FreazyKam

Carve a picture in 3D#

You will carve a relief plaque from a depth map: a greyscale picture where white is high and black is low. Allow 15 minutes, plus simulation time.

You need: a depth map image (PNG is best), a 6 mm end mill and a 1/8" ball nose in your tool library.

A depth map of a dog plaque

1. Set the stock#

  1. Click Setup.
  2. Make the stock bigger than your picture, and at least 15 mm thick.
  3. Close the panel.

2. Import the picture#

  1. Click Import File in the toolbar.
  2. Pick your image.
  3. Drag a corner handle to size it on the stock. Drag the picture to move it.

3. Draw a boundary#

  1. Draw an Ellipse (or any closed shape) around the whole picture.
  2. Press Esc.

4. Set up the 3D carve#

  1. Under CAM Operations, click 3D Profile.

  2. Set:

    Field Value
    Model your picture (listed under Depth map image)
    Relief Depth 12
    Boundary the ellipse
    Model Top Below Stock 0.2
    Roughing Tool 6 mm end mill
    Roughing Stepover 60 %
    Finishing Tool 1/8" ball nose
    Finishing Stepover (XY) 20 %
    Angle 45

  3. Read the line under Relief Depth. It ends with Background: grey … and below: those greys are cut flat as the floor.

  4. Click Generate Toolpath. This can take a little while.

5. Simulate#

  1. Click Simulate G-code.
  2. Click 3D View.
  3. Press Play.

The finished plaque in the 3D view

6. Export#

  1. Click Export G-code.
  2. Check the estimated run time. 3D jobs are long.
  3. Tick Split into one file per tool, so you change bits between files.
  4. Click Export.

Done#

Next: Run your first job on the machine

Want to know why?