3d;2,5d, 2d???

[ScuD]

Hi guys,
first of all, i'm a little confused..
I'm using Rhino to design a robot for my thesis, and the parts are to be cut on my router.
These parts are simple geometrical forms cut from a slab of plastic, like the dinosaur kits you see (if you know what i mean..) so that's 2d ,right?
Well, wat i want to accomplish is exactly this, being able to cut an outline on a "sheet" of plastic, but also be able to mill parts out, not cutting through entirely.so is this 2,5D or 3d?

The reason for my question is, i have no idea which program to use to get Gcodes from my renders, i tried freemill but it gave me some code that would cut the parts in several parallel cuts instead of just following the outline...

[ger21]

What's your budget. You probably want something like SheetCAM , but it will require you to export your parts as 2D .dxf drawings, not 3D models. More expensive software can take the 3D models and generate the 2.5D code from them. try www.rhinocam.com

[ScuD]

Okay guys, I give up.. i need help

I've downloaded a copy of sheetcam (thx for the suggestion btw Ger21)
but i'm having nothing but trouble getting this thing imported..
When i do get something on the sheetcam screen, it's just a bunch of lines camouflaging the outlines i want.

So my question being, how do i export a DXF of this thing where i can just get an outline? I thought of just taking the surface and selecting the outlines, however in the end i need to take out more detail, for example cutting the outline and engraving a logo in the center.
So do i have to do this in sheetcam (making say two toolpaths) or can i export a 3D image from rhino?

[ger21]

You need to export a 2D drawing from Rhino, not a 3D model.

[ScuD]

You need to export a 2D drawing from Rhino, not a 3D model.

Okay.. so how do i do that?

feel like such a noob right now..

EDIT: i allready found it.. thanks ger, you just saved me another two weeks of headaches

[ger21]

You have to draw your parts in 2D, not 3D. There might be a way to convert the 3D to 2D, but I don't use Rhino.

[ScuD]

You have to draw your parts in 2D, not 3D. There might be a way to convert the 3D to 2D, but I don't use Rhino.

Yeah, there's a Make2D command, so i've just discovered.
Thanks for the help !

[MrBean]

How did you get the original leg? I've tried it in Rhino and all the usual stuff to convert to 2D and export does not work.

Seems you have drawn it very strangely???

Are the dimensions exact. I don't know if this helps, but I've made a very similar leg drawn as a polyline, and exported it to .dxf.

I used the original as a guide but the dimensions are not exactly the same.
The DXF is attached and should work.


Regards Terry.

[ScuD]

How did you get the original leg? I've tried it in Rhino and all the usual stuff to convert to 2D and export does not work.

Seems you have drawn it very strangely???

Are the dimensions exact. I don't know if this helps, but I've made a very similar leg drawn as a polyline, and exported it to .dxf.

I used the original as a guide but the dimensions are not exactly the same.
The DXF is attached and should work.


Regards Terry.

yeah this was just some design I made a few weeks ago just fooling around with rhino, so it probably isn't all that good, but I was just testing how to export/ import with rhino and sheetcam.
Thanks for the DXF! I'll test it at once