This is mostly on request from George, some others might find it interesting. The discussion started in this thread, the pen is a result of the steps shown below:
1. The Idea
I wanted a 'jigsaw' look, as the idea came from the Laserlinez/Kallenshaan jigsaw puzzle kits. I had nothing so heroic in mind - just a couple of pieces which fit into a matching recess in a pen blank. First I found something useable on the interweb:
I saved the file (this one was an SVG which was nice but any old graphic file will do) on my HDD.
2. Create the 'Look'
Now I opened it in Inkscape in order to create the look and feel of the pieces I wanted. Inkscape is free, which is a large part (about 99.9%) of the reason I use it, but if you happen to have Adobe Illustrator (over £700 a license if memory serves) it will work just as well. Photoshop will NOT work so well, as it does not create scalable vector graphics (SVG) - important when you start mucking around with the size of the pieces.
You can figure that I needed to make the piece into two pieces with a matching side, and I needed an outline of both pieces together for the recess. I also decided to flatten the bottom just because ...
Finally I saved it as a DXF file (only recognises lines and curves - doesn't see 'substance').
3. The Machining Sequence
I opened the DXF file in CamBam, where I selected the cutting sequence, the positioning of the pieces relative to the stock, the size, RPM and feedrate of the bit through the material, etc etc.
Once that was done I saved a few G-code files out of CamBam which I took to ther workshop to run on the CNC nachine. The G-code files are long lists of machine instructions which the CNC controller machine will use to tell the mill to lower the bit so many mm's, move in a straight line from this coordinate to that one, then execute a curve of this radius etc etc.
A sample of a G-code file follows:
( Made using CamBam - CamBam CNC Software )
( jigsaw pieces inlay 7/14/2013 4:16:49 PM )
( T8 : 0.8 )
G21 G90 G64 G40
G0 Z3.0
( T8 : 0.8 )
T8 M6
( Profile1 )
G17
M3 S18000
G0 X3.1241 Y3.8559
G0 Z1.0
G1 F300.0 Z-3.0
G2 F65.0 X3.1231 Y3.8511 I-0.3653 J0.0713
G1 X3.104 Y3.7633
G2 X3.0082 Y3.4589 I-4.5755 J1.2733
G3 X3.0061 Y3.4528 I0.3773 J-0.1329
G1 X2.9496 Y3.2837
G3 X2.8918 Y3.0866 I2.4233 J-0.8167
G1 X2.8402 Y2.9016
G1 X2.7974 Y2.7609
G1 X2.7808 Y2.7067
4. General
There are CAM software products out there that will let you combine steps 2 and 3, eg. ArtCAM. I've never used them, and once you've checked out the license costs you probably won't either. There are also alternatives to Mach3 (the software running on the CNC controller machine), but Mach3 does all I need. Mach3 will handle a lasercutter/engraver, too, so when I get my laser up and running I won't need another license.
Others may do this differently, I don't claim to have the final solution. This works for me, though ...
1. The Idea
I wanted a 'jigsaw' look, as the idea came from the Laserlinez/Kallenshaan jigsaw puzzle kits. I had nothing so heroic in mind - just a couple of pieces which fit into a matching recess in a pen blank. First I found something useable on the interweb:
I saved the file (this one was an SVG which was nice but any old graphic file will do) on my HDD.
2. Create the 'Look'
Now I opened it in Inkscape in order to create the look and feel of the pieces I wanted. Inkscape is free, which is a large part (about 99.9%) of the reason I use it, but if you happen to have Adobe Illustrator (over £700 a license if memory serves) it will work just as well. Photoshop will NOT work so well, as it does not create scalable vector graphics (SVG) - important when you start mucking around with the size of the pieces.
You can figure that I needed to make the piece into two pieces with a matching side, and I needed an outline of both pieces together for the recess. I also decided to flatten the bottom just because ...
Finally I saved it as a DXF file (only recognises lines and curves - doesn't see 'substance').
3. The Machining Sequence
I opened the DXF file in CamBam, where I selected the cutting sequence, the positioning of the pieces relative to the stock, the size, RPM and feedrate of the bit through the material, etc etc.
Once that was done I saved a few G-code files out of CamBam which I took to ther workshop to run on the CNC nachine. The G-code files are long lists of machine instructions which the CNC controller machine will use to tell the mill to lower the bit so many mm's, move in a straight line from this coordinate to that one, then execute a curve of this radius etc etc.
A sample of a G-code file follows:
( Made using CamBam - CamBam CNC Software )
( jigsaw pieces inlay 7/14/2013 4:16:49 PM )
( T8 : 0.8 )
G21 G90 G64 G40
G0 Z3.0
( T8 : 0.8 )
T8 M6
( Profile1 )
G17
M3 S18000
G0 X3.1241 Y3.8559
G0 Z1.0
G1 F300.0 Z-3.0
G2 F65.0 X3.1231 Y3.8511 I-0.3653 J0.0713
G1 X3.104 Y3.7633
G2 X3.0082 Y3.4589 I-4.5755 J1.2733
G3 X3.0061 Y3.4528 I0.3773 J-0.1329
G1 X2.9496 Y3.2837
G3 X2.8918 Y3.0866 I2.4233 J-0.8167
G1 X2.8402 Y2.9016
G1 X2.7974 Y2.7609
G1 X2.7808 Y2.7067
4. General
There are CAM software products out there that will let you combine steps 2 and 3, eg. ArtCAM. I've never used them, and once you've checked out the license costs you probably won't either. There are also alternatives to Mach3 (the software running on the CNC controller machine), but Mach3 does all I need. Mach3 will handle a lasercutter/engraver, too, so when I get my laser up and running I won't need another license.
Others may do this differently, I don't claim to have the final solution. This works for me, though ...