Can I use leads without tabs?

Help & Support
1

I’m cutting some small circles. Is it possible to create a lead in without having to have a tab?

Thanks!

2

Yes, from my experience, you can, but you cannot be cutting on center.

If a tab appears, you can just delete it manually. Other than that, you just select it as normal.

Let me know if that works.

3

Thanks for the suggestion. I ended up adding a .00001" tab and that seemed to do the trick of adding the lead in, but the tab gets blasted away.

Now, I have a new problem of the hopper repeatedly getting jammed up…always something.

Thanks again!

4

Thanks for joining the forum @cshiel2 and for sharing your question!

It is NOT possible to lead-in without a tab. The tab is necessary for two things:

  1. A start location. The pierce will begin at a tab along a path. If multiple tabs are along the same path, the start location is random.

  2. Lead-in. With the start location along a path, the offset used will determine which edge to lead-in with. Every tab will utilize a lead-in if possible!

If using the centerline cut path, lead-ins are automatically disabled. This is because cutting centerline means that both edges of the cut path are cared for equally and cannot be offset in either direction. For all true to size cuts of your design file, I recommend using the Outside Cut Path!

One good way to visualize the tab width or lead-in length is to visualize the gcode file. Below is an example of a tab along a mounting bracket with the lead-in. (Material: Aluminum 6061 @ 0.25in uses a 0.017in width tab and a 0.038in lead-in) I recommend using the https://ncviewer.com/ website. The guide below reviews how to visualize a WAZER gcode!
(Visualization of the G-code Cut File — WAZER Support | The First Desktop Waterjet.)

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