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  1. #61
    www.joescnc.com joecnc2006's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trevorhinze
    I have Mach set to Inc units, as this is what works with sheetcam, should I try to set them to Abs, or is Incrimental the correct setting? I would really like to get this to work since I think that the results look really neat.
    here are my settings (defaults of mach3). and it worked for me with the demo. I did not use the Mach2 post processor because it slows the machine down. I use g-code inch/arc.

    I would change it then do an air cut, meaning set Z 0 to 2" above material and do an air run you do not even need the cutting tool on.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails PhotoVCarve!-sp32-jpg  


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    Trevor,
    Did you try to use the gcode processor instead of Mach2/3? If not, try that. I seems to work OK for me that way. I'll see what else I can find out tonight but I am a new user to both Mach2 and Photocarve. Hope this works for you. Once you get it to work, you'll want to buy it. It is awesome.



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    If you look at the Post Processor for "Mach2/3", it already is set to Absolute (G90),

    Look at line 64
    "G00 G21 G17 G90 G40 G49 G80"
    Also If you guys want to add line numbering to your Post Processors, let me know. (some have them, some don't)



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    You can also Add/Change the background image (JPEG), might help you when your doing work for your customers, you could put your company Logo/Info on it, print the page so the customer could have a copy. Could help advertise what you can do, for the customer, they could show family/freinds.

    Look at attached image:

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails PhotoVCarve!-background_change-jpg  


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    Thanks to the help I have recieved here I do have the software working with mach2 now thru the use of the inch gcode processor, but now I am haing another problem. I am having a problem when trying to engrave an image into some sheet aluminum. I am using a small dremel brand 30 degree v cutter, and I think that I have all the settings correct in Photo Vcarve, but I don't care for the results that I am getting. I end up with a picture engraved in the sheet of aluminum, however there are not any gaps in between each pass, so as a result there are not any "High" spots left on the surface of the engraving. I had planned on filling the grooves with black paint, and then sanding the paint off of the surfae of the plate to expose the natural aluminum color on all of the high spots but it is not working out since each pass overlaps the one before. I have played around with both the contrast and line spacing percentages and the results on the screen during the preview look fine, but the finished results do not look good. Please lend me some advice once again, and thanks in advance.



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    Trevor,
    In the Cutting Parameters section of the process. Move the slider up to increase the line spacing. In wood, I will run 120% to 140% depending on the resolution of the bitmap picture. Also, make sure you have the cutter specs setup correctly. The tip dimension on an engraving tool will alter the line spacing as well. In other words, from what I have noticed, if the cutter specs are off then the picture rendered on screen will be much different from the real life cut. I would check those two things out first. Maybe Tony can help on this also.

    Damian



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    Hi Trevor,

    As Damien said, the cutter geometry is critical to the finished result, especially when cutting small pieces where the cut depth is likely to be pretty shallow.

    Setting the Z 0 on the material surface and Flatness of the machine table also need to be set very accurately.

    If you don't see any 'Flat areas' on the surface ie the grooves all merge into each other. Then the problem could be due to,

    1. The included angle of the cutter is greater than the angle programmed in the software. Or the cutter has a Flat Tip Diameter larger than specified in the software.

    2. The Z0 setting is set to low and moves at Z=0 are actually cutting the material.

    You could try increasing the Line Spacing to be say 150% to see if this leaves flat areas on the surface?

    What size are you cutting the design at?

    Your finishing technique should work, althongh I would try using a black spray paint if possible as this will produce a thinner coating on the surface, which will be easier to sand off.

    Hope this helps,

    Tony



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    Default Machining Lithophanes with PhotoVCarve

    Although we have been promoting the new vcarving method of machining permanent pictures with PhotoVCarve. This software can also be used to machne Lithophanes - Photographs machined into Translucent materials such as Corian, Avenite, Plexiglass, Perspex that create photo-realistic images when lit from behind.

    This short video shows the lithophane effect

    Video clip

    The Trial version of PhotoVCarve lets you machine your own test pieces.

    The User Guide Manual can be downloaded from,

    User Guide


    Some pictures









    Tony



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    Those are some spectacular results Tony. I think I will have to try these to believe these results.
    The plaque n the first picture is the same plaque on the CNC machine bed but with a light behind?
    Amazing results Tony.
    What are the machining specs,material speed, time etc.

    Jason



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    Hi Jason,

    Yes, the piece on the machine table is what the 3D machining looks like without any back lighting. The piece then magically turns into a beautiful image when held in front of a light.

    This piece is cut into 1/4" thick Avenite, could also be Corian or Plexiglass (plexi can be a pain to machine and if you can get 'Cast' instead of 'Extruded' this will be easier to cut).

