On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:16:06 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy
wrote:

On Sep 23, 7:28*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
What materials are those made from? *Wood and black solid surface?

*bowing my head in shame*
.
.
.
.
.
.
UniBoard melamine and laminate.

OMFG!


It was an exercise in material usage and adaptability. The key issue
was to hide all them frickin' wires. This one will take 60" up to 300#
and still slide comfortable away from the wall. Some options include
powerbars and surge protectors. One comes with genuine Variac power
conditioning. I _can_ make them from quality veneers and solid surface/
quartz but I keep trying to bring these in under $2K.

WHAT? You're getting a couple grand for glorified melamine MDF board?
I'm in the wrong freakin' business. (I thought that looked something
like a SketchUp grain rather than real woodgrain.)


All the tool-
pathing has been done. One bit change, and 3 sheets of whatever. All
the cut-offs turn into ribbing which are all set up for wire chases.

Cool.


What's your CNC setup, again?

--
Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people.
Others have no imagination whatsoever.

On Sep 23, 8:31*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:16:06 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy

wrote:
On Sep 23, 7:28*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
What materials are those made from? *Wood and black solid surface?

*bowing my head in shame*
.
.
.
.
.
.
UniBoard melamine and laminate.

OMFG!

It was an exercise in material usage and adaptability. The key issue
was to hide all them frickin' wires. This one will take 60" up to 300#
and still slide comfortable away from the wall. Some options include
powerbars and surge protectors. One comes with genuine Variac power
conditioning. I _can_ make them from quality veneers and solid surface/
quartz but I keep trying to bring these in under $2K.

WHAT? *You're getting a couple grand for glorified melamine MDF board?
I'm in the wrong freakin' business. (I thought that looked something
like a SketchUp grain rather than real woodgrain.)

All the tool-
pathing has been done. One bit change, and 3 sheets of whatever. All
the cut-offs turn into ribbing which are all set up for wire chases.

Cool.

What's your CNC setup, again?

--
Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people.
Others have no imagination whatsoever.

General 4 x 8 Elte Spindle 3HP with 3Phase VFD.

http://www.generalcnc.ca/cnc_for_production

On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:44:57 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy
wrote:

On Sep 23, 8:31*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
What's your CNC setup, again?

General 4 x 8 Elte Spindle 3HP with 3Phase VFD.

http://www.generalcnc.ca/cnc_for_production

He's a big boy. (Sounds expensive.) I'll bet it's fun to work with.

--
Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people.
Others have no imagination whatsoever.

On Sep 23, 11:33*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:44:57 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy

wrote:
On Sep 23, 8:31*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
What's your CNC setup, again?

General 4 x 8 Elte Spindle 3HP with 3Phase VFD.

http://www.generalcnc.ca/cnc_for_production

He's a big boy. (Sounds expensive.) *I'll bet it's fun to work with.


I'm glad I bought the size I did, thatsafursure. One thing I did
learn, is when one makes the commitment to buy one, one must allow a
non-productive time in order to tackle the learning curve. It is not
nearly as bad as I want my customers to believe, but a solid knowledge
of vector editing and file-conversion is essential. The boys at
Vectric have created an incredible piece of software that would have
cost $10,000 not too long ago. Their Aspire package is insanely
powerful and relatively friendly to use.
Owning a cnc without a package like that forces one to grow a brain
like Morris's and who wants that? G

On Fri, 24 Sep 2010 07:59:43 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy
wrote:

On Sep 23, 11:33*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:44:57 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy

wrote:
On Sep 23, 8:31*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
What's your CNC setup, again?

General 4 x 8 Elte Spindle 3HP with 3Phase VFD.

http://www.generalcnc.ca/cnc_for_production

He's a big boy. (Sounds expensive.) *I'll bet it's fun to work with.


I'm glad I bought the size I did, thatsafursure. One thing I did
learn, is when one makes the commitment to buy one, one must allow a

2nd mortgage required?


non-productive time in order to tackle the learning curve.

How many months?


It is not
nearly as bad as I want my customers to believe, but a solid knowledge
of vector editing and file-conversion is essential.

