefs github and the einstein github twice and they
still wont display on either machines.

Can someone post their dxf's in an attached zip?

I'm stumped to what is going one.

Andrew

How are you downloading the files? Using the save as right click from Github in Windows doesn't work, IIRC it's to do with the formatting of the line breaks. Best bet is to download the zip, unpack it and open from there. The Prusa3ALU-FREZOVANY-v4.dxf from an unpacked zip will open as a dxf. There is some clean up you need to do with it to be able to load it into a CAM but you can measure it or make a dimensioned drawing pretty easily. Depending on how you are going to cut it and what CAM you are using you'll need to flatten the layers. The mounting holes are drawn at 3 mm so if you are going to thread them you should make them 2.5 mm or if you are going to bolt through they should be 3.5 mm. You can tap the 3 mm hole but the threads aren't very deep and you risk stripping them out when you tighten them.

Hi Vegasloki,
figured out quickly just doing a SAVE AS caused problems.
So I was just going to the github page and chosing the RAW format.

I have no idea how but it appears the files have decided to start working.
I'm just wondering if every single other time I was DL'ing them they were
getting corrupted.

Spot on about wanting to get the dimensions for the mounting holes. I was
thinking of getting some MDF or plywood LC cut at a local fablab.

My thanks again for your help,
Andrew

If you send the frame out for cutting they won't need any dimensions. You want the dxf to be one layer, object lines only, no dimensions. If you don't they'll have to and may charge you for it though most will review your file anyway (and charge you) to insure that it's going to work before they run the job. They'll input your dxf into the CAM of whatever machine is doing the cutting. On most CO2 glass tube lasers in makerspaces the CAM is the printer driver. Waterjets usually have a proprietary CAM (though can translate G code and you wouldn't use waterjet for wood like this) and a CNC router will likely have different CAM depending on what it is though like the waterjet there is a facility to use G code. Those CAMs usually are based on G code but have some of thier own codes specific to the machine being used.

As for material if you use plywood use a good quality baltic birch and use rear supports like an sgraber. If you use construction grade MDF or MDX plywood you may not get the results you want. You'll need at least a 16" x 16" cuting area in the laser. That does the main plate and bed and a second 12" x 16" piece for both the rear uprights. If you use wood and don't use rear supports there will likely be too much vibration at higher speeds. The single plate is best with metal or aluminum composite panel (aka Dibond or ACP). Those can't be CO2 laser cut but you could waterjet or CNC route/mill them. You can use .250 6061 AL or 10 ga A36 steel sheet. The bed on the steel version is a bit heavy but it works. Look for 6mm ACP at places that sell sign making material.

Here's a file for the a Rework version for a wooden frame with rear supports. It's based on sgraber's wooden frame. It's got all the parts on one sheet so you'll need to break it down for most makerspace lasers. [github.com]