PANEL PRO
26
•
Snap to a point on an existing entity. This is what I use the most. This
actually uses the “mod” menu on the left, and the “snap buttons on the
bottom tool bar should be left off, (out) as above.
For instance you want to draw a line that starts precisely at the end of another line.
You would first invoke the line command, and when the status bar says “1
st
point” you
would open the mod menu and click on “Endpoint of segment” (or simply hit F5) then
click the line that you want to reference the end point of. This precisely selects the
coordinate of the end point of that line as the starting point of your new line.
There are 4 Function “F” keys you should learn.
1.
F3
is the midpoint of a line or arc (if the arc started at 0 deg and ended at 180
deg, the mid point would be at 90 deg)
2.
F4
the center of an entity. In the case of a circle or arc, it is the center, in the
case of a line it is the same as mid point, in the case of a closed polyline, it is the
center of all of the enclosed area.
3.
F5
Endpoint of a line or arc or polyline segment.
4.
F6
Intersection of two lines.
See the EasyCAD help file for more information.
Now it’s time to draw the bezel. It’s important to include an accurate bezel dimension
so side to side panel space conflicts can be resolved. Click on the layer icon and enter
a new layer called “bezel” and select it as the current layer.
Select the cyan color. (color 5 on the left hand color bar)
The width and height of the bezel is 3.25 / 2 = 1.625
Offset the center vertical and horizontal lines by 1.625
Now you have a box centered on 0,0.
To fillet the corners, click draw>fillet/chamfer/offset>fillet and trim
Select the 2 lines to fillet. Enter the fillet radius (.1), hit enter.
Repeat with the other 3 bezel corners. We can now erase the center construction lines.
Note that AvCAM must have totally enclosed regions in order to compute tool paths.
This means that the lines and arcs used to form that region must not have gaps or
overlaps at their end points. Also, there cannot be entities that overlay another entity
with a common endpoint.