Ah should whup on Corel some more first, y'reckon? I just picked up
X5, upgading from v3 to v9, then to X5 over the years. I don't yet
have my Wacom tablet set up in Win7, but I might do that this weekend
while I let my bod rest. (I can't keep up this pace or a limb will
surely fall off.)

What formats are you finding most common to be converted to/from, Toy?


The boys at
Vectric have created an incredible piece of software that would have
cost $10,000 not too long ago. Their Aspire package is insanely
powerful and relatively friendly to use.

It looks pretty nice. Is it a fully-3D CAD/CAM package?



Owning a cnc without a package like that forces one to grow a brain
like Morris's and who wants that? G

Cat's got brains? Or do you mean that smoky guy, Philip Morris? Or
that wonderful artistic guy, William Morris? Oh, you mean that
strapping young DIY CNCer of Stirling reputation from EyeOhWay,
don'tcha? Señor Dovey. Yeah, who wants _that_?

--
Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people.
Others have no imagination whatsoever.

On Sep 25, 11:11*am, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Fri, 24 Sep 2010 07:59:43 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy





wrote:
On Sep 23, 11:33*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:44:57 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy

wrote:
On Sep 23, 8:31*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
What's your CNC setup, again?

General 4 x 8 Elte Spindle 3HP with 3Phase VFD.

http://www.generalcnc.ca/cnc_for_production

He's a big boy. (Sounds expensive.) *I'll bet it's fun to work with.

I'm glad I bought the size I did, thatsafursure. One thing I did
learn, is when one makes the commitment to buy one, one must allow a

2nd mortgage required?

Pricing from Shopbot is in a similar vein as General:
http://www.shopbottools.com/PriceList.pdf
So figure on the best part of $30K. If you want tool changers, vacuum
table, aggregate head, double that.
Minimum config should include a spindle as opposed to a universal
motor. Regular routers were never designed to run for 8 hours
straight. (Something that can happen in 3D work.
As to the mortgage? Depends on the depth of the boot where you keep
your cash.


non-productive time in order to tackle the learning curve.

How many months?

Impossible to answer. Simple V-carving should not take you more than a
couple of days to figure out. 3D from scratch takes a lot longer. I
tend to look at each job and work backwards from there. Due to the
incredible depth of Vectric Aspire, I would hazard to guess that it
could years to be proficient in all of its capabilities.
Point is, you look at a job, open Aspire and work it out. You learn in
a couple of days THAT particular operation. So now you know how to,
let's say, to make a letter with beveled edges 2" thick.
Next! (and so it goes. I only learn what I need.)

But, when I bought mine, I didn't quit my regular work. (The tax write-
offs are enough to make you smile)

It is not
nearly as bad as I want my customers to believe, but a solid knowledge
of vector editing and file-conversion is essential.

Ah should whup on Corel some more first, y'reckon? *I just picked up
X5, upgading from v3 to v9, then to X5 over the years. *I don't yet
have my Wacom tablet set up in Win7, but I might do that this weekend
while I let my bod rest. *(I can't keep up this pace or a limb will
surely fall off.)

What formats are you finding most common to be converted to/from, Toy?

I use Vectorworks because I have used for 20+ years. For simple 2D, I
now use Aspire or Illustrator.
So if you speak bezier, you've got unlimited potential.
But I find more and more ways to stay in Aspire as it reveals its
abilities.
So CorelDraw and an export to a vector-based PDF works tits!

3D is whole different deal. Imports .dwg and coulour jpegs... that is
an insane range. Play with Aspire's tutorials. That shows you that the
Z (thickness dimension) can get its data from a greyscale. White is
high, black is low with the min and max determined by the material
thickness.

The boys at
Vectric have created an incredible piece of software that would have
cost $10,000 not too long ago. Their Aspire package is insanely
powerful and relatively friendly to use.

It looks pretty nice. *Is it a fully-3D CAD/CAM package?

Close. But all you need to create stuff your cnc will understand. True
3D will show you detail from all directions, in the cnc world, there
is always the table to get in the way, iow, your router can't cut from
the bottom upwards unless you flip your work.

