[pecosjoe@yahoo.]

I ordered a CNC router with BobCAD CAM and BobART (running Mach 3), Will I be able to use these to create signs? -Fonts and images? Or, will I need to buy something like V-Carve Pro? --OR-- Is it possible to design something in Photoshop and import it into the BobCAD CAM?

[erase42]

you should be able to accomplish quite a lot with that combination as far as signage goes. id upgrade to the bobart pro X if you dont have that. It gives you all sorts of options with the edge profiles of your sign elements. convex, concave, flat different edge options like radius, elliptical, straigh taper etc. you can also choose the way to different surfaces will interact with each other, for example defining a small concave part that overlaps a larger convex area. the icons are a little cryptic at times but once you understand them its ok. you should also be able to do all your 2d layout and design in the cad portion of bobcad as well. good luck with it.

[becikeja]

Hey pecosjoe, what do you seriously think about BobArt now that you have used it. I have been looking into it, but since I am more of a weekend warrior than a professional I have yet to let go of the cash? I want to emboss photographs, I hear it can do it, ever tried?

[tobyaxis]

Hey pecosjoe, what do you seriously think about BobArt now that you have used it. I have been looking into it, but since I am more of a weekend warrior than a professional I have yet to let go of the cash? I want to emboss photographs, I hear it can do it, ever tried?

It will work better on Black and White Photos. Colors seem to distort the Raster to Vector.

[tjones]

Bobart is a great tool and many things can be done with it. Every tool has a purpose and limitations to what it can do on it's own. So the question would be what do you want to do? Each person and what he does will determine the usefulness of the software for him.

Some people would swear by it while other curse it. It's just what they are attempting to do and if it's the right tool.

We use combinations of tools and so does nearly everyone else. Even the 20k programs use plugins from other companies at a high cost to add it in.

[becikeja]

tjones how about a recomendation on software. What I am trying to do is take a Picture, I can easily convert to B&W as Tobyaxis suggests, and create a relief carving of the picture. When I run the demo version of BobArt it looks like it will work fine, just not convinced yet. I tried a free program I found on the internet called Profilor. From the picture in the tool it looked as if it would work, but I had horrible results when trying to cut it. (I guess I got what I paid for). What software would you suggest?

[tjones]

If you are doing just this type of work the Bobart Pro will be great. It will convert the photo for you to greyscale. It will then be able to work well.

As for photo manipulation (Bobart is not going to help here) you can get very nice stuff for free. I would suggest using a free program called Inkscape for one. It has many plugins for effects and can vectorize as well.

If you decide not to use Bobart then try VCarve. I would not give much hope to most of the free 'photo to tool path' programs out there. They do not do a very good job from what I have saw.

[becikeja]

Thanks for the info. it's much appreciated.

[jimini]

Hi I found profiler6 to work very well, you just have to play around with it a bit,I'll attach some pictures I made using it.

[tobyaxis]

Nice pictures Jimini. What type of Router did you use, custom built?

[becikeja]

Jimini, those came out great. That is exactly what I am trying to get done. When I ran profior I just got a bunch of holes. I have a few questions if you don't mind. What size/type bit did you use? What were the dimensions and depth? What step over? I tried a couple of set ups, and never got anything more than moon craters over the entire surface. Thanks for the pics, now I am challenged again.

[bobcadbrad]

the bobart is used all over the world for many different things, and sign making is at the top of the list. i talk to several sign makers on a daily basis that are extremely happy. As far as doing things in photoshop, yes you can in fact i would reccommend it.

[Tony Mac]

Hi becikeja,

Just a quick note to say the photo / image machining shown above by jimini can also be done using PhotoVCarve. It's pretty straightforward,

• Open the photo / image file
• Specify the size
• Select a cutter - usually a Ball nose
• Enter the Z Range to cut the image = typically around 0.125"
  (In the photo - light = high and dark = low)
• Calculate the toolpath
• Save the GCode ready for machining

PhotoVCarve simulates the toolpath to show what the engraved photo will look like in different materials as shown in the attached image.

I hope this might be of interest and let me know if you have any questions.

Tony

[becikeja]

Hey Tony, thanks for the note. I have been looking at Photo V Carve also. It seems intriguing as well. I need to download the demo and play with it. Time, never seem to have enough of it.

Did I read your screen print right. Did you use a ball nose cutter with a .04" diameter? That is tight, how long would it take to cut a 5X6 picture?

[Tony Mac]

Hi again

That's right - it was calculated for a pretty small 0.04" Diameter Ball and this would take approximately 3 hours to cut a 7" x 5" images.

Recalculating the toolpath using a 1/8" Ball reduces the time to around 1 hour, but this will not create quite as much detail in the finished piece as shown in the image below.

The 3D preview mode allows different cutters / stepovers / toolpaths to be calculated and see what level of detail will be machined on the job + the estimated machining times.

I hope this makes sense,

Tony

[jimini]

Nice pictures Jimini. What type of Router did you use, custom built?

I use a machine I built a few years ago, with a 5amp router, works ok for my stuff.

[tobyaxis]

I use a machine I built a few years ago, with a 5amp router, works ok for my stuff.

Have you any desire to build a 5 Axis Gantry Style Router??? I have only seen one but was very impressed with the tool paths and machine movements.

[jimini]

I think I'll probably have to leave a 5 axis machine for my next lifetime.lol
I'm 76 and think I may have to slow down a bit.

[tobyaxis]

I think I'll probably have to leave a 5 axis machine for my next lifetime.lol
I'm 76 and think I may have to slow down a bit.

Youth is wasted on the young But hey, you only live once and this would be a Cool Project:rainfro:

I'm not being very convincing am I???

[jimini]

Something I'll have to put in my Wanna Do List,lol