    Each picture is approx 8" x 6"

    I ran a Roughing pass usining a 1/8" dia ball nose cutter with 50% stepover, 20k rpm cutting the top 0.08" away. This ran at 1" per sec and took around 30 mins to cut.

    Then a Finishing pass using a Conical 15 degree 0.04" Tip Diameter cutter (see picture) with a 15% stepover, 20k rpm to get a good surface finish. This also ran at 1" per sec and took around 3.5 hours to cut.

    Important The key to making this process work is to machine the 3D effect into the material, but leavng around 0.04" on the back surface - almost cutting through.

    ************************************************** **

    If you have thinner material, say 1/8" then you don't need the roughing pass.

    The smaller the design the smaller the diameter cutter is needed.

    For example, you could machine a larger design - say 20" square using a 1/8" dia ball nose with Carving Max Depth = 0.08" and the results would be perfect.

    Hope this helps,

    Tony

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails PhotoVCarve!-conical_cutter-jpg  


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    The picture below is a mix of PhotoVCarve and VCarve Wizard.

    This piece was machined by Dimensional Design in the UK and was their 1st commission using the software. The owner Warren Smith commented,

    "My customer wanted a wall hanging picture of her daughter and granddaughter. After photovcarving the picture I thought it needed something extra, so I then added a frame and a little detail with VCarve. Just a few calculations and that was it."

    "Nothing really special but the customer really loved it. (Shed a few tears)"

    The picture is 800mm (31") wide and cut into 19mm (3/4") laminated MDF



    The corner decoration and rectangle have been added using VCarve Wizard.



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    Default My first litho attempt-pretty cool

    1/8" thick corian 4" wide 5" tall. Cut with a .047 ball nose bit at 50 ipm. About 1 hr cut time.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails PhotoVCarve!-mlitho1-jpg   PhotoVCarve!-maryss3-jpg  


  13. #73
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    Hi Tony,

    Getting back to the Marilyn Monroe litho's you did (and I hope this doesn't come off like a stupid question).

    for your finishing pass (3.5 hours), I'm assuming you didn't run your router full tilt for that entire period. Do you use a variac or some other speed controller (or do you have a variable speed router) and if so, what speed did you run at.

    One of my worries about doing something like this is to let a $200 router run full tilt for several hours and burn it out.

    Steven



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    Tony,

    Never mind... Now I do feel really dumb because I just say the speeds listed in the next posting.

    Steven



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    Hi Steven,

    I understand your concerns about running the router / spindle for such long periods of time as this will have an impact on the life of the motor.

    PhotoVCarve can be used in 2 different ways.

    1. Machining Grooves with variable width into solid materials such as wood and metals to create the effect of the photograph. This process is very quick to machine because you don’t need many grooves to represent the picture.

    2. Machining Lithophanes using a Ball nosed cutter into Translucent materials such as Corian or Plexiglass, and lighting the piece from behind. This process takes much longer the cut the design as it needs a small cutter to define the detail with a small stepover.

    To compare the 'ball-park' machining times for a 8” x 6” panel.

    PhotoVCarve Grooves = 30 mins

    PhotoVCarve Lithophane = 4 hours

    I hope this helps,

    Tony



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    Second Litho. These work out great.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails PhotoVCarve!-jlitho2-jpg   PhotoVCarve!-jlitho-jpg  


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    Default Graduation Present - Framed Lithophane

    PhotoVCarve and VCarve Wizard user Dave Rodda has just completed his First Lithophane project using the software to machine a special permanent Graduation present for his neice.

    The Oval measures 16" x 13" and is from a scanned picture.

    The overall frame size is 21" x 18".

    The lithophane is machined from 1/4" white Corian using a 1/16" Ball nose cutter and took around 8 hours to cut.

    Photograph without flash






    Dave commented "The price of PhotoVCarve makes you think that this is a basic program. The results tell a very different story"

    Tony

    Last edited by Tony Mac; 05-14-2006 at 05:07 PM.


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    Holy cow that is awesome! I can not wait to get my table done

    Nice work!



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    All I can say is WOW!
    I just got my CNC table back up and running!
    I can't wait to try MY first lithophane project!
    When I first saw PhotoVCarve I thought it was fantastic, then I saw the lithophanes...
    they are simply wonderful!

    Bill Schober



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    Again another WOW from me ....and just incase you missed ot WOW again...

    I have been around to a few kitchen places and scrounged (asked for samples -for nothing) through their bins looking for offcuts but it appears this stuff can be reused I did find one place that gave me about 10-15 pieces for nix ...On the condition I show him some of the stuff I did (guess I really have to finish my machine and start cutting )



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