Help with 3d carving

that would be awesome I would very much appreciate that

ohand i am looking to learn anything that i can so I will leave the project idea up to you

And I have as far as bits:

v-bits (90 degree)
ball end mills (mostly .125")
flat end mills

What size and depth on the flat end. Okay, iā€™ll set it up for a few different bits and you can figure out out from there. Itā€™s really easy once you get the hang of it. The best part of Fusion, is that once itā€™s done, I can share this out to you, or export it/import it.

I think sticking with .125" and most of my bits are 1" depth of cut would be best and yeah I really like the cloud service of fusion just let me know

There is another option using grayscale depth map images with an image to gcode program. It requires an image like this.

There is even a Google Camera App for an Android to make your own Depth Map images from a snapshot.

http://stereo.jpn.org/kitkat/indexe.html

One of our customers uses the Google Camera APP and our PicEngrave Pro 5 to make these 3D spindle relief carvings and then he laser engraves shades on them afterwards by combining the spindle relief gcode with the laser gcode using our PicLaser 3D program.

http://www.picengrave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=129

There are free reliefs that can be downloaded from here too.

http://hobbycncart.com/load/ingyenesen_letoltheto_reliefek/3

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There are also a few online apps for very simple 3D stuff.
Check out tinkercad for basic geometric shapes and text.

You can also use files intended for 3D printing. Undercuts and fine detail may not work but there are many you can adapt and use.
Check out thingverse

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Evann,
I finished the tutorial, hope this helps. it went a little longer, but it will help you get started really quick, and includes a lot of stuff that took me a while to figure out. Watch it, let me know what you think.
If itā€™s not ready yet, give it a few minutes. Itā€™s a 30 minute tutorial.

Good luck, and come back to the forums if you need help.

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That was super sweet man I really appreciate you taking the time making that video I learned quite a bit i will play around with that and see what i come up with

Very valuable when someone takes the time to explain this in that way

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Tony, how do you like that software? Iā€™ve been to the site and it is only $50.

Your Tutorial only demonstrates 2D. Here is a reference of the differences between 2D, 2.5D & 3D CNC carving.

A 3D carving from a 2D image, can be achieved simply by inverting then blurring the image and generate the code from an image to gcode program. The black areas will be the deepest cuts and whites the shallowest. The blurring adds shades in-between and will ramp in and out of the black & white areas to give smooth 3D profile cuts.

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So far, so good. There are some uirks, but I like it more than MeshCAM or CAMBAM.

Great. Going to purchase a copy.

Pic, is that by using easel or picEngrave? I really like the thought process behind this technique. Also, what are you using to control your laser diode withā€¦ and is it a 5W Diode? I remember when Easel first came out it was using a similar technique, but I honestly havenā€™t gone back in to look at it.

As far as we can tell from posts here on the forum, Easel is only for 2D carving, unless your loading a 3D gcode file in and using it as a gcode streamer. If you use a Vbit, you could simulate 2.5D carving in Easel, but the toolpaths would still only be Z axis 2D depths of cuts. .

Is this is what you are referring? Itā€™s only 2D also.

We have few different laser diode engraving machines here. From 2W-6W and they are controlled with an analog modulated driver with Z,A,B,C or S commands depending on what controller we use. Our PicEngrave Pro 5 will interpret the shades into settable depths of cut for spindle use, or for laser power and can generate those commands and more. There are many ways to manipulate the colors/shades in an image to get different results.

We also have a 3040 CNC with a 4th axis that we can laser engrave images on round materials. PEP5 will also generate 4 axis toolpaths for using with a spindle or laser in Mach3.

Jeff

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Awesomeā€¦ I want to pick your brain on this, to do some really nice laser engraving and figure out how to build onto my xCarve, or just say screw it, build a second rig, and attach my laser to it, with a new arduino. Lord knows I have so many spare parts in the garage I could get one goingā€¦

I just need to pick up a new 5mW diode to play with. I see your software is only 89 bucks for the pro, thatā€™s perfect for what iā€™m doing, I just need to build it. If you donā€™t mind me asking simple questions on your forums, Iā€™d like to learn more.

Iā€™ve gone from 3d printing, to cnc, and laser is the next logical step.

Not to hijack this thread, but could someone buy something like the link below and attach one of your more powerful lasers to it?

Sure, we developed the varied intensity laser diode photo engraving process, so if you have any questions we would be happy to help you get it setup.

If you want an out of box, just attach & wire it up system, the J-Tech laser kits are your best option.

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I think we are now hijacking Evannā€™s thread. I will answer this one last laser question, then if anyone has more questions of me, ask them in one of my laser engraving threads here on the forum

We donā€™t sell lasers, only programs to generate and stream the gcode to control them.

If you want to start with a good frame and add Aduino UNO, stepper controller, laser & driver yourself, I would recommend an X&Y stage from here.

http://www.lightobject.com/X-Y-Stages-C64.aspx

Our Software engineer John Champlain has built a laser diode engraver setup from one of them and it works very good.

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hey no worries lol I am learning alot

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Iā€™m in the same boat and didnā€™t know where to start. Your video has been a great help and I now plan to have a go at making my first simple project using fusion. My goal is to do some 3d carving but I guess I had better learn how to walk before trying to run. Many thanks for posting this.