Shop Sign

[Joe Jones]

NOW see what you've done!
Joe

Of course!
Work is work, PlasmaSpider is entertainment. Unfortunately there's not a popcorn eating emoji. What a shame.

Note to Admin: you're gonna need to add a lot more STARS now!

Joe

[ben de lappe]

Too Funny!

[adbuch]

Having used TM exclusively for he past decade plus I know how you feel. Inkscape and Corel Draw don't have anywhere near the same feel as I'm used to and therefore I have nowhere near the same level of proficiency. It's to such an extent I hardly find it motivating.

To note, once you get past the simplicity of the shape tools logo there are many settings etc. for their modification once dragged out on screen.

Just my personal opinion, it's a great tool with which I've had much success.

Ben - after trying out the TMCad edu version, I went ahead and purchased their entry level version - TMCad lite - about 300 bucks out the door. The one thing that I found sort of disappointing is that the basic version does not have the trim tool - which surprised me since it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Pro Text upgrade ($625) or the Auto trace wizard/Nesting/Shapes Library combo ($525). But I suppose it must be included in one of those upgrades.

It would be nice if they had a list describing exactly what each level contains. Of course I have heard the same comment made about Design Edge many times over. Robert produced a video explaining all of this which was a big help to may new prospective Design Edge users.



Since I use Design Edge and Inkscape as my primary design/edit tools, the lack of the trim tool is not really a big deal. Very much like Inkscape, it is easy enough to do it by just editing the nodes (move and then Arrange/Connect Path, or use the mouse short cut buttons to join two nodes as shown below.

TM Cad Node Palettes 2.jpg (26.28 KiB) Viewed 785 times

The main reason I bought TMCAD was because of the Polyarc tool - which is something Design Edge is lacking (along with any node editing capability at all). Inkscape comes close - and does have more advanced node editing capability than TMCAD, but also lacks that feature.

LightBurn is another handy editing tool which does have node editing along with many other handy tools and features.

[adbuch]

Not up to everyone else's standard on here quite yet, but here goes!

Made a sign and hanger brackets to hang over the counter in our shop to advertise our new Plasma capability. (Crappy Blackberry Photo...)

By the way - Welcome Aboard!! We do have a Torchmate section at this forum which hasn't seen much activity lately. I will look forward to you receiving your TMCad package and learning more about the projects your students are designing and cutting.

Good Luck!!

David

[ben de lappe]

I'm Still using v7 which doesn't have a trim tool at all. The trim tool made it's appearance in V9 and is the cleaver looking icon. Reportedly it saves time trimming and why it wouldn't be included in bas/trial versions etc. I haven't a clue.

Here's a link to a short video showing the old school method utilizing the X or Weld function


In this example I drag out a rectangle, scale to he desired size of .200", select the lettering and the box, click X or Weld and finally delete the rectangle leaving our letters nice and plasma friendly. It may look like a lot at first however with practice it's not too terribly slow.

The mouse functions below are my bread and butter. Their use is pure muscle memory at this point. The trash can and I are best friends.

[Joe Jones]

Wow. Every time I see another software, I love DesignEdge even more.

Joe

[ben de lappe]

TM CAD is a tool, plain and simple. Just like any other tool the skill with which it's employed makes all the difference in the world. When it comes to artwork I believe how one represents the detail in any given image is WAY more important than the software used. Yes, my software is basic. Especially when compared to something like Corel (which I'm trying to get into) however possessing the ability to plot nodes my creativity is limitless and gives my work a style of it's own. Maybe not for everybody but like you and your software I love it. (99.9% anyway ) And the quality I'll let speak for itself.

[adbuch]

I like TM Cad. It's great for manual tracing, and I particularly like the polyarc tool. I agree with you on your assessment of the tool used vs the skill of the "operator". It's the same out in the workshop - some guys using hand tools can run rings around some of the others who may be using fancy power tools. Of course if one is proficient with the fancy power tools then similar results can certainly be achieved.

I started out using Autocad, and it took me quite a while to get up to speed using Design Edge. When I first got my Plasmacam table, I was drawing in Design Edge and importing to Design Edge for cutting. But not anymore. Same for any of these other programs. I find node editing quite similar when comparing TM Cad to Inkscape to CorelDraw to LightBurn to Aspire. It's pretty much the same idea, just some of the commends are a little bit different and take some getting used to. I have been having some great fun using TM Cad.

David