[zachf]

I was wondering if anyone ever made these type of panels if so what was your process? I know it could be done with Bobart, but the machining time for a 4'x8' panel would be too long. I was thinking of drawing some lines that were distorted in the z plane and running a 1" or 3/4" ballnose.

I figured before I started playing around I would see if anyone else has already done this.

P.S. I thought Burr had a script written back in a previous version that accomplished this, but I couldn't find the old posts. I don't know much about scripts, but would be willing to learn.

Thanks
Zach F.

[jrmach]

BobArt,pretty much limited only to your imagination for textures.You could also draw a small part of your pattern in 2D and then use utilities tools like stretch,deform to vary Z height.Them from there use Translate ,Copy to fill in the entire sheet.Machine using 3D Engrave then.

[aldepoalo]

There are 2 things you ll need to do.

1) create a bobart textured surface.

2) use a planner tool path with a ball mill

[aldepoalo]

There are a number of different ways you can create textured panels using the BobCAD CAM software.

1) Texture from primitives

2) Photo Emboss

3) Manual tool path with a pattern


photo upload


photo sharing websites


I want to focus on using texture from primitives. Using the BobART we will create some stock and emboss with texture from primitives. Once we have our emboss model looking the way we want, we will use the planner tool path and a Ball Mill to cut.

[aldepoalo]

1) Draw a 12" x12" Rectangle with an origin of the bottom left
2) Click on the BobART tab
3) Rt click on Emboss Model> create / modify stock
4) Model Size 12" x 12"
5) Rt click on Emboss Model > Emboss Texture > From Primitives



image ru


Using the options in this dialog we can many different types of textures. There are 2 groups of settings we can work with.

1) Primitive Shape Control
2) Pattern Locations Control

Primitive Shape control defines the shape you'll be creating, The pattern location control defines how the shape will be patterned out on the sheet.

So let's use the default settings for Ellipsoid and see what happens


upload photo

Here is the resulted emboss model:


photo sharing websites

Not the result that we were looking for, but it is a start. Some of the things we want to do is have the ellipsoid stretched out longer in the Y axis and also we want the shapes to over lap.

So for the Primitive Shape Control we will make the following adjustments:

X Radius = .5
Y Radius = 3
Z Height = .375

We will also check the Randomize the Size and sell the Variation % to 10

The Pattern Location Control we will make the following changes:

Spacing X ( % ) = 30
Spacing Y ( % ) = 30

We will also change the application type to Subtract


upload pictures

This is what the Emboss model will look like now:


images

You will need to continue to make changes until the emboss model looks the way you want it.

[aldepoalo]

You can also so use gray scale or height maps to create a textured panel.

The setup process is the same, but instead of using a emboss texture from primitive you would choose from image.



photo hosting sites




photo upload


upload picture

[aldepoalo]

There are all kinds of images you can search for on the internet to emboss with. Or you can hire a graphic artist to create some image files to work with....


upload photo

Once you have an emboss model you can tool path it. Using planner or spiral or even plunge rough will give you different tool marks. You can really get creative and design some " wicked " cool textures that your customers will love.



image ru





Please let me know if you have more questions about this topic.

[aldepoalo]

Using a texture from image is a very powerful tool to create textured panels. You are only limited by the images you choose.



Here is a quick how to video link:>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Textured wall panel - adepoalo's library


There is still a 3rd way to create these patterns. You could create a projected tool path over a surface and use the pattern feature to create a creative result. This method takes the most work. My recommendation is to use the emboss texture from image.

[zachf]

Al,

The only reason I was steering away from using the Bobart was because I have to do large panels 4' x 8'. I was playing around with the bobart and panels that were smaller were taking to long to generate. That is why I was thinking about doing it a different way. How do you do the projected tool path?

Thanks,

Zach

[aldepoalo]

what is the stock resolution you are using

[ger21]

I was thinking of drawing some lines that were distorted in the z plane and running a 1" or 3/4" ballnose.

I figured before I started playing around I would see if anyone else has already done this.

Yes, I have.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/92807-post1.html

Using AutoCAD, I drew a series of splines along the X axis that just moved up and down. I believe they were 5/8" apart. I only needed 5 splines that repeated, and I drew them in different colors, then used a side view to adjust them.
It was cut with a 1" ballnose in one full depth pass, and took about 45 minutes to do a 4x10 sheet at 250-300ipm.

