Cnc Pen Range Just Starting To Think Of Shapes

[richardandtracy]

It may be as easy as that on some CAD systems, but not on the one I have access to!

I use SolidWorks, and it's very good for cylinders & cuboids, and things that can be done as a direct extrusion or sweep. My big problem is I want the CAD model to look right so I can really look at the results properly & decide if the result is right. At the moment I'll just end up with a flat ended helix - with the flat end perpendicular to the barrel axis. It won't look close enough to the real thing to make a sensible decision about whether it looks good enough or not.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[duncsuss]

Ah. I can definitely understand wanting to see how it would come out.

 

I thought some more about how a basket/ribbon weave would look, and it struck me that the "ends" should be closed off where each piece dips under the crossing part -- a rectangle, not just a pair of parallel lines. Messed with it in Photoshop for a couple of minutes to get this ...

 

[richardandtracy]

 

I'll see what I can do. It will take a wee bit of time.

 

I have just been doing the code for a barleycorn engraving. The cap engraving program is 53338 lines long and will take at least 30 minutes to run.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[duncsuss]

 

I'll see what I can do. It will take a wee bit of time.

 

I have just been doing the code for a barleycorn engraving. The cap engraving program is 53338 lines long and will take at least 30 minutes to run.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

Richard, it's entirely your project -- don't feel obliged to spend any more time on my suggestions

 

Good luck with the cap!

[kingcobradude]

I really love the deep diamond look

[Shuggy]

I've a feeling that you could have a lot of fun with faceting.

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X1UsD2PDvKE/UkHfm6sngHI/AAAAAAAAA_U/MCdZTuMvKj0/s400/lunchbox-grid-ring3s.jpg

 

 

[richardandtracy]

Shuggy,

 

I fear faceting like that really needs a 5 axis machine. Mine is 4 axis, the work can rotate, the head go up/down, left/right & backwards/forwards. In all cases the router spindle remains vertical and the rotary axis perpendicular to the spindle. To get a good finish on the facets angled relative to the ring axis, an additional rotary axis would be needed. This would either angle the cutting head or angle the 4th rotary axis. As a toolpath programmer I can't cope with that mentally, anyway!

The facets could be done with a ball nose cutter on my machine, but could require a fair bit of hand finishing after machining.

 

Oh cripes.

I have just thought of a way. Put the rotary axis on my rotary table, program in soft stops, after moving the angle it could continue.

No, no, NO. I am not going to do that.

Yet.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[richardandtracy]

Ah. I can definitely understand wanting to see how it would come out.

 

I thought some more about how a basket/ribbon weave would look, and it struck me that the "ends" should be closed off where each piece dips under the crossing part -- a rectangle, not just a pair of parallel lines. Messed with it in Photoshop for a couple of minutes to get this ...

 

Screen Shot 2014-01-21 at 10.30.19 AM.png

That was far from easy. It has taught me a lot about modelling, and as a result has been worth it.

I have come to the conclusion that SolidWorks is poor at modelling decoration on curved surfaces, so I can't model quite what you were thinking of, but a twin basket weave would be as below (below a Barley Corn finish):

To be able to get the toolpath, I'll have to re-draw it in 2D and wrap the cutter path.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[duncsuss]

Wow, that looks even better than I'd imagined -- forget my comment about closing the ends.

 

The other pattern (that you called barleycorn) reminds me of a steel wire material, a kind of miniature chain-link. I can't remember where I ran into such stuff, it might have been decades ago when I was attempting to add RF shielding to a line of temperature & process controllers.

[pen2paper]

missed this topic, Very interesting seeing the progression...

 

you're almost there.. one of my favorite design devices is a diaper wallpaper pattern, radiates from center outward, circular diaper being my favorite.

[richardandtracy]

Diaper wallpaper design? Diaper, as in things that are put around the unpleasantly messy end of a baby (as opposed to the opposite end, which is merely noisy and messy)?

 

I think there may be a translation problem into UK English. I fear I have no idea what it looks like.

The only shape I can think of that sort of meets the description is a dot in the middle with 8 or 12 rays radiating out from the middle forming a diamond pattern with longer rays in the vertical axis and shorter rays in the horizontal axis. The intermediate rays define the diamond more strongly. This could be called a diadem, but I don't think it would be a diaper. I will see what I can do about modelling one.

 

Regards,

 

Richard