This one is cut from opaque white acrylic. It measures 12" tall and wide. Acrylic is 1/4" thick. I cut this very conservatively. Feed rate is 40ipm, pass depth is .03". speed is number 2 on the Makita router. The bit is the 1/8" o-flute from Sienci.So, it is very slow going. However, it results in no sanding and very clean edges.
CAD/CAM is VCarvePro. Code sender is gSender 1.1.7. CNC is Sienci Long Mill Mk1 30 x 30.
With luck it will slip over the top of our yet-to-be purchased live tree. The "holder" is a length of 3/4" copper pipe, painted white.
Thanks much, Tex. I'm finally getting the hang of designing these slot-togethers. For me, testing is the key as two 1/4" thick materials seem to need different negative offsets. Good luck with your projects.
I usually laser acrylate - mostly 4 mm. - and always have to adjust for the fact that a bit of material evaporates in the cut. For fitting 4 mm. acrylate, a slot design of between 3.7 and 3.9 mm. is sufficient - the end result after lasering is a good fit. How does that work with CNC cutting ?
On another note: here (continental Europe), after Covid, acrylate exploded in price because all screens in shops etc. are made of acrylate. For hobby projects, it became pretty expensive. I pay about EUR 65 (day, USD 70) for a 100 x 100 cm. (40' x 40') piece. How is that over there ?
I cut this with a nominally .125" o-flute bit. Past testing showed that it actually .118", so that's what I have set in my tool database. I used a -.006 offset on the pocket tool paths for the slots, which I drew at .25", the nominal thickness of the material. I had to play a bit before I settled on the .006.
I'm in Ottawa, Canada. Prices here on acrylics went crazy, too. This piece was an offcut that I was given. I can get quite large offcuts of polycarbonate at a very reasonable price from a shop here that was doing "sneeze guards" at the height of Covid. That said, lumber and sheet good prices are insane, too. So, there is no "free lunch".
Could also 3d print it with clear or white pla (pla is not that expensive) if you have a 3d printer. If you would want to share your stl file export from vectric, I'll print one, I'll post pics and Cura files.
3D printing would work also, indeed. Having the availability of all 3 methods (being member of a makerspace is fun...) I choose my method project by project. Or - being extremely lazy - whatever input format I have available. Or - being on the money - whatever material I have.
Hey: is there an .STL export function ? I did not know that. import yes, export, no. Does it work okay ?
btw. We ditched CURA for Prusa slicer (owning Prusa printers).
Hey Marcel,
I've done it before, just cant remember how. It was not a direct export to stl. My bad. I'll go back and check how I did it. That would be really handy though as a native Vectric export (yes, fun and frustrating).
So you ditched Cura after Prusa incorproated Aracne? and makes sense.
I can't see any way to export my 2D toolpaths as an .stl file. If someone can educate me, I would be glad to do so.
As for 3D printing, I assume that it would be printed in one piece?? Yes?? So, again, since this is not a 3D model in VCarve, I'm not sure how this will translate into a file for 3D printing.
I can't see any way to export my 2D toolpaths as an .stl file. If someone can educate me, I would be glad to do so.
As for 3D printing, I assume that it would be printed in one piece?? Yes?? So, again, since this is not a 3D model in VCarve, I'm not sure how this will translate into a file for 3D printing.
Unfortunately, it seems there is an error in VCarve 11.5 help. The model section describes tools that are only available in Aspire, including export as STL. I remember using it when I was professionaly using Aspire, but I can't find it in Vcarve.
With a filament based printer, my experience is You would definitely want to print the snow flake flat on the bed.
I just logged into the forum to see if anyone was modeling in Aspire and printing.
I purchased a Bossdelta 300 in July 2022, and have only two more items to print and then can work on machining the acrylic for the Design and Make Craft CNC. I'm planning to use my Digital Wood Carver 2440 CNC router, vs. a Laser as it seems pretty expensive for me to use the laser at my local makerspace. Thankfully, I bought cast acrylic prior to C-19 rise in prices across the globe on acrylics. The snowflake would not work too well to print vertically with a filament printer because I expect you need supports, and I haven't figured out how to add supports for the last two parts of the Design & Make Craft CNC.
I have not purchased a resin printer yet; I think that process would print vertically without issues.
Flat printing is the only way, indeed, and that is also the case for a resin printer. An extra issue of resin printers is that the bed is a lot smaller than most home and semi-pro FDM printers. We aim to have a Prusa SL1 operational mid -2023 but already realise its 5 by 3 inches bed poses, er, challenges.
If I can choose between laser and CNC(material up to 4mm. thickness) I always will choose the laser. It's way faster and sharp corners are n problem. And my makerspace charges EUR 0,50 / minute laser time to members (*). Are we too cheap ?
Marcel.
(*) actually, we haven't found out a decent way to charge the CNC to users; anyone a good idea ?
3D printers have stepper motors and are driven by gcode so I think they count!
Yep, print it flat and if you need to warp it, put it in the oven until soft and drape it over the surface of your choice.
and makes sense.