I've been wondering about this since the good people over at LHR technologies created the 3d file importer for Designer (their application for the CarveWright). Wouldn't it be cool if you could create a file in Designer and then export the .stl file?!!! (a 3D format). Turns out that the answer is now YES! Why, you ask? Well, I find the Designer application to be about as easy as falling off a log to use. It's simple, you get what you see and it does a fantastic job of turning greyscale images into relief.
With the recent addition of 3D tools available for Designer, I thought it was high time to give it a whirl.
I began with a pet project. Some movie/tv folks are putting together a kickstart project called "Space Command". It's retro-science fiction. Think 1950's rockets done with modern technology. I was immediately drawn to it. Many Trek veterans are involved and they've raised a fair amount of money but can use more. I recently saw the logo work that Michael Okuda had created for it, and thought it would lend itself easily to a carve. Let's start in CarveWright and end on Shopbot!
Here is the artwork created by Mr. Okuda:
Here it is imported into CarveWright Designer:
Now you can see it in 3d in Designer:
Now we can export it to an .stl file:
So far so good!
Now I can import it into almost any application that can run an .stl file on the shopbot. From cheap to expensive, almost all will get it done.
I decided that I'd like to round the edges off a bit...lots of curves in 1950 sci-fi....so I used a smoothing tool on it.
Loaded up some Azek pvc on the shopbot and she began to carve!
Soon I'll be trimming it and painting it. An 18" diameter piece from a CarveWright Designer file (the CarveWright has a 14" limit on a single width board). I'm thrilled with the quality of the file and the carve. I think this piece will bring a few dollars for a great project! I'll show finish work soon and tell you how you might be able to get it!
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