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General Mach Discussion / A Long Sad Story
« on: September 28, 2007, 07:11:00 PM »
A long sad story:
Hi there and thanks in advance for your help. My son and I are engaged in a small Luthierary business (we make guitars and other stringed instruments.) A little over a year ago I got the bright idea of moving into the world of CNC. I did some research and realized that a handy guy like me could build a pretty darn good CNC router for not much money. Well I purchased some plans and steppers and a controller and built a really cool router. After researching controller software I concluded that Mach Three was the way to go. So I downloaded the demo version and set up my machine. Everything worked great and pretty soon I was cutting out roadrunners like nobody’s business. Of course I have no use for roadrunners, but I digress. Then came the time to start cutting actual parts. Thus begins the sad story: Let me preface that I am by no means a CAD expert, and I have no desire to become one. What I want to do is scan a drawing of the actual size part that I wish to produce in 2d, convert it to G Code and cut it on my table. One would think this to be fairly simple, and it probably is. What I did that didn’t work was to scan a drawing and open it in Illustrator. I cleaned up the drawing and saved it as a dfx. Then opened it in Mach 3 at which time it told me I couldn’t use it because it had “splines.” Well I did what any red blooded American guy would do; I posted a question to the forum. I got all kinds responses about splines and other great bits of wisdom, but I really don’t want to know anything about splines, I just want to make a part. Shortly there after, I started researching making 3d parts on my table and learned that I would likely have to send tens of thousands of dollars to buy 3d CAD/CAM software and probably have to go back to collage to learn how to design these parts. Did I mention that I make these parts all the time using conventional tools? Long story short, my really cool router table sets in the corner of the shop and has become a table for putting stuff on. It hasn’t been “fired” up for months. Now I’m getting to the point of either figuring out how to make it work for us or putting it on ebay. I would prefer to make this tool work for us, and that is where all of you come in. Here is the situation:
Part One:
I want to cut parts in 2d. The parts are simple but have lots of curves (guitar bodies and such) and pockets. Also I would like to cut inlays and the pockets that they go into.
I have “hard” drawings of every part I need.
I wish to scan them into the computer and convert them to G code and cut them on my table.
I have a scanner.
I have photo shop, Illustrator, flash and fireworks.
I am planning on purchasing the full versions of Mach Three and Lazy Cam.
I don’t wish to buy any more software unless it is cheep and will make this process easier.
Can you folks advise me on how I can go about this process?
Part Two: (after I accomplish the above)
I wish to produce parts in 3D. For example the carved top of a Guitar and the contour of a neck.
It would probably be best to use a digitizing probe as I am not and don’t wish to become a 3d CAD expert.
I haven’t seen an affordable probe/software combo that will work for my setup, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.
I should have probably just “bit the bullet” and bought a shop bot, but I didn’t so how can I do this with my rig?
Okay, I have laid out my quandary; I am hoping that you all have some helpful ideas for me. I really would like to use this equipment to make great parts.
Thanks in advance for all of your responses.
Hi there and thanks in advance for your help. My son and I are engaged in a small Luthierary business (we make guitars and other stringed instruments.) A little over a year ago I got the bright idea of moving into the world of CNC. I did some research and realized that a handy guy like me could build a pretty darn good CNC router for not much money. Well I purchased some plans and steppers and a controller and built a really cool router. After researching controller software I concluded that Mach Three was the way to go. So I downloaded the demo version and set up my machine. Everything worked great and pretty soon I was cutting out roadrunners like nobody’s business. Of course I have no use for roadrunners, but I digress. Then came the time to start cutting actual parts. Thus begins the sad story: Let me preface that I am by no means a CAD expert, and I have no desire to become one. What I want to do is scan a drawing of the actual size part that I wish to produce in 2d, convert it to G Code and cut it on my table. One would think this to be fairly simple, and it probably is. What I did that didn’t work was to scan a drawing and open it in Illustrator. I cleaned up the drawing and saved it as a dfx. Then opened it in Mach 3 at which time it told me I couldn’t use it because it had “splines.” Well I did what any red blooded American guy would do; I posted a question to the forum. I got all kinds responses about splines and other great bits of wisdom, but I really don’t want to know anything about splines, I just want to make a part. Shortly there after, I started researching making 3d parts on my table and learned that I would likely have to send tens of thousands of dollars to buy 3d CAD/CAM software and probably have to go back to collage to learn how to design these parts. Did I mention that I make these parts all the time using conventional tools? Long story short, my really cool router table sets in the corner of the shop and has become a table for putting stuff on. It hasn’t been “fired” up for months. Now I’m getting to the point of either figuring out how to make it work for us or putting it on ebay. I would prefer to make this tool work for us, and that is where all of you come in. Here is the situation:
Part One:
I want to cut parts in 2d. The parts are simple but have lots of curves (guitar bodies and such) and pockets. Also I would like to cut inlays and the pockets that they go into.
I have “hard” drawings of every part I need.
I wish to scan them into the computer and convert them to G code and cut them on my table.
I have a scanner.
I have photo shop, Illustrator, flash and fireworks.
I am planning on purchasing the full versions of Mach Three and Lazy Cam.
I don’t wish to buy any more software unless it is cheep and will make this process easier.
Can you folks advise me on how I can go about this process?
Part Two: (after I accomplish the above)
I wish to produce parts in 3D. For example the carved top of a Guitar and the contour of a neck.
It would probably be best to use a digitizing probe as I am not and don’t wish to become a 3d CAD expert.
I haven’t seen an affordable probe/software combo that will work for my setup, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.
I should have probably just “bit the bullet” and bought a shop bot, but I didn’t so how can I do this with my rig?
Okay, I have laid out my quandary; I am hoping that you all have some helpful ideas for me. I really would like to use this equipment to make great parts.
Thanks in advance for all of your responses.
but now it is time to move on to bigger and better things, (and have the table help to make some money). 