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Post by bowhntr7846 on Jun 22, 2017 5:22:06 GMT
So I'm gonna throw this out there and see if I can get some help with work flow on a 3D carve that I want to do. I included the jpeg image of the piece I want to attempt. So the "Black" parts in the image(axe, beard etc.) is what I want to leave and I would like to take the rest of the material away around it, to a depth of 1/16. Tooling will be a 1/32 ball nose. Any help on this would be amazing! Been trying to figure it out in easel with no success. Dmaptogcode for some reason is not working anymore so trying to figure that out is......well out. Anyone that can get me started on this I would be very thankful. Thanks again to this community!
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Post by Derek the Admin on Jun 22, 2017 12:23:24 GMT
dmap2gcode is going to be the only thing that's free that I can recommend for you to do this job. It technically could be done in another CAD/CAM package, but I think it may prove difficult to get anything but a 2.5D piece. Fusion might be able to create a contoured transition if you could give it a vector outline of this (see inkscape trace bitmap), but I can't think of a function that will effectively create that transition in Fusion right off the bat. That's where dmap2gcode really shines is sort of automatically creating a contoured transition from surface to depth. What kind of errors is dmap2gcode giving you?
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Post by bowhntr7846 on Jun 22, 2017 15:58:53 GMT
dmap2gcode is going to be the only thing that's free that I can recommend for you to do this job. It technically could be done in another CAD/CAM package, but I think it may prove difficult to get anything but a 2.5D piece. Fusion might be able to create a contoured transition if you could give it a vector outline of this (see inkscape trace bitmap), but I can't think of a function that will effectively create that transition in Fusion right off the bat. That's where dmap2gcode really shines is sort of automatically creating a contoured transition from surface to depth. What kind of errors is dmap2gcode giving you? Dmap2 won't even start up on my PC. Went to scorchworks to re-download and the site is down. Not sure.
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Post by Derek the Admin on Jun 22, 2017 16:48:45 GMT
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Post by andrew on Jun 22, 2017 16:54:50 GMT
It can be done in Easel if I understand what you're trying to do... You need to turn the jpg into a plain SVG first though.. open the jpg in Inkscape then do a "trace bitmap" on it. Then delete the jpg from the Inkscape canvas. You're left with a vectorized copy of the image. save that as a plain SVG... (not an Inkscape SVG, select plain in the file type when saving).
In Easel, draw a square first using the easel tools. Then File/Import SVG and import the SVG you just made. Set the box cut depth to 1/16" and the imported image cut depth to 0".
To save a step if you're not familiar with Inkscape, I attached an SVG made from the JPG above..
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Post by bowhntr7846 on Jun 23, 2017 0:02:15 GMT
It can be done in Easel if I understand what you're trying to do... You need to turn the jpg into a plain SVG first though.. open the jpg in Inkscape then do a "trace bitmap" on it. Then delete the jpg from the Inkscape canvas. You're left with a vectorized copy of the image. save that as a plain SVG... (not an Inkscape SVG, select plain in the file type when saving). In Easel, draw a square first using the easel tools. Then File/Import SVG and import the SVG you just made. Set the box cut depth to 1/16" and the imported image cut depth to 0". To save a step if you're not familiar with Inkscape, I attached an SVG made from the JPG above.. Andrew I'm gonna try this right now and see what happens! Thanks so much
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Post by bowhntr7846 on Jun 23, 2017 0:03:16 GMT
Ill give it a shot! Thanks Derek!
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Post by andrew on Jun 23, 2017 1:15:01 GMT
Will be curious how it works out for better or for worse! with a 1/32" mill depending on this size that could take a month of Sunday's to carve... Easel will to two stage cutting where you can do the bulk with a larger mill, change mills and cut the details with a smaller one. The trick is getting the mill at perfectly the right Z when you change them..
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Post by Derek the Admin on Jun 23, 2017 13:05:56 GMT
Will be curious how it works out for better or for worse! with a 1/32" mill depending on this size that could take a month of Sunday's to carve... Easel will to two stage cutting where you can do the bulk with a larger mill, change mills and cut the details with a smaller one. The trick is getting the mill at perfectly the right Z when you change them.. If you have indexing rings on the tools you can calculate an offset between them, home the machine, adjust for the offset, and be dead on within a couple thou. Also, I'm curious if you are saying that Easel will actually do a 3d contour like dmap2gcode will.
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Post by andrew on Jun 23, 2017 14:04:21 GMT
Easel can't do the smooth height transitions like dmap can, not even close (at least not that I know of anyway). There is definitely a hard line between elevations. Is that what you would refer to as 2.5d?
On another off this topic note, I did figure out last night how to use Easel to make code for laser burning.. With the ability to do solid fills and not just outlines.. Kind of excited about it but need to play around a little more. This was a test on a piece of maple scrap. Am fixin' to make a wedding gift and want to personalize it somehow.
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Post by aforww on Jun 24, 2017 21:35:38 GMT
The other option is fusion using the T-spline molding environment.
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Post by bowhntr7846 on Jun 25, 2017 15:02:19 GMT
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Post by andrew on Jun 25, 2017 23:17:51 GMT
I'd say that turned out good! Nice job. How long did it take with a 1/32" mill? What is the scale of it, like the diameter of the circle? I think you're on the right track for using Inkscape for your outline.. I'm not all that familiar with Inkscape short of a few basic things but.. If you draw closed "line/bezier curve" path around the image in inkscape, adjust it to how you want, then fill the path (easel might be able to do this by setting it to fill and not outline, but I don't know). Save out of Inkscape your new .svg. Import that into easel... the two objects will remain separate, the bearded logo and the background fill... then set each ones cut depth.. the background outline to 1/16th or whatever and the logo to zero.. I think it would cut like you want? Attached is the SVG from the screen shots. It's not exactly a perfect outline, but might be a starting point... Attachments:BEARD-2.svg (17.57 KB)
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Post by bowhntr7846 on Jun 26, 2017 15:29:45 GMT
I'd say that turned out good! Nice job. How long did it take with a 1/32" mill? What is the scale of it, like the diameter of the circle? I think you're on the right track for using Inkscape for your outline.. I'm not all that familiar with Inkscape short of a few basic things but.. If you draw closed "line/bezier curve" path around the image in inkscape, adjust it to how you want, then fill the path (easel might be able to do this by setting it to fill and not outline, but I don't know). Save out of Inkscape your new .svg. Import that into easel... the two objects will remain separate, the bearded logo and the background fill... then set each ones cut depth.. the background outline to 1/16th or whatever and the logo to zero.. I think it would cut like you want? Attached is the SVG from the screen shots. It's not exactly a perfect outline, but might be a starting point... Got it figured out in Inkscape. Also figured it out in easel, my brain short circuits when I have 3-4 objects on the material and I have to select depth for each. But it did work. The circle diameter on the lumberjack is 4 inches. It took 1 hour and 8 seconds with 1/32 ball mill. Thanks for your help!
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Post by aforww on Jun 26, 2017 22:32:10 GMT
Why a 1/32?
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