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Along with doing a few updates to my SO2 cnc, I've actually been a little productive about making things. I've done some practice with engraving and v-bit lettering but need to work on that a bit more.
One area of focus has been getting SketchUp and SketchUcam working together to make 3D. Below is an example of today's effort. I drew a small rosette in SU2015 (3.5" diameter), then kept playing with settings in SUcam until I got usable gcode. Don't fuss about the blue faces on the SU drawing - that's the way SUcam works - ask the developer! It turned out there were a couple of stray artifacts in the cut. If you look at the upper right corner, you'll see a small cut that shouldn't be there. SUcam added some lines of code that, in essence, dragged the bit along the face of the workpiece. After removing the erroneous code, a test trace using OPENscam was clean. I cut the rosette in mdf using a 1/16" ballnose bit and 20% stepover; next time a smaller stepover will reduce sanding. I haven't done any sanding on this sample piece.
Another thing I have been working on for a while is a ZCI for my table saw. Sounds simple enough but the scaling wasn't right. Even after checking and re-checking the calibration of my SO2, the insert was too small. That's when I found out about which end is up with SUcam. Or, actually, which face it needs to reference - which is the blue face. Don't ask me - ask the developer. I posted the issue I was having on Phlat Forum along with graphics and that's when they told me the blue face has to be out, whether it's a 2.5D or 3D project. So, alrighty then, I turned blue, re-generated gcode and get perfect fitting ZCIs. The one on the right got a coat of poly from the remains of a rattle can.
If the items below seem familiar, they are spindle mounts for my SO2. Yep, I made some with white HDPE a few weeks ago; they work but were a bit rough because of a brain freeze I had. Now that the spindle is spinning the right way, the bits cut much better!
Anyway, just wanted you folks to know I haven't been totally lazy - except at times!
One area of focus has been getting SketchUp and SketchUcam working together to make 3D. Below is an example of today's effort. I drew a small rosette in SU2015 (3.5" diameter), then kept playing with settings in SUcam until I got usable gcode. Don't fuss about the blue faces on the SU drawing - that's the way SUcam works - ask the developer! It turned out there were a couple of stray artifacts in the cut. If you look at the upper right corner, you'll see a small cut that shouldn't be there. SUcam added some lines of code that, in essence, dragged the bit along the face of the workpiece. After removing the erroneous code, a test trace using OPENscam was clean. I cut the rosette in mdf using a 1/16" ballnose bit and 20% stepover; next time a smaller stepover will reduce sanding. I haven't done any sanding on this sample piece.
Another thing I have been working on for a while is a ZCI for my table saw. Sounds simple enough but the scaling wasn't right. Even after checking and re-checking the calibration of my SO2, the insert was too small. That's when I found out about which end is up with SUcam. Or, actually, which face it needs to reference - which is the blue face. Don't ask me - ask the developer. I posted the issue I was having on Phlat Forum along with graphics and that's when they told me the blue face has to be out, whether it's a 2.5D or 3D project. So, alrighty then, I turned blue, re-generated gcode and get perfect fitting ZCIs. The one on the right got a coat of poly from the remains of a rattle can.
If the items below seem familiar, they are spindle mounts for my SO2. Yep, I made some with white HDPE a few weeks ago; they work but were a bit rough because of a brain freeze I had. Now that the spindle is spinning the right way, the bits cut much better!
Anyway, just wanted you folks to know I haven't been totally lazy - except at times!