Thread: 3D drawing

Auto CAD should be fine for 3D ( what year? )if it was a free version it might have some parts "turned off" like saving in 3D ??? , Auto cad should work

im using Turbo CAD pro 16 , and are now getting the hang of using the software ,after 6months of using it , drawing some quite detailed 3d moulds

this weekends effort was the side wall for an electric motor to be cast in carbon fibre ( in rim electric cart wheel )

this drawing i started on friday night , a bout 8 hours , there are over 800 sphere's all positioned

what g-code editor are you using? , my Turbo Cad ,CAM plugin is only 2.5D , can only run shape on a fixed zaxis height , it cant run 3d files

Originally Posted by SawDustSniffer

what g-code editor are you using? , my Turbo Cad ,CAM plugin is only 2.5D , can only run shape on a fixed zaxis height , it cant run 3d files

I have a licenced copy of AutoCad 2007, my CNC came with a trial version of CamBam. I have been trying to use it maybe im using the wrong sort of program it sure will be a big learning curve for me.

Is CamBam meant to be used to edit G-code?

haven ever seen or used BamCam so cant really help there , im using Cut3D from Victric , use there Cut2D software as well , they work well, but i wouldn't recommend them ,
the 2 together cost as much as my CAD software , and way less programming time has been spent on them , they work well but i personally believe there
over priced
a lot of time waisted by only allowing roughing tool overlap paths to be less than 50% of diameter of the bit ,
but you have to set the feed rate for the 1st path cut at full width ,

im looking around for a good CAM , something with better ( more control) over finishing tool path ,rather than just 45deg straight runs ( more contour following with climbcut options )

i just knocked up a 3d test file in "exchange format " just a rectangle , sphere,cone, do-nut, as one object , run this through your CAM and see if it works

probably need to convert into a" stereo lithograph " file first , but cant attach those , i might try and zip it

haha show off , ill have a go and see if it works. this is all im trying to do for a first run. i want to do a series of different sizes for casting pen blanks wrapped in various items.

thanks

marty

so a pen blank is 125mm long 20wide , and 2 mandal fittings on the ends ? 10mm dia , 10mm long

lol 5min rushed it abit the to "poles are 1.2mm out from bad diagonals on the ends

a mould of them ( corrected the out of line poles ) DXF file as well
you should be able to scale the length , these are 125mm long , 20x20 , with 10mm poles , squared up so you can get them out of the mould , the sides are at 90 deg so it you make a hard mould it will be hard to get them out, so i added drawing5.dxf that is a "plug" for a rubber mould ,keep the plug and store the rubber mould on it to stop warping , a lot of people have the bottom side rounded off to save on resin , mine are just square

with the square bit (mandral) i just fill in the extra with bluetac before adding the resin ( bluetac around the mandrel as well )my mandrills are just 8mm dowel sized to fit the tube , bluetac or wax seal to keep the resin out of the tube

only 5 min ay lol, took me about 3 hours last night to draw up what i have for some reason the last few filse you have attached wont open up, it says they are incomplete? thanks for your help its really appreciated, ill keep playing tonight and see what i manage to come up with

marty

it takes a while to get used to CAD , use the X<Y<Z input boxes on the bottom of the page , dont move objects by mouse , they will jump around in the unseen axis , just highlight an object , then using the input boxes on the bottom of the page type in what direction you want to move it , you can also lock one axis ( so drag and drop works )

turbo cad has more object and sweep menus to choose from , 1 click for position type in the sizes hit enter and the object is on the page ( box ,sphere ,cone ect )

Originally Posted by stevo81

Is CamBam meant to be used to edit G-code?

CamBam lets you draw an item, specify the machining operations to be carried out on the parts of the drawing, then generates the g-code to make the part.

If you need to edit g-code, you can use any simple text editor, or a g-code specific editor, but my understanding is that you generate g-code, then transfer it to your CNC machine, which runs the g-code.

In my CNC journey so far, I've only used the trial version of CamBam, and run the g-code through EMC2.

Cheers,
Andrew

We use Rino Cad to Rino Cam to Mach3 and do not have problems.
Rhino Cad has a large learning curve but it does fantastic stuff.
I have done computer programming but this one is beyond my under st anding.
It is well worth the money.
Regards
Joe

I run rhino cad and rhino cam and the use EMC2 never had a problem.
Rhino I am told is a meant to be easer to learn then auto cad. I have played with both and only ended up with rhino as I just spent more time on it and this made it easer as you come more comfortable with it. It could have been autcad that I ended up using just as easily.
Sounds like your not going to design the next space shuttle so stick to it and with time it starts to make sense.

Russell

SawDustSniffer
I would like to see a thread on the motor part your making in carbon fibre, rim.
I done a lot of RTM moulding and other fibre moulding in my time.
It would be of great interest to me any ways....

Russell