Custom Machining Tables Explained

Custom Machining Tables Explained

Custom Tables: Rows & Columns

Custom Tables are very useful additions to the capability of CabMaster, allowing you to develop your own custom machining and apply it to various parts of cabinets.

Where can I find my custom table folder?

From within CabMaster, press [F10] on your keyboard, which opens the Options panel. On the page File Locations , select and copy the folder location shown in the Lookup Tables box.



Open  Windows Explorer, and in the address bar (as shown below), paste the folder location that you copied in the step above and press Enter. This will take you directly to your CabMaster Tables folder.



From there, double-click on the folder Machining , and then on the folder Custom . This is where all your Custom Tables are stored, and accessible from the Cabinet Machining -> Custom page while editing a cabinet.

Next, you can double-click on a .qlt file to edit it, or you can click on a file to select it, press Ctrl-C and then Ctrl-V which will make a duplicate/backup of that file. When you click on a file to select it, you can also press [F2] on your keyboard to rename it.
NOTE: It is recommended that you make a backup of any existing tables that you plan to edit, so you can get all the existing settings back if it doesn't turn out how you had planned.

So many rows! Can I use them all?

Yes! If you need to, you can use every single row in a custom table! But note that even though a custom table can have up to 30 rows, they’re split into different usable sections:
  1. Rows 1-10: Drilling
  2. Rows 11-20: Routing with a radius
  3. Rows 21-30: Routing with polyarcs
However, this does not mean that you can only have a maximum of 10 drilling holes from each custom table, or 10 routes with a radius or 10 routes with a polyarc. Read on, and you’ll see there’s methods of getting so many more!
NOTE: Polyarcs are not normally commonly used and will not be covered in this document. For this reason, it is recommended that you only use rows 11-20 for routing if you need to use curves.

Selecting a value type for each column

Directly under each column heading is a dropdown box which defines the type of value that will be put in each column, in the same way that Microsoft Excel requires value types for each cell. As shown by default in the table BLANK.qlt , the Use column is normally set to Whole Number as it requires a 0 or 1, whereas the Layer column is set to String as that column will contain a string of text.

However, there may be times when the Use column may need to be set to a conditional statement, in which case it can be a String . An example of a conditional statement would be if CabWidth>600mm then 1 else 0 , which would make the Use column hold the value 1 if the cabinet width is greater than 600mm.
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The image above shows the dropdown box and the available value types that are available to be applied to each column.

Most commonly used are String (a simple line of text), Yes or No , Whole Number , Number (where decimals are required), Money ($X.XX), and Length (measured in mm or inches).

So many columns! What do they all do?


Determines whether the row is applied to the machining in CabMaster. Typically 1 for on, or 0 for off, although can be set to a conditional statement to determine if it should be 1 or 0.


The layer name that is used for nesting. This links the machining to the toolpath in your nesting package (ie, EzyNest or EnRoute). The value type must be set to String , and the layer name must be in quotes, ie “Screw 3mm”.


The diameter of the tool used for drilling. Used in rows 1-10 only.


The depth of the cut. If the drilling/routing is to go all the way through the sheet, this would normally be set to Dim3+MachPenetrateCarcass

Dim3 will identify the thickness of the material, and MachPenetrateCarcass will identify the value entered in Drawing Properties -> Mach. General -> Tool2 in the Carcass -> All Others box.




Rows 1-10:      Not used.
Rows 11-30:    Set to either Yes or No , determines whether a route will be a closed shape or not. If it is to be a closed shape, it automatically adds an additional route from the last route point back to the first route point.


Rows 1-10:      The horizontal position of the first drilling point.
Rows 11-30:    The horizontal position of the first point of the route.


Rows 1-10:      The vertical position of the first drilling point.
Rows 11-30:    The vertical position of the first point of the route.


The number of times the drilling or routing will be repeated on the sheet. If there is no repeat necessary, set this to 1 . If it is repeated once, it will need to be set to 2 , as there will be two instances of this drilling or routing, offset by the Repx and Repy columns.


The horizontal offset for where the drilling or routing will be repeated. If the repeat does not require a horizontal offset, set this to 0 .


The vertical offset for where the drilling or routing will be repeated. If the repeat does not require a vertical offset, set this to 0 .
NOTE: If both Repx and Repy are used, the repeat will be positioned diagonally as it applies both the horizontal and vertical offset to the repeat.


Rows 1-10:      Suppression of drilling. Determines whether the drilling location specified in the X and Y columns will drill or not. Set this to 1 to drill or 0 to                              not drill.
Rows 11-20:    Radius to the next point. Set this to 0 to make a straight line to the next point. Remember to set this to a negative value if it is to be an                                       inward radius.
Rows 21-30:    PolyArc (not covered in this document).

 to 
Rows 1-10:      The same definition as columns x, y and z above. Each numbered column (ie x2, x3, x4, etc) gives an option of another drilling point.
Rows 11-30:    The same definition as columns x, y and z above. Each numbered column (ie x2, x3, x4, etc) gives an option of another point of the route.
NOTE: It is important to use the columns in order, not skipping any. Eg. If you have 4 drilling points, use x|y|z, x2|y2|z2, x3|y3|z3 and x4|y4|z4.

Other useful things to note

Part Sizes

If the x,y coordinate of the point you are needing to route or drill is measured against the size of the part, you can use CODimX and CODimY . These represent the X and Y size of the current part. One example is locating the horizontal centre of a part, which can be found by putting CODimX/2 in an X column.

Advanced Level Usage Methods

Closed-Shape Routes

If you need to have a closed-shape route, the alternative to using the Open column is to set your last route point to the same position as the first route point. This is easiest achieved by putting point[1].x in your next unused X column and point[1].y in the Y column.

Similarly, you can reference any other column’s route point by changing the number [1] to the number of the column you are needing to reference.

This can be particularly useful when a route has a closed shape but also includes points that are not part of the closed shape. For example, if you have a route with two points, followed by a closed shape that starts at point[3] and ends at point[8], then you would set your point[9].x column to point[3].x and your point[9].y column to point[3].y .
NOTE: You cannot reference the current coordinate. For example, it is invalid to enter point[3].x in the x3 column.

Using Variables and Formulas

If required, there is a method of referencing your CabMaster’s Drawing Properties and/or cabinet properties from within a custom table.

When you hold the mouse cursor over a textbox, it shows a message that includes a ‘variable’, which is the name you can use to use the value of that textbox in your custom table. As shown in the example below, on the page Mach.General " Tool2 , the “All Others” “Carcass” value is 0.2mm and is controlled by the variable MachPenetrateCarcass . This particular variable is useful when specifying values for the Depth column (see Depth section above).



Where Dim3 is used to reference the thickness of the selected material, you can enter into the  Depth column: Dim3+MachPenetrateCarcass , which adds Dim3 to the value of the MachPenetrateCarcass variable (shown as 0.2mm above).

However, when a variable has an addition on the end with letters in square brackets, as shown to the right, an addition must be made.

To use this variable in your custom table, you will need to surround the bracketed letters with apostrophes. For example, the value above of MachBuildEndCam[EnR] would be put in the custom table as MachBuildEndCam[‘EnR’] .



NOTE: The addition of apostrophes is not required if the square brackets contain only numbers.
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