Inlay artist wants to jump into cnc

[anoel]

Originally Posted by 1bordeaux Gerry, I'll do that. Do I understand correctly that I can scan line art and then move it to a program to create a tool path?

That's not exactly a good idea... Raster to Vector programs are functional for some things but not acceptable for most especially intricate inlay. If you have hand drawn stuff you'll want to redraw by hand with a CAD program (Or Even something like Corel Draw) You don't want to scan and hope for the best with any software. It just won't work out. NOTHING to date has been acceptable (Even Autodesk's new Raster Design won't cut the mustard and it's the best of the bunch) Don't believe me, spend your money and see how much time you waste looking for that bit of automation that you were sold on but can't locate.

Like Gerry stated, You'll have to Draw (Vector based art only), Take it to your CAM software, Generate offsets for contours and Pockets, transfer to the CNC Control, Run the program. No matter how much money you spend the process will essentially be the same. .03125" is .03125" regardless wether $2000 software or $150 SheetCAM produces it. It's Math, computers are good at that. If the algorithms are correct the results will be unmeasureablly similar at the cut part.

Scan and cut is a pipe dream... It works acceptably well for decorative sign work and that's about it.

[ger21]

What might work pretty well for you, is to scan in the artwork, load it into Autocad, and trace it using splines. Save it as a version 12 .dxf, then close it and reopen it. It will be converted to polylines, which sheetcam or my macro can turn into g-code.
I like to use splines because you don't need to choose too many points when doing the tracing.

[ger21]

Forgot to add, that like Nathan said, I've never seen a raster to vector conversion that I'd want to run on a machine. And I've seen quite a few in the last 10 years.

[anoel]

Originally Posted by ger21 What might work pretty well for you, is to scan in the artwork, load it into Autocad, and trace it using splines. Save it as a version 12 .dxf, then close it and reopen it. It will be converted to polylines, which sheetcam or my macro can turn into g-code. I like to use splines because you don't need to choose too many points when doing the tracing.

Exactly the way the pros do it. You get better art, you are able to optimize for the small cutters, Your offsets for your contours and pockets will turn out as expected. (You have to have a pocket a couple of thousandths bigger than the inlay or you end up with a press fit and there is no room for glue. and you'll crack the shell trying to get it in.) Splines = Smoother curves, fewer points, More arcs in the Gcode, smaller gcode, smoother cuts.

You'll have to cut many bad to mediocre pieces before you get the hang of it. Enroute is not going to save you much at all. And even on a big run of logos out of Abalam sheet, you can nest that stuf by hand in a few minutes. Cause your sheet goods are very small.

[1bordeaux]

"Scan and cut is a pipe dream... It works acceptably well for decorative sign work and that's about it."
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Nathan

So would lettering, such as in the attachment, possible, like decorative sign work? (Scan to cut?)
Most repetitive inlay work involves logos and / or lettering.(names, initials, signatures).
Of course I would like to do other designs, but the lettering would be a viable starting point if I could end up with a useable product right out of the gate.

[1bordeaux]

"What might work pretty well for you, is to scan in the artwork, load it into Autocad, and trace it using splines. Save it as a version 12 .dxf, then close it and reopen it. It will be converted to polylines, which sheetcam or my macro can turn into g-code.
I like to use splines because you don't need to choose too many points when doing the tracing."
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Gerry

Would autocad lt work? I have a version of it on my shop pc.

[ger21]

My macro won't run in LT, but you should be able to get the .dxf for sheetcam.

As for scanning text, no, it probably won't work very well. If you saw what we're talking about, you'd understand. Another option that a lot of plasma guys use, would be to do your text in something like Coreldraw, and export .dxf from that. Then setup your offsets in Autocad. You can get an older version of Coreldraw for cheap.

[anoel]

With the number of fonts available for free or almost free. There's no need to scan.

For example on the Woodworker's Shop guitar that I did. You see the stinking logo that I was provided. It is such a low resolution that tracing software is just completely useless. In the second image here is the completely redrawn image that I did by hand in Rhino by placing the provided image as a background image and then retracing using the fonts and drawing tools in the program. Took me all of about 15 minutes. (I'm schooled in graphic design and have been using drawing packages for the last 15 years so I'm a little quicker than some people)but still it's almost always better to Draw than to clean up a converted image. Plus you know you are getting the best curves for your CAM software.

[1bordeaux]

Nice... and clean!

[anoel]

Not bad for a <$500 homemade CNC machine using a RotoZip as a spindle.

[1bordeaux]

Is it your first venture into building a machine?

Did you buy a kit? Plans?

[anoel]

No it's my 3rd machine... I used the experience from the first two to be able to design and build this one to decent tolerances. (I'm not recommending that you build from scratch cause that's a whole nuther thing to obesess with.) I'm not trying to make money with my machine. So being clever with design and materials and keeping it inexpensive was my priority. If I had a product to move I would have invested and bought at least a "ready for motors" all metal construction machine.