Boolean operations on models within Aspire?

[ZipperHead55]

Hi all. I have had this idea burning a hole in my brain for the last few weeks, and I had to put the thought of accomplishing out of my mind until I finished a bunch of projects for a tight deadline. Now that that is out of the way, I want to re-visit my idea, and I'm hoping the brain trust in this forum can help me.

What I want to do is to be able to take 2 separate models in Aspire and do a Boolean operation on them both. Try as I might, I have not been able to do this within Aspire. [Note: I can accomplish this task in other software (3DS Max, modo, etc) but I want to be able to do it within Aspire just so I don't have to import/export the STL files repeatedly, which I find causes lots of degradation to the model(s), more likely than not due to my settings that I use when I import/export, but that's another issue to deal with down the road....].

Here is a picture of a piece that I made in the past (from one piece of wood) that I would like to be able to do as 2 separate pieces in Aspire (one or both would have to be accomplished as 2 sided machining, but I'm OK with that). For example, I'd like to do the crib board lid in maple, and then do a 2-sided cut of the crest design, with the back of the crest having the domed shape (concave vs the convex of the dome).

[img][IMG]https://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m28/zipperhead55/StratCapCribBoardRound7.jpg[/img][/img]

If you look closely, you can see that the lid for the crib board is domed (within Aspire, I created this as a component), and when I place the model onto the dome, in assumes the curved shape of the dome. This is what I want. But, if I try to do the different combine functions in Aspire (Add, Subtract, Merge, Low and Multiply) it doesn't keep that concave shape (if I did a Boolean operation in another 3D program, it would remove from the back of the crest the material to accomodate the domed (convex) shape from the crib board lid. If I "remove" the crib board (dome shape) from the model tree, the crest automatically reverts to it's original (flat) shape. Note: I exagerated the Z-height of the dome lid component to emphasise the dome shape.

[img][IMG]https://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m28/zipperhead55/SideView.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m28/zipperhead55/SideView2.jpg[/img][/img]

I have tried (seemingly) every permutation possible within Aspire to accomplish this: baking, exporting the model as an STL (the domed lid and crest combined) and then "removing" the base by doing a Subtract function, with the intention of the crest portion being the only thing left, and the back hollowed out to match that domed shape.

I know that Aspire can't perform every conceivable function, and 3rd party software (3DS Max, Blender, modo, etc) might be required, but as I mentioned, I would prefer to avoid this (both the possibility of degrading the model via too many imports/exports, as well as the scale of the modified model not being the exact size required (for when I do the 2-sided operation on the curved crest, ideally it would be an exact male/female fit (crest/domed lid).

There are other examples that I have that I want to accomplish this goal with, mainly so I can make multiple piece models from complicated shapes, but this is the example that has been bugging me for the last few weeks, and if I can get it to work on this (relatively) simple example, I should be able to do the same thing (hopefully within Aspire) for those, thereby giving me more options for future projects.

TIA for any assistance,

Allan

[highpockets]

Something like this?

[TReischl]

You need to quit thinking in terms of your other software when running Aspire.

In the case of your domed lid you are trying to create two models and then subtract one from the other, why? Because that is how you would do it in the other software you are running.

In Aspire you would create the domed lid (if the inside needed to be concave you would do that first). End of that part of the project.

Then you mill the concave in the back of the crest to the same dimensions as you domed the lid. Flip it over and machine the crest. The back of the crest is concave to fit the domed lid.

I run other 3D design software too. About the only time I use it in conjunction with my cnc router is when I am doing full in the round stuff that will run on the rotary axis. Otherwise it does not do anything that I cannot do with Aspire. Since the routers cannot do undercuts there is no point in using full 3D modeling software.

Hoped this helped you out. I know, it takes some getting used to if you have been using other software.

[TReischl]

Something like this?

Two Sided Dish.gif

Hey! I used to look like that after a few too many!

[highpockets]

Something like this?

Two Sided Dish.gif

Hey! I used to look like that after a few too many!

Now not as pretty!?

[ger21]

Aspire doesn't do Boolean operations.

[ZipperHead55]

...

Then you mill the concave in the back of the crest to the same dimensions as you domed the lid. Flip it over and machine the crest. The back of the crest is concave to fit the domed lid.

....

I think I understand what you are saying here now (took me 2 coffee and about 90 minutes of waking up for that to happen ). Rather than trying to use Aspire as a 3D creation/modification tool, I have to use the tools within it to accomplish what I want. The dome shape/component I created becomes the shape I use to physically carve the back of the crest (whether it is carved first or last doesn't matter I suppose) and then flip it over and mill the crest itself. The problem (as I see it) is that the shape that I want (taking on the curve/dome shape) only exists when it is added to the dome shape (if I remove the dome shape/component, the crest "collapses" or becomes it's normal flat shape. BUT if I create a vector of that crest shape and only cut that area (and not the crest and dome shape together), I will have the crest (with the domed convex shape AND the domed concave shape on the back of it) that I need.

I don't have the time ATM to try this out, but I will endeavour to do a small trial run (using basic primitive shapes to speed up the process) later today or on the weekend and get back to you if this process works.

Thanks to all for suggestions/advice,

Allan

[TReischl]

It seems to me what you are trying to do is put an applique (the crest) on top of the domed lid. I would also guess that you would like it to be from a different species of wood than the domed lid.

Here is how would attempt to do it:

1. Mill out the inside of the domed lid.
2. Turn the lid over and mill the convex shape on top of the lid. Set this to the side.

3. Mill out the inside of the applique so that if fits the domed lid.
4. Glue the applique to the lid.

5. Mill the applique in place on the domed lid.

When you mill the applique on the domed lid you will need to slightly recut the entire outside of the domed lid to get a good result.

Notice I did not suggest milling the outer profile of the applique before gluing, that would be a bad idea.

So what you have when you start milling the applique is two different woods glued together with a dome shape between them.

You are going to need to pay attention to dimensions and tolerances for this to work out correctly.

I did something similar years and years ago but it was on a piece of flat work.