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3D routing with ArtCam

WB

WB

New Member
Anyone using ArtCam to do some 3D work. I have a guy coming in in about 1/2hr to go over a training overview. I think we booked him in for 50 hrs of training, hopefully I can figure enough out during that time to figure how to use the 3D capabilities in ArtCam.

I think I need to order a few dozen different bits.. yippee..
 
iSign

iSign

New Member
get an 1/8" tapered ballnose, w/ 1/4" shank... maybe a 3" and a 2" overall length... those bits will do a lot of 3D, and while the 1/8' ballnose tip can so some fine detail, the stronger shank makes it possible to charge harder through foam, in less passes, or faster speeds. the taper will of course leave less then true 90 degree side cuts, but on textured work, sometimes that can work... other times you come back with an endmil...

I highly recommend Dan Sawatzky's 3D routing workshops too!
 
WB

WB

New Member
All I have now is a 1/4" Ball Nose and 1/16"-1/4" End Mills all with 1/4" shanks.. I'm going to look in my Suppliers catologe and order some bits next week I think. I'll grab some Ball Nose and I think a few V-bits ..

I'll look up Dan Sawatzky's Workshops.. I'd like to find some online tutorials that I can do from home.
 
M

marcinito

New Member
Forget tools for right now. You can purchase ball nose cutters for cheap and they last forever when it comes to 3d routing. I don't know what type of materials you plan on model with with but your local tool supplier will help you along with new projects.
We do thick MDF sometimes up to 10" for thermoforming.
I've been using ArtCam for about 9 years now.
My advice is, be patient, practice your program as much as possible and have fun. I can tell you that with time comes experience and with that experience you will find out that nothing is impossible for ArtCam.
Once you start working with 3d pick a project once a week or every other week. Find 3d logo or design and try to recreate it. Best practice you will ever find. I'd start with Nissan logo for beginers. Have fun and.......practice.
 
Team One Displays

Team One Displays

New Member
ArtCam is great to work with - I've been using it for years myself.

It can be a lot to take in at first but once you get use to it all the tools are easy to work with and you can produce some sweet looking pieces in no time.
 
WB

WB

New Member
My 1st lesson/training is next Friday . I've played around with it some and I'm pretty lost. So I'm sitting at my desk right now with the manual.. hopefully I won't fall asleep..
 
J

John L

New Member
Good luck with the training. Hope it goes well. I bought and tried to get a grasp of Artcam years ago and just couldn't quickly make it do what I wanted so I got discouraged with it.

I know it's my fault in that I didnt spend enough time getting used to it. I bailed a couple years ago and bought Aspire and really like that for some reason. I found it much easier to get a hang of.

Please be sure to report back on how your training goes, price (if applicable) and details.
 
WB

WB

New Member
I have a question for you ArtCam guys about making 3d Toolpaths

I've been playing around. I had a model I wanted to do as a sample but all I had was a 1/4" Ball nose. So I did it with just 1 single pass and it turned out pretty good. Today I got a couple 1/8" and 1/16" ball nosed bit so I wanted to try it again and see the difference. I used a roughly pass with a 1/4" EM and a finishing pass with a 1/8" BN. Well I stopped it because it was trying to cut over .25" with a .125" bit. I tried again but this time a did a finish pass with a 1/4" EM leavign a .020 allowance and then went over it with a 1/8" BN and it just wasn't leaving me a nice finish.

How would you guys go about this. Oh by the way I'm cutting in 1/2" MDF.

Thanks

Bill
 
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