Scanning Probe Question

Hi Guys,

I have a friend that has a cnc plasma torch and he makes several "cut outs" of various designs and asked me if there was a way I could duplicate in wood what he is cutting in metal and overlay the metal cutout onto the wood. Think of it as him making a washer and me carving a frame with with the inside dia. of the washer raised so the metal is flush with the wood. The washer is just an example and he makes much more intircate pieces such as you may have seen at craft shows etc.

Would a scanning probe be the way to go to trace what he has cut out and then carve something that will fit exactly inside his piece? I don't own a probe but if that would work I would buy one in a heartbeat.

Thanks for any advice.

Mark

As long as the pieces are not too thick it should work. You would scan the metal piece to make the pattern, then apply the pattern and outline it. after it is outlined, delete the pattern. Copy and paste a second copy of the outline exactly over the first. Now make one of the outlines a carved out area the depth or the metal piece, and assign the cutting bit to the second outline at the same depth as the carved area and with a .063 inset.
Clint

I do not think the scanning probe is what you need. It scans 3d objects for height data. You just want to cut out a curve I think. What you might think about is the DXF importer. If your friend can give you the cutout curve as .dxf file (Autocad) then you can import it into Designer and also cut it out. If you could show the forum members more precisely what you want to do, we may be of more help.

I agree DXF importer is the way to go ...

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Originally Posted by mfdchief

Hi Guys,

I have a friend that has a cnc plasma torch and he makes several "cut outs" of various designs and asked me if there was a way I could duplicate in wood what he is cutting in metal and overlay the metal cutout onto the wood. Think of it as him making a washer and me carving a frame with with the inside dia. of the washer raised so the metal is flush with the wood. The washer is just an example and he makes much more intircate pieces such as you may have seen at craft shows etc.

Would a scanning probe be the way to go to trace what he has cut out and then carve something that will fit exactly inside his piece? I don't own a probe but if that would work I would buy one in a heartbeat.

Thanks for any advice.

Mark

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CNC Plasma cutters normally use a DXF file. Attached is an image that would make a good table top. It would be lots of work to fill all the voids with wood. I think Clay would be a better fill product.
In the Elk Red copy it shows all the material that would be removed with the Plasma cutter.
Lots of the large parts could be filled in with wood. I think each part would need to be hand fitted.

You could use the Zipped Elk ai (8) file to make a ai2mpc to use to cut out wood you need.

Thanks for all the replys, I had not thought about his file being a DXF. I will check that out.

bjbethke, I agree, a detailed project such as you have shown would be practically impossible to fill, at least for this rookie :D

Thanks again for the ideas.

Mark