AutoPass Pattern: 5-point Star

Instructions

To cut the star, we use the ramp phase of the AutoPass extension in a somewhat creative way. AutoPass plunges the cutter deeper into the workpiece with each pass in a linear motion. The length of this ramp phase varies depending on the depth of cut and the selected plunge speed. Since we can calculate this length relatively well, you get great opportunities to create three-dimensional patterns with Origin. The following is a bit complex. In case of questions, need some help, have suggestions, ideas or just want to show your results, stop by here: https://community.shapertools.com/t/autopass-pattern-5-point-star-like-on-the-american-flag/13277 SOME BASICS: (1) Since AutoPass does not work with open paths (lines), the star consist of five shapes, of which we always cut only the straight segments (= our cutting path). The rounded segments are only a means to an end to be able to use AutoPass (= irrelevant path segments). (2) We use a 90° V-cutter. To get nice pointed ends of the star, the v-cutter should have a pointed tip. I just had one with a 0.2 mm rounded tip on hand, what leads to slightly rounded ends. (3) In order to have good control over the start and end when cutting, the segments are designed in a way that they always have a hard angle at the start and end point. This makes it easy to prevent Origin from cutting into the segment of the shape that we want to leave out. Be sure to avoid using Auto-Lock during cutting! (4) If you want to adjust the size of the star, you can scale the SVGs proportionally. After that you have to recalculate the plunge speed. See below how this works. (5) You can use a trick to test whether you have set the correct parameters to get the perfect ramp length. Since the usual AirCut is not suitable for this purpose, let's use the manual Z-Touch. Start the manual Z-Touch function and move down the bit juuuust a little and set this value to zero. Now you can test without turning on the spindle resp. without cutting into your material. The behavior of AutoPass is the same as real cutting. During (air) cutting our patterns, Origin should always display a light blue line. This is an indicator of the ongoing ramping phase. When the line turns dark blue, the ramp phase is over and the maximum cutting depth has been reached. If the line turns dark blue near or better directly at your the end point, you have set the perfect plunge speed. HOW TO CUT: (1) Choose a size of the star you want to cut and have a look at the "How To CuT"-PDF. There you'll finde the plunge speed, cut depth and the minimum cutter diameter, that matches the size of the chosen star. Make sure that your material is thick enough (cut depth) and your cutter is large enough (Minimum cutter diameter). (2) Prepare your workspace and Origin: mount the cutter, z-touch, set spindle speed, scan the workspace, grid, load and place the SVG. (3) Do the settings: Activate AutoPass. Open the AutoPass settings and deactivate the "Pass Depth" toggle as well as the "Roughing Passes" toggle. Set the offset to 0 (zero) and the plunge speed as well as the cutting depth to the corresponding values from the "How To CuT"-PDF. (4) Bring Origin near the starting point of the first segment to be cut. Make sure that you bring Origin a little above the starting point and on the opposite side of the segments that should not be cut. Please see my visualized explanations to make this more clear – sort of as a cheat sheet: https://community.shapertools.com/t/autopass-patterns-star-and-spiral/11047/4 (5) Start cutting and don't active Auto-Lock! Cut slowly along your segment until you reach the end point. Stop cutting. Repeat this process for each stroke of the star. Here you can see videos on how I cut the segments: https://community.shapertools.com/t/autopass-patterns-star-and-spiral/11047/2 SCALING THE PATTERNS: The SVGs of the star can be scaled proportionally with any vector based graphics program. After scaling, the plunge speed and the cutting depth must be recalculated. This can also be done without adjusting the cutting depth, but then the star will have a different appearance. With my original settings, this 5-point stars is similar to those of the American flag. Cutting depth = There's a blue circle included in the SVG. After proportionally scaling the SVG, the radius (not diameter!) of that blue circle is your new cutting depth. Plunge speed = ( cutting depth in mm * 1300 ) / length of cutting path in mm. Alternatively, you can also use Beau's pretty cool calculator: https://community.shapertools.com/t/engraving-and-autopass-ramping-and-calculators/11027/26 But be careful, when scaling, always make sure that your cutter is big enough and your material is thick enough! FURTHER READING: – General discussion about RampArt: http://community.shapertools.com/t/autopass-ramp-art – Beau's pretty cool calculator: http://community.shapertools.com/t/engraving-and-autopass-ramping-and-calculators – Discussion regarding this project: https://community.shapertools.com/t/autopass-pattern-5-point-star-like-on-the-american-flag/13277 MORE PATTERNS: – Star & Spiral: https://hub.shapertools.com/creators/623dae1dfb4d27f71b9ebdb0/shares/63b8145350c65c5f829171b5 – Double Helix, endless pattern: https://hub.shapertools.com/creators/623dae1dfb4d27f71b9ebdb0/shares/63bfea2907f13e3dc4972b69 – Moulding Style: https://hub.shapertools.com/creators/623dae1dfb4d27f71b9ebdb0/shares/63dbca43e086cc02ed83c3ef