Owning a cnc without a package like that forces one to grow a brain
like Morris's and who wants that? G

Cat's got brains? *Or do you mean that smoky guy, Philip Morris? Or
that wonderful artistic guy, William Morris? *Oh, you mean that
strapping young DIY CNCer of Stirling reputation from EyeOhWay,
don'tcha? *Señor Dovey. *Yeah, who wants _that_?

No cats, no smoke, no talent agent. Just the Iowain. (Iowanonian?)

On Sat, 25 Sep 2010 09:06:22 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy
wrote:

On Sep 25, 11:11*am, Larry Jaques
wrote:

2nd mortgage required?

Pricing from Shopbot is in a similar vein as General:
http://www.shopbottools.com/PriceList.pdf
So figure on the best part of $30K. If you want tool changers, vacuum
table, aggregate head, double that.
Minimum config should include a spindle as opposed to a universal
motor. Regular routers were never designed to run for 8 hours
straight. (Something that can happen in 3D work.
As to the mortgage? Depends on the depth of the boot where you keep
your cash.

Hayull, ah cain't even afford _boots_.


non-productive time in order to tackle the learning curve.

How many months?

Impossible to answer. Simple V-carving should not take you more than a
couple of days to figure out. 3D from scratch takes a lot longer. I
tend to look at each job and work backwards from there. Due to the
incredible depth of Vectric Aspire, I would hazard to guess that it
could years to be proficient in all of its capabilities.
Point is, you look at a job, open Aspire and work it out. You learn in
a couple of days THAT particular operation. So now you know how to,
let's say, to make a letter with beveled edges 2" thick.
Next! (and so it goes. I only learn what I need.)

Grok that. It's the same method I used for Photoshop and Corel.
Illustrator is so blasted UNintuitive that I get too frustrated (every
time I attempt to use it) to ever _want_ to use it. Arrrrrrrrrgh!


But, when I bought mine, I didn't quit my regular work. (The tax write-
offs are enough to make you smile)

Yeah, I can imagine.


What formats are you finding most common to be converted to/from, Toy?

I use Vectorworks because I have used for 20+ years. For simple 2D, I
now use Aspire or Illustrator.
So if you speak bezier, you've got unlimited potential.
But I find more and more ways to stay in Aspire as it reveals its
abilities.
So CorelDraw and an export to a vector-based PDF works tits!

Excellent. Speaking of which, I just loaded Adobe Creative Suite and
Acro Pro v6 took over Reader v9 in my browser. I think I'll need to
reload the reader so PDFs open up online. sigh


3D is whole different deal. Imports .dwg and coulour jpegs... that is
an insane range. Play with Aspire's tutorials. That shows you that the
Z (thickness dimension) can get its data from a greyscale. White is
high, black is low with the min and max determined by the material
thickness.

Yeah, I saw that and think it's great and interesting.


The boys at
Vectric have created an incredible piece of software that would have
cost $10,000 not too long ago. Their Aspire package is insanely
powerful and relatively friendly to use.

Now if they could only master headsets so their tutorial speaker
doesn't keep blowing out his mike. It makes the audio painful to
listen to. Given the program's price and their otherwise professional
demeanor, I'm surprised that they didn't nuke those original vids and
make decent ones.


It looks pretty nice. *Is it a fully-3D CAD/CAM package?

Close. But all you need to create stuff your cnc will understand. True
3D will show you detail from all directions, in the cnc world, there
is always the table to get in the way, iow, your router can't cut from
the bottom upwards unless you flip your work.

What, you have only a single-sided gantry? Only 3 axes?


Owning a cnc without a package like that forces one to grow a brain
like Morris's and who wants that? G

Cat's got brains? *Or do you mean that smoky guy, Philip Morris? Or
that wonderful artistic guy, William Morris? *Oh, you mean that
strapping young DIY CNCer of Stirling reputation from EyeOhWay,
don'tcha? *Señor Dovey. *Yeah, who wants _that_?

No cats, no smoke, no talent agent. Just the Iowain. (Iowanonian?)

Hokay. Ta!

--
You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
--Jack London