PANEL PRO
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When future panels of the same type are required, your cut file (also saved as the
native fc7 format) can be edited by simply deleting instruments not wanted and
replacing them with different ones.
There are many Instruments and panels in the library supplied with the Panel Pro,
and in many cases are ready to be used.
At some time however, you will need to
draw your own panels and instruments.
The following is an exercise to familiarize you with some of the techniques used in
drawing an instrument for cutting on the Panel Pro. In most cases an instrument can
be generated in AvCAM “new cutout” in about 30 seconds. Drawing them by hand
could take 30 minutes.
Layers:
Think of layers as a layer of vellum or translucent material that different information is
drawn on. For instance one layer of a house drawing would have the foundation drawn,
another layer would have basement rooms, another layer could have main floor rooms,
another layer the wiring, etc. Now if all of this information would be viewed at once, it
would be a hopeless jumble of lines, however if we remove all but the foundation and
basement rooms, we have a clear picture of that portion of the plan.
CAD is simply a file with the definitions of entities. Such as the start and end coordinate
of a line. In addition there is provision in that definition for the name or number of a
layer. We use that information to separate out different information. When AvCAM
reads the file it ignores all layers except the layers selected in the AvCAM layer
management dialog.
Any layer name can be used, however many of the drawing on the library inherited the
layer structure from earlier days when only layer numbers were used, and I recommend
using what is already in use.
2
. The desired final dimension layer (i.e. 3 1/8 “ hole for an instrument)
Bezel
. The shape and size of the highest and widest parts of the instrument to avoid
side to side interference.
TrayOD
: The outside dimensions of the panel mount trays. It is useful to locate
mounting rails.
Outside
: The outside layer is the outer perimeter of the panel or part. The layer name
“outside” is required to alert AvCAM to cut this on the outside and cut clockwise.
Whenever EasyCAD makes a new entity, it is drawn on the layer currently selected,
and using the currently selected color.
