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Author Topic: Routed Teak Tiger.  (Read 23158 times)

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Re: Routed Teak Tiger.
« Reply #30 on: January 27, 2010, 02:01:07 PM »
Try with this one, number of triangles has been reduced.

Jeff

Offline ger21

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Re: Routed Teak Tiger.
« Reply #31 on: January 27, 2010, 05:07:58 PM »
I got the same error when I had a bunch of other programs running, but when I closed them, it worked fine. I have 2 Gigs of ram. It looked like it might be using more than 1 Gig. Also, be sure you're using the latest version of MeshCAM.
Gerry

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Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Routed Teak Tiger.
« Reply #32 on: January 28, 2010, 03:28:17 AM »
Thanks Jeff,
Thanks Gerry,
Reply's much appreciated.

Tweakie.
PEACE

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Routed Teak Tiger.
« Reply #33 on: January 28, 2010, 06:41:10 AM »
Hi Jeff,

Your reduced triangle .stl (dare I ask how you did it ?) works just fine with MeshCAM so it appears that MC has an upper limit on the size of .stl files which it will handle.

I have only just started looking at 2.5D machining and don't know too much about it yet, particularly creation of original artwork so I am just downloading other peoples .stl's as and when I find them and looking at ways to convert them to toolpaths. One thing I have learn't, however, is not to buy any software until I have tried it first so the quest will continue.

Many thanks for your help.

Tweakie.
PEACE
Re: Routed Teak Tiger.
« Reply #34 on: January 28, 2010, 12:27:00 PM »
I have done mine with the original size "STL file on Mastercam X4 but it had hard time with such a big file.

For my drawing and programming, I have a pretty good computer, Dual quad core at 3.5 Ghz with 4g of ram and a quadro FX4500 video card.

This computer is dedicated for that purpose only, no other software, no internet.

Mastercam X4 support multi core computer and for the Tiger Head, like I said had some hard time computing the tool path.

My video card was somewhat borderline for this file.

Happy to see that the one I posted with reduced triangles work for you, has been modified with Magic 11.1, nice software.

Jeff

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Routed Teak Tiger.
« Reply #35 on: January 28, 2010, 01:42:15 PM »
Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the info.

Three weeks ago I had not even heard of an .stl file, still not sure how they are created - obviously clever people with top of the range computers like yourself.

Intrestingly the demo version of Desk Proto had no trouble at all with the large tiger file and was extremely quick at creating the toolpath.

I have tried MeshCam again with a few other .stl's downloaded from Danny's CNC4free website but it crashed again with stuff over 300000 triangles. Don't think this is the program for me, shame really because it is extremely well priced. I can hear myself saying you only get what you pay for.

I want to try Visual Mill but I think its cost will be way beyond my budget as is MasterCAM (my laser cutting head has already used up most of my 2010 allowance) but I still must try it anyway. It is early days yet but DeskProto is starting to look better and better.

Best regards,

Tweakie.
PEACE

Offline Sam

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Re: Routed Teak Tiger.
« Reply #36 on: January 28, 2010, 02:15:09 PM »
STL files have been around for a looooong time. They are notoriously difficult to work with, especially if the resolution is set high. I would not discount Meshcam because of difficulty with stl files. Even the most expensive software can have difficulty with them.  Nowadays, there are so many other formats that one should export to besides stl's (my opinion). Most software will import a variety of formats other than stl. Barry should be able to tell about the pro's and cons of stl's, as I'm sure he's pretty familiar with them.
"CONFIDENCE: it's the feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation."

Offline ger21

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Re: Routed Teak Tiger.
« Reply #37 on: January 28, 2010, 04:41:33 PM »
Hi Jeff,

Your reduced triangle .stl (dare I ask how you did it ?) works just fine with MeshCAM so it appears that MC has an upper limit on the size of .stl files which it will handle.


What are the specs of the PC your using? I'm guessing you don't have enough memory. Memory is very important when working with 3D models, regardless of the application. MeshCAM has no upper limit that I'm aware of. There are a couple guys on the MeshCAM forum (both moderators, and beta testers) that use MeshCAM with huge .stl files, and extremely small stepovers. One does jewelry, and the other makes very small detailed models.
Gerry

2010 Screenset
http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2010.html

JointCAM Dovetail and Box Joint software
http://www.g-forcecnc.com/jointcam.html
Re: Routed Teak Tiger.
« Reply #38 on: January 28, 2010, 06:48:49 PM »
Quote
For my drawing and programming, I have a pretty good computer, Dual quad core at 3.5 Ghz with 4g of ram and a quadro FX4500 video card.

I will probably try to increase memory to 8 Gigabyte some days.

New memory still expensive. my board have only 2 slots for dual channel memory so I have to buy 2 4 gigabyte sticks.

Jeff

Just forgot to say use Windows 7 64 bits

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Routed Teak Tiger.
« Reply #39 on: January 29, 2010, 05:39:09 AM »
Hi Gerry,

My PC has 1.5 GB ram which I could increase to 2 GB maximum but as I understand it 32-bit Windows XP can only allocate a maximum of 2 GB of memory to a program. A new PC with Windows 7 and 64-bit OS with greater ram capability may be the way to go but it is still unclear if MeshCAM will support 64-bit operation and then be able to handle larger .stl files.
As I said earlier Jeff's reduced geometry file works just fine with MC and my setup but I do not have the time, suitable software or even the knowledge to reduce the geometry of any .stl file (created by others) I may wish to run.
MeshCAM does have an upper limit to the maximum number of triangles it can handle but the exact limit is unknown - perhaps you could try running MC and the full (1.8 million triangle ) tiger-share file on your computer and see what happens. I think Marcell found this file size a problem also.
The bottom line, I suppose, is DeskProto which has no problems with a 1.8 million file and is the way to go - it is just it's price that is the stumbling block.

Tweakie.
PEACE