Help greatly need for newbie!

[rbs]

Hi all , just wanna say hi and hands up for all the people on this site contributing to it, Hopefully i'll be able to do the same soon.

I am looking to get into 3d auto cad, bascially scanning in objects with a 3d scanner or creating 3D objects from scatch, I sculpt alot with clay and i see this as the next step , adding a machine like this to my arsenal. I have re-search and got many clear and some unclear answers to my needs. Now to my knowledge i need to build a machine the has a 3rd or fouth axis to cut 3d type objects like what i need it for eg. a sculpt of someones head. ( stuff with 4 dimensions to it).

am i right that most basic machines up here mostly only cut in 2d. I have also been look at a router or plasma tourch(laser) which is better, my understanding is that plasma is better- or at least looks better!!

So if someone could point me in the right direction for a thread or plans to build a fairley large kind of table using a suitable plasma torch or router with a 4th axis that can cut 3d shapes.

I've seen the Torchmate product website but i am still inclear if this will fit my needs.

Thanks in advance
James

[massajamesb]

It sounds like you need a 4 axis machine fit with a cutter of some kind (might also look into a foamcutter), I am not clear on what you are trying to cut, though. You mention clay working/molding, I don't think that plasma is going to do much for you. Plasma and laser are two different animals, and neither one of them will do much in shaping clay.
Most of the routers/mills on this site are 3D capable, but most plasma projects here are 2D or 2.5D, and no one that I am aware of has attempted a 4 axis DIY plasma on this site. Maybe I am mistaken....
Also, if you were looking to cut a mold of someones face out of steel, you would have to have a method of cutting the metal deeply and cleanly. Plasma is probably not the method you will want to look into for that, unless you are trying to reproduce Picasso-like distorted faces.

[rbs]

Originally Posted by massajamesb It sounds like you need a 4 axis machine fit with a cutter of some kind (might also look into a foamcutter), I am not clear on what you are trying to cut, though. You mention clay working/molding, I don't think that plasma is going to do much for you. Plasma and laser are two different animals, and neither one of them will do much in shaping clay. Most of the routers/mills on this site are 3D capable, but most plasma projects here are 2D or 2.5D, and no one that I am aware of has attempted a 4 axis DIY plasma on this site. Maybe I am mistaken.... Also, if you were looking to cut a mold of someones face out of steel, you would have to have a method of cutting the metal deeply and cleanly. Plasma is probably not the method you will want to look into for that, unless you are trying to reproduce Picasso-like distorted faces.

yes im thinking a 4 axis type machine. I should of been more clear but i would like to cut stuff out of foam or wood, plasitic, maybe some metals but mainly cheap materials as i will eventually be taking castings from the originals and reproducing them with other materials. I meant i would sculpt say someones face out of clay and then get that scanned into the computer and then send it to the machine. I have this link where someone out of his many works has routed out a 3d shape of a face but it not perfect as it looks like it was out of balsa wood, and the shape of the face is really basic which being a beginner was unclear to me, netherless it was still 3d or i think how you put it 2.5 d.

http://www.brusselsprout.org/CNC/

if you browse to gallery. I'm willing to spend more than that of average low budget system here to make a good if not great machine that will do what i need. say maybe $3000. If this kind of project would cost more i would still be interested but if the cost is amazingly high then i guess i'll have to scap the idea.

Thanks

[3DSteve]

This is kinda cool.
www.fabathome.org
Squirt out a bit of Playdoh and walla....

[Dale Heart]

James, let your hands create art, that's why it's worth something.