machining a face

[josh]

has any one cut a face on a pc of aluminum or wood
if so can you share that file or just the geomatry I would like to attempt it.
thanks

[Chaoticone]

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,3639.0.html

Have a look at that thread. It is a coin Art made. Hope that helps.

Brett

[ger21]

This might help you out.



http://vectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3370

[josh]

I checked it out on vectric forum which is what I want to do
but I think its a little over my head. i am using mastercam x
and I figure I can just download the geomatry and I would do
the toolpath myself then I would generate the g-code and
then I would cut it out. At least the the way I would think to do it.
if anyone has any sudggestion on how to transfer the geomatry  over to mastercam x
I would appreciated.
thanks for the info.

[Sam]

So, what your asking for is a 3d model of a face that you can import into disastercam? If you feel the method on vectric was over your head, I'm afraid you might just find out that MC is far from friendly. My experiences with it always is, anyhow. It seems to be very finicky with imported models. My best results importing have been with nurbs models, which happens to be the way most models are NOT created. They instead are usually made using a polygonal mesh. I have played with the fully functional trial version of MESHCAM, and was impressed. It might do what you want, with a whole lot less headache. Download a model, open it, make your toolpaths, go machine it. If you know a reliable way of importing surfaces from a poly model easily with MC, I'm all ears. Please, do tell.
 Now, on the other hand, if your trying to use Mastercam Art, and using a picture or a clipart image of a face, that's a different method and can of worms altogether. Good luck on your quest.

[josh]

disatercam?
 I think once you play around with MC-X it is pretty simple or maybe its because thats the only cam system i have hade
some experience with.
but yes you are right i wanted a 3d model that was maybe drawn out it solidworks then I can just
imported over to MC-X and than i would just start doing some surfacing machining.
I think thats how it would work.
thanks

[Sam]

Solidworks is a nurbs modeling tool, as is Rhino. They should import into MC quiet easily. You might have better luck finding Rhino models than Solidworks models. Don't get me wrong, MC is a powerful CAM program, but it falls way short in the design or cad portion, in my personal opinion. Here is a link to a head made in Rhino. Maybe you can do something with it. http://www.flexicad.com/download.php?lang=de&misc=1300

[zarzul]

I am trying to do the same thing, but here is how I am going about it.   

I am using a sample model that comes with Meshcam (a freeware program from Italy).
I cut out the part I want to machine and save it as a .stl , using the Meshcam program.
I use Freemill (by Visual Mill folks) to generate the gcode from the .stl file,  you can get the correct postprocessor from visual mill's post processors downloads.
Then open it in Mach3.

Fairly simple - but I am still working at it, having a little trouble with the size of the sample model,  I can scale it in Mach3 but the large scale changes also correlate over to the axis movement speeds so it is really slow.

Arnie

[ger21]

There's a commercial program called MeshCAM. www.meshcam.com

Do you have a link to your "free" MeshCAM?

[zarzul]

My mistake,  it is Meshlab,  do a search in the forums,  that is where I found it.