I setup the thickness of the project - to 44.45 mm as an example - and I also set the zero point to the top of the item.
I create a shape and then create an operation for that shape and I want the cut to go all the way through the item being routed. To do this, I can enter an explicit number (eg, 44.45), but if I later change the thickness of the item via the Project Setup Edit page, I have to manually edit the Final Depth setting on the operation page.
I’d rather use a variable - or maybe this is called a property - for the thickness. I see that I can use ‘z’ as the Final Depth value but I couldn’t find the pre-defined variables discussed in the manual; I couldn’t find a list of variable/sproperties in the tool, either.
(If this is documented, I’d appreciate a pointer to it.)
I read that pressing Enter when inputting an equation will cause it to be evaluated, but it also will close the operation page. Is there some other way to have an expression be evaluated and the results displayed? (It would be nice if equations could be evaluated when a TAB key is pressed. Or, have an explicity ‘Evaluate’ button.) Even if I do press Enter, I find that the Final Depth value isn’t (always) updated until I press the ‘Preview’ button then view the details of the individual operation.
I see that I can also enter a percentage, such as 100% and this seems to work. However, when I press the Preview button and then inspect the operation’s Final Depth, I don’t see an actual number. Instead, I see the original percentage that I entered. In other words, it doesn’t look like the Final Depth equation is evaluated. (?)
If I enter a Final Depth value of ‘98% * z’, press Enter and the re-open the operation, I see a new Final Depth value of 44.5% … which doesn’t seem right to me.
It would be nice to have a way to bring up a list of the variables / properties / or whatever you call it. It would be even nicer if I had a way to define my own variable / property.
The other thing I noticed is that if I set the Final Depth to z, or to a percentage, and changed the thickness of the project with the Project Setup window, the operation’s Final Depth value didn’t appear to be updated. Instead, the previous value was used. That is, the edit of the project thickness didn’t seem to make a difference. Is there a way to force the recalculation of equations in the set of operations for some project?
The reason I’m asking all of this is because I have a design I’ve created in MillMage and I want to run a test route. However, my test board isn’t exactly the same thickness as the actual board I want to use for the final result. It would be nice if I could simply make an adjustment to the Project Setup page and then save and then execute the g-code. That is, I could use ‘z’ or a percentage in the operations instead of having an explicit thickness in the operations I’d have to edit.
Extra credit: it would be extra, extra nice if I could define my own function using an extension language of some sort. (eg, lua, which seems to be supported by other CNC CAD tools).
