CAD
“Proofs” of Concept
I was doing some product research today. This is something I made in about five to six hours. I had been thinking of how I was going to make these all week. I just needed a good Saturday to give it a shot.
As the title indicates this is a proof of concept not a real project. I didn’t want to slow myself down doing all the pictures of the process. The process is still experimental so full disclosure can wait until a better time. I have my camera at the ready.
Long time readers know I have experimented with pewter casting before. Here is the LINK.
The “thumbs up” graphic is a 3-D rendering received free with the Vectric Aspire software. I used it to create the medallion. The finished result is seen in the first picture above. The picture was created within the software. I combined the thumbs up with some freelance drawing to form the disk. Actually in my opinion the disk is much thicker than it should be.
The edges of the disk did not come out well in the tool pathing. I need to find a better way to create the disk in the software. As this was a trial, I didn’t want to spend all day on the drawing so I accepted some imperfection in the edge rendering and moved on.
Next I had Aspire produce a roughing toolpath for a 1/8 inch ball nose mill bit. Then I had Aspire produce a spiral finish pass with a 5/32 inch ball nose. The disk is 1-1/2 inches in diameter. The aluminum (both pieces) is 1/4 x 3 x3 inches. The back plate is not machined in this test trial.
The machining was done on the CNC Taig mill. A… Continue reading
Getting BC-C Loaded without C2H5OH
The BobCAD-CAM (BC-C) package arrived at my home office on a Friday, just a few days after shipping by UPS from Clearwater Florida. It is version 24 which is the latest and I presume greatest. It is a two disk set which is one disk of training videos and instruction manual and the second disk is the actual program install disk.
Unfortunately the instruction disk refused to load and run any of the instruction videos but the PDF manual could be opened and read. A NERO disk scan confirms the disk is bad. The salesperson and support desk at BobCAD-CAM are sending me a replacement disk. The same video training is also available from the BobCAD-CAM web site but of limited resolution, perhaps because it is directed from a YouTube server with JWPlayer. The quality usable but I am expecting the disk version to be of higher video quality. I will let you know.
Update: BobCAD actually send me both disks (new) because of the defective Disk 1. I ran all the training videos and they are exactly the same content as available on the web site but of superior quality. They wouldn’t go to full screen of my 24 inch monitor but were very sharp and easy to view. Nicely done.
So the new owner is not dead in the water on getting started with training. It is good the BobCAD-CAD web site provides a backup not only if the supplied training disk is damaged as is mine; it is also a great way to get a preview of the product before you make a purchase.
I have one other slight issue in getting started, and that was due to the packing invoice not included in the box, a shipping clerk oversight. The invoice contains the serial numbers or… Continue reading