Engraving possible ?

[daisydog]

I want to use Madcam for woodworking but I have not figured out how to use it for engraving. Maybe this is the wrong cam for that. I have not seen any engraving tools.

Thanks,

Ddog

[svenakela]

MadCam is probably not the most optimal tool for engraving. On the other hand, if you make your engraving as a 3D cutout you have the most powerful engraving tool ever.

This CAM is optimized for 3D-machining, specially for making moulds, and the focus is really on 3D functionality. So I think you would be disappointed if you didn't try it out seriously before you buy it.
But hey, just try it and see if it works for you! I do make engravings with MadCam, but not in a typical engraving kind of way.

Regards,
Sven

[Dan B]

I was hesitant to reply as a woodworker's definition of engraving is going to be different than mine, but we do use madCAM for scribing aluminum and steel all the time. However, our "engraving" is typically only 0.25mm deep. madCAM does this well with the "Along Curves" toolpath.

This probably isn't that helpful of a response to the original poster, but for anyone else in the metal-cutting trades who were curious about scribing with madCAM, we do it all the time.

Dan

[svenakela]

Originally Posted by Dan B I was hesitant to reply as a woodworker's definition of engraving is going to be different than mine, Dan

Exactly the same thing I thought.

[turmite]

Originally Posted by daisydog I want to use Madcam for woodworking but I have not figured out how to use it for engraving. Maybe this is the wrong cam for that. I have not seen any engraving tools. Thanks, Ddog

DDog, as sven and Dan have posed the question, could you elaborate on what you mean by engraving? I happen to be a wood worker who uses Madcam exclusively. If you are talking about scribing letters, lines, or other such uses, then yes Madcam can do it all. If however, you are talking about doing photo replication in wood, then Madcam will not work for that unless you create a surface in Rhino that gives you the z depth changes that will produce the image in wood. With that said, you can create those types of surfaces in Rhino, but I am not good enough with it yet to be able to try it for an actual engraving/routing.

Can you post photo of the type engraving you are talking about?

Mike

[svenakela]

Originally Posted by turmite <cut> ... If however, you are talking about doing photo replication in wood, then Madcam will not work for that unless you create a surface in Rhino that gives you the z depth changes that will produce the image in wood. With that said, you can create those types of surfaces in Rhino, but I am not good enough with it yet to be able to try it for an actual engraving/routing. Can you post photo of the type engraving you are talking about? Mike

Photo surfacing is a functionality in Rhino. "_Heightfield", you find it in the Surface menu. Once a surface is there, Madcam does it.

Agree, post a picture!