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Slice Gun Project

Discussion in 'Slice forms/Sculptures' started by kram242, Jun 30, 2011.

  1. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Hey guyz,
    Here is a first attempt to make a constant feed sliceform. Its not perfect but I thought it may give some ideas.
    I found the gun file and used the slicer plugin viewtopic.php?f=185&t=2720#p28148
    I created a retangle box around the gun and added a couple alignment holes that will be used later to make sure that each slice cut out will align to the one below it.
    Slice it into 1mm thickness with 1mm spacing's, select no part numbers and make flatten copy's. You will need to clean up any problems with the slices. The plugin works good but its not perfect. You may need to flatten and connect any broken lines you find to create faces for all parts.
    The plugin will lay out all the slices in a rectangle. They will be in order you need to set them side by side in order from start to finish. Remember the first slice will be under your model so move the model out of the way. Once you have them laid out in order you can create your Safe cutting area in SketchUcam. I am using 1mm on a 40" wide roll, cut in half. So I created a safe area of 20" wide by 40 feet long. Put your parts in there. Work up the parts in SketchUcam like the example gun file here. Making sure that your parts outside cut is assigned an outside as well as the outside of each slices rectangle box. You can look at this example fie to see what I mean. Once all the parts have been worked up you need to create a group for each rectangle slice from left to right in order so that SketchUcam will know to cut in this order.
    I then Rigged up a quick roll holder on the back of the Phlatprinter and began the cut.
    Your parts will be on the sheet in the order that they will be stacked. I laid mine face down so that I could flip them over onto the aliment rods easy. Make sure you use very little spray adhesive between the parts to much will destroy the foam I found out. :) The outside layers were torn away after the entire model was complete.
    A couple things to mention is I tried to get away without adding tabs for the parts and thought I could set the bit to go almost all the way though but still leave enough foam to hold the part. That was a mistake! They need to have tabs even if just a few for each part. If you plan on trying this you need to tab them as well as make sure you have the correct size alignment rods to fit the alignment holes. I did not, and my parts did not line up right. Also be sure to remove any 'holes' in your parts as you stack you will not be able to get to them later.
    This is experimental and its been something I have wanted to try for a long time. I think for larger complex parts that need to be light weight this could be a method that you choose to try. Once the stacked look is sanded you should have a nice looking complex shape that would be hard to create with any other method.
    I hope this helps get someone started on a cool slice stack project. If you have questions just post below.
    Good luck and have fun! :D
    Mark and Trish Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG] latforum.com/PhlatforumVB/converted_files/29283=11909-2011-06-30_071308.jpg" class="gc-images" title="2011-06-30_071308.jpg" style="max-width:300px" /> [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] SliceGun_1mm.skp (7.6 MB)Â SliceGun_CNC_1mm.cnc (413 KB)Â
     
  2. Thewz

    Thewz Moderator

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    man that is cool Mark!
     
  3. ToxicToast

    ToxicToast Down in the weeds. Staff Member

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    Wicked!
     
  4. NeilBlanchard

    NeilBlanchard Member

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    This is similar in several ways to the method I plan on using with my CarBEN EV project. My challenge is the inside needs to be substantially hollow, and the slices need to be 2" thick. The entire car is a little less than 14 feet long, and there are about 85 slices. It would be great to have the edges of the slices tapered in 3D, to reduce the amount of manual shaping.

    If the slices are shaped on the edges, how would the Phlatprinter 3 handle edges that taper under the face? Can it shape the edges where the Z direction can be shaped in 3D, and only cut the maximum edge where an undercut is needed; which would leave the material "behind" the face in place, so that it can be manually shaped later?

    Ideally, a thick slice that requires tapering in both directions, could be flipped over and indexed accurately, and then have the additional edges tapered on a pass from what was the bottom of the sheet.
     
  5. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Neil, you may want to talk with Jovian on this idea. He used this technique for his Jakuta project found here: https://sites.google.com/site/makingfoa ... cts/Jakuta
    I am thinking with your 2" foam the more aggressive drive rollers we are working on may help out.
    As we get them tested we will let you know. :good:
    Mark and Trish
     
  6. PAULE

    PAULE Member

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    :flying: HELLO MARKTRISH -NOW WHAT TYPE OF FOAM WAS THAT YOU GUYS USED :fugly:
     
  7. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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