Im new to modeling but i want ed to model a mask for holloween so i can cut it out on a cnc machine . Is that possible? is there certain rulles i should follw when modeling something to cutout?
is thre a tutporial sumwhere?
thank you
Heh! There are a lot of steps between concept and production on CNC machines. Firstly you need to come up with your cutting path. Then you have to be able to specify feeds and speeds, tool #’s and the like. translate all of that to a machine readable code and then be able to pipe all of that into the CNC machine itself. I doubt that you have access to that kind of software. We used to do it with cadam or catia and run the results through a post processor which would generate the code for various CNC controls (they are different you know depending on the tool’s manufacturer). One thing that may be possible would be to design your part (including the aforementioned parameters) on the machine tool’s own user interface (if available). Trust me, there is a lot more to it than meets the eye and you can easily ruin a machine if you don’t know what you are doing. Best to study the machine tool’s manual before trying anything at all.
So, is it possible? Certainly. Are you ready to attempt it? I don’t think so, not without a whole bunch more studying. It also helps immensely if you know how to operate the machine itself.
Can it be done - yes. You’ll have to take the limitations of what you can do with the particular CNC machine you’ve got access to into account. For instance, we divide up objects into several pieces for cutting because of limitations of (1) material thickness the CNC machine can handle and (2) arranging the pieces so there are no undercuts as that particular CNC machine has to hold the router bit vertically. Work with the CNC machine first to get an idea of what it can do before trying a complex piece.
Also keep in mind that the more fine detail your object has, the more time (and bit changes) it will take to make it. It also might seem obvious, but only the actual geometry of your object matters – any bump maps or such aren’t used.
Oh, the workflow is usually blend file --> STL file --> GCode, with the last step being done by the particular software for the CNC machine with adjustments for the material and router bits used.