inverted fluting

[twelchPTM]

I have for a while now been experimenting with fluting toolpaths. I create a vector of a certain shape and overlay a series of lines then trim them to the vector. By tweaking the setting in the toolpath I can create some pretty neat looking carvings and have even on a few attempts created some convincing 3d carvings of flowers.
I am looking at a project that may actually allow me to apply this technique however I am not quite getting the effect I want.
so hear comes the question, is it possible to invert the movement of the fluting toolpath? (concave vs. convex)

[Brady Watson]

...is it possible to invert the movement of the fluting toolpath? (concave vs. convex)

Yes, but you have to break your toolpaths up between what you want inverted and what you want 'normal'.

When you do an FP to run a part, you get the yellow fill-in sheet that you usually blow past with the Enter key. When it pops up, just put a "-1" in the Z proportion field. This will effectively invert the toolpath. Be sure to air cut it first just to make sure that it works as you expect.

-B

[twelchPTM]

thank you as always sir! I plan to cut the first out of some cheap foam because the whole process is a little unpredictable (after the air cut first).4

Just to elaborate for anyone else - I know that a lot of you are probably thinking "wouldn't I be easier to work with an actual 3d model?" and the answer is yes, a resounding yes all capitals as a matter of fact YES. however...

1. I have the 3d modeling ability of an untrained chimp, I am trying but I just can't get my brain to work that way.
2. Bragging rights, as in "holy **** man! you did that how?" (sometimes the hard way is more fun just to be able to say you did it)

Final product is going to be some light up acrylic roses that can be "painted" different colors. can't wait to share the process.

BTW - anybody happen to know of a magnetic prox sensor that has a 3"-6" range and will work through about 2" of cast acrylic?

[srwtlc]

Thomas,

If you can preview it in Aspire, try the 'Create component from toolpath preview'. That's the last one in the model menu.

[twelchPTM]

Scott - thanks for adding but I probably should have mentioned I am using v-carve Pro Sb Edition.

Brady - I jyust finished up the part file and when I did what you said the preview appeared to have the entire part above the material with several random plunges straight to the bed. I am going to run the air cut in the morning and try to see what is really happening....

[Brady Watson]

Tom,
There's no real magic to it - it is just going to take whatever Z moves you have and make them 'negative' - which means that negative moves will go positive. This effectively inverts the Z when you set it to -1. Same for the other axes if you wanted to mirror them as well. You can also pull your SBP into Excel and slice it and dice it as needed - if you want to do that sort of thing.

Making 3D from 2D moves (or quasi-3D moves like v-carving) is certainly nothing new. Usually customers who have enough parts to justify programming time on the front end do this (when possible & if the design is conducive to this) to speed up machining time. However, aside from this it is not very practical - which is why a program like Aspire is preferred for this type of work using 3D strategies with a ball end mill.

Usually those 2D toolpaths exploit the shape of form cutters to create beads, prismatic shapes and other types of features. You can do this to a decent degree in VCP, but it will take some out of the box thinking to pull it off - as you are finding out :cool:

-B

[twelchPTM]

I absolutely know its not practical. I spent almost an entire day creating the toolpaths. I have been trying to get the company to buy Aspire, I played around with the free trial and the things that can be done blow VCP away.

That being said, with your further explination of what happens when I change that value I can say that's not quite what I was thinking. When I get in today I will run the first test cuts of my part and post pics and some drawings of what I am looking for.

[Brady Watson]

You'll have to check with SB, but I think the upgrade price from PW to Aspire is something like $1440 or so. Not sure if that makes a difference, but it sure isn't as much as $1995.

-B

[twelchPTM]

Brady, Trying to get the museum to spend any money right now is like trying to get blood from a stone. I know your close enough to have seen some things on the news about us...

that being said I started to run my file and quickly realized that the preview in VCP does not always reflect what the material will do and I while the end result may have looked cool it would have been useless for my application. I broke down and purchased a $4 3d model of a rose, tweaked it in blender and should be done cutting in a few minutes.

[Brady Watson]

Tom,
I had no idea...I had to Google it. If it wasn't on Drudge...I probably didn't see it.

-B