Hey Guys and Gals;
The prefix of this post should be "need advise" not "need help". I've been into hobby cnc for about 10 years but never have entered into the world of digitizing. What I'm looking for (if it even exists) is good, easy to use software for probing an object (gun stock) and building a point cloud for 3d cutting. I'll apologize in advance but I most likely will not ask the correct questions due to ignorance but here is what I have to work with!
A Wildhorse type touch probe which is based on a spring loaded floating probe that uses 3 sets of contacts that indicate a "touch" by breaking a circuit. Historically I've used this probe for edge finding or centering a hole using "probeit" software. Historically, this was used on my Torus pro! But, I have a 4 X 4 servo driven router (home built with gecko 320's) and will most likely use this table for the probing.
For software I have mach 3, bobcad version 26 and Aspire version 4.0. I have the ability to work with .stl 3D models (and of course other formats) and have been successful designing models and machining wood and metal for many years.
Just recently, I have tried the digitizing routine that comes with mach 3 but was not impressed. Again, I still have no idea what I'm doing but in a ideal world, I would like a package that would firstly probe the perimeter of an object then only do a point cloud for the area of interest within the probed perimeter. This would limit the number of z axis probes as compared to using software with a predefined x and y area as used by the mach 3 routine. Also, normally, is the file generated by the probing routine a usable "point cloud" or is additional software needed to convert the "points" into usable cad files?
I have a very fast gaming computer that I can dedicate to the probing and cloud building routine so hopefully, computing power will not be a limiting factor.
Is there such a software package out there that is within the hobby budget? What is that budget you may ask? Heck, I don't know. When I got into the cnc hobby many years ago, I thought I'd spend a couple of thousand and be a happy camper. Then the bug bit!
Many thanks for your assistance.
Bill

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