[aldepoalo]

I would check your settings if it's taking a really long time to process your emboss model from image.

Here is a video link where I setup the job and process the tool path in under 5 min total.

Video link>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 48 x 96 in emboss model time - adepoalo's library


photo sharing websites

[zachf]

I got it to come up using the emboss from image, but I don't have the smoothing function and it looks kind of rough. I had bobart pro on previous versions (I have been with bobcad since it was dos based) and I thought when I upgraded to v24 that bobart pro was included. Is there a way to just update the the bobart I have?

I tried doing the 4' x 8' panel with the emboss from primitives with a resolution of 5, but it stalled out. So I guess the only way to do this would be emboss from image. Unless there is some settings I could change.

Another thing I should have mentioned is these need to have a seamless appearance. When they are put up the pattern is going to have to match end to end. That was another reason I was thinking about drawing them up.

Thanks,

Zach

[jrmach]

Draw them and use a 3D Engrave.If you Emboss and slice planar,you are going to be over a day or (2) to get a good result.That's if you can even load the code in your machine(very long)As I and Ger mentioned draw your pattern from a top view,then switch to side view and alter Z heights.
If you had V25 there is a new function that if you highlight a Spline and right click,go to Entity Modify,you can work with the control points to alter the Geometry.Pretty cool new feature that no one has mentioned but Burr.

[jrmach]

Yes, I have.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/92807-post1.html

Using AutoCAD, I drew a series of splines along the X axis that just moved up and down. I believe they were 5/8" apart. I only needed 5 splines that repeated, and I drew them in different colors, then used a side view to adjust them.
It was cut with a 1" ballnose in one full depth pass, and took about 45 minutes to do a 4x10 sheet at 250-300ipm.

Nice work ger,I have a question for you.I don't have a Router so I would never do something like this,but just curious of warpage/stress releif.Is that an issue or is mdf that stable?

[aldepoalo]

The reason why there is a BobART pro and standard is we upgraded BobART half way through the year. Yes you can upgrade your BobART to pro.

I can understand needing the panels to match up, again the reason why I would emboss from image.

As far as you locking up from primitives I would need to look at what your settings were.

[zachf]

We use double refined MDF when we do projects for painting. With normal MDF you might see some warping from breaking the denser top surface. The Double refined is a denser product throughout, which makes it more stable and gives a better paint surface.

I am going to try drawing and manipulating the z heights. Thanks for the help. I will give you an update after I get going.

Thanks,

Zach

[jrmach]

Al, is right in respect,that emboss will give great results.I think what zach is concerned about is the cycle time.Got to make $$.
If you do a Slice Planer on an Embossment the math goes like this

For a 4 X 8 panel = 48 inches X 96 inches
a .030 step over divided by 48 inches =1600 that's how many times the tool will have to go the length of the panel,so 1600 X 96(length of panel) = 153,600 inches that will be traveled.If we were going say 200 inches per minute(if you could go that fast)the math goes like this 153,600 divided by 200(ipm) =768 (minutes total) 768 minutes divided by 60 (minutes to a hour)that's 12.8 hours.So unless you are charging a fortune,time you take in consideration the materials ,tooling,wear and tear on machinery,labor involved creating code and set-up etc.,you are wurking pretty cheap.Now if you can't go 200 ipm your really screwed.Maybe a bigger step over would help.Depends on quality wanted.But any way you look at it,the math will probably show,it is not worth the money gain.Plain and simple an Economics thing.
Don't get me wrong Al,I love BobART and have done dozens and dozens of Embossments.Just in Aluminun instead of wood.And not big panels.Like I said in my first post BobArt is only limited by your imagination.

[zachf]

Whenever I start trying to manipulate the lines in the z axis it pulls them oddly from the top view and takes them off my panel. It looks like it is not pulling them straight down but at and odd angle.

My order of procedures:

1. I drew splines across the panel
2. I deformed the contour to make them sporadic
3. I switched to my UCS to Front and Front View and tried to deform them down
4. I switched back to Top View and the lines didn't pull straight down they were all over the place.


Any suggestions or maybe another approach to distorting the z axis.

Thanks,

Zach

[jrmach]

Point sketch your points where you want radius,ranomly go about translating each point down in Z different amounts.Do a Spline Blend.