LIGNOCAM imports and interprets machining data from a BTL or BTLx file. This BTL or BTLx file contains the geometric information for a dovetail on a jib cut, for example, or for a slanting hole or a ridge cut, which have been drawn in the CAD software. In Lignocam’s “individual part” menu, it is possible to modify this geometric information, remove it or add more processings.

The wood industry has acquired a multitude of digitally controlled machines (CNC). These wood processing machines have benefited from the experience gained in the field of mechanics and have become sophisticated, efficient and fast thanks to the input of the know-how of wood professionals. But the current balance sheet is as follows: While digital means of production have adapted well to wood material, the means of programming used in the mechanical field are proving to be inadequate. They are mostly based on two-dimensional data (DXF) with depth and therefore require a lot of time to define tool paths, spindel angles, number of passes, order of machining. Based on this observation, since 1997, we have been developing software that minimizes the long and unproductive hours of work preparation.

Three reasons for an optimized programming system:

1. Unlike metal, wood is anisotropic. This implies that an end wood shaping (e.g. a mid-wood at the end of a piece) cannot be machined in the same way as longitudinal shaping (delardement). This component is not found in the mechanical field.
2. If the mechanical industry has based its success on the production of large series of parts, the carpenter, the scaler interest their customers by their production to the unit, to one. In other words, a programming file (ISO code) is for single use.
3. For the carpenter, there is no long-range wood structure without a counter-arrow. This distortion is not usually drawn in the drawing software (CAD-DAO) but it is applied at the method set, just before production. This feature of wood construction is not managed by most programming software. Namely: an ISO code made for a right carrier cannot be retrieved to produce the same carrier but cross-arrowed.

The benefits of this software:

• Speed: no tool trajectory programming, iso code calculated instantly;
• Flexibility: choosing the position of the piece, the strategy and the machining sequence;
• Simplicity: 4-menu software! Friendliness: 3D ISO code simulation (ISO code simulator);
• Professionalism: design and technical support by industry professionals;
• Experience: develops strategies for woodworking since 2000;
• BTL promotion: Lignocam is the publisher of the Official BTL-Viewer;
• Question: Lignocam takes an exam during the usercub; The customer is the expert.

Based on a library of strategies (macro), Lignocam calculates an ISO code that can be simulated in 3 dimensions. The ISO code is then transmitted to the digital control or software installed on the machine’s PC.

Etymology:

LIGNO: from Latin lignosus, lignum, wood n.m. Solid and woody substance of trees.
CAM: computer aided manufacturing, computer-assisted manufacturing (FAO) in French.