Hi All,
I wanted to share this technique to anyone who can utilize it. My project requires 1000 of the same item vector cut from .177 acrylic. I approached it 3 ways, timed each sheet (with the lid open), and did the math:
1) I ganged up as many as possible on a 12" x 24" sheet.
Hours to process: 19:27
Parts per sheet: 32
Sheets required: 33
2) I ganged up as many as possible on a 12" x 24" sheet utilizing as many common lines as possible. I then removed any overlapping lines.
Hours to process: 14:06
Parts per sheet: 38
Sheets required: 27
3) I ganged up as many as possible on a 12" x 24" sheet and and then broke the elements into layers. I then optimized path directions and flow from one part to another.
Hours to process: 14:37
Parts per sheet: 38
Sheets required: 27
Layer 1
Layer 2
Layer 3
Layer 4
The results:
Method 1 uses 6 more sheets than the other 2. It takes about 5 more hours to process. The 6 material changes take a bit of time for this many little parts.
Method 2 is the fastest but has the worst quality edges because of all the starts and stops.
While method 3 took about an hour to optimize the file, it was almost the fastest and gave better results than just removing overlapping lines.
I am going with method 3.
Cheers