Hi Guys, My end goal is to take 3 d scans of human heads and cut them out on a 4 axis Cnc. Right now I have sketch up 2013 free and the sketchu plugin. I'm just playing with the software right now. I guess my question is ....if it can be done....is if I import a 3d drawing of a human head from the sketch up warehouse, what would be the steps to make the gcodes and run a simulator cut program to see if it works. Also I noticed a gcode sim that cam with the download files for sketchU but I don't see a button to click on in the tool bars. Thanks
Just a note... I did download a 3d model of a head and clicked on the green arrow in the toolbox that said something like" generate code" It asked me if I wanted 3d, I clicked yes and it didn't do much...if anything.
there are already threads on how to use the 3D code generator so i won't explain it again here. see http://www.phlatforum.com/xenforo/threads/3d-cnc-text.3219/ and http://www.phlatforum.com/xenforo/threads/how-to-use-the-3d-function.3217/ However I must point out that it can only do 3 axis, not 4. If you want to cut a head in one piece on a 4 axis machine, you will need to use different software that will probably not be free. To use Sketchucam for this you will need to : use only 3 axis split the head into at least 2 pieces lay the pieces flat on the drawing surface cut each piece and then join the parts main menu bar : Plugins|Plot Gcode you can also have it open automatically after creating gcode by selecting 'show gplot after output' in the Phlatboyz-parameters tool.
Here is a head for an example that I did (this way) some time back. http://www.phlatforum.com/xenforo/threads/the-head.48/#post-85 Hope it helps Mark and Trish
