[gopackgo]

Somebody wants meto cut them a deer scene in 2 dimensions but I'm not having any luck converting a jpeg into something I can use. I tried my Mach2 but it did'nt work for me, any other suggestions? The white parts of the picture would be cut out and the black parts would remain.

[Xeno]

I wrote a program in Matlab that pecks a countersink bit to a depth that is proportional to the darkness (or lightness) of each pixel. I'm not sure if this is what your looking for but it gives an interesting image. I can generate g-code for the pict that you posted. You would have to tell me what length or width you'd want the end result to be.
Tony

[giorgiocnc]

You can use Meshcam to make gcode from a picture. It is relatively cheap (100 bucks), really easy to use, and there is a 60 day trial. www.meshcam.com

Giorgio

[MILLMANM]

You can also use Corel trace, a raster (jpeg) to vector program (dxf) and a demo version is avalible
and then put in it in your cam system as a dfx file

[Aksess]

Will this do? I just converted a bmp with plasmacam to a dxf

[hulkonna]

hey if any body can help I need a freeware that converts DXF files to gcode
thnx

[ger21]

ACE converter. www.dakeng.com

[MILLMANM]

Aksses
your drawing worked good in mastercam anyone need the g code?
Brad

[Aksess]

I use plasmacam exclusivily for 2d art "cut outs" I can output as dxf or g-code even rearange toolpaths. To bad it isnt free it cost around $2500

[gopackgo]

I really appreciate the replies to my question and I'm going to try some of them as soon as I get my machine running again. I turned the computer on last Saturday and it couldn't access the hard drive was the message. I tried a different hard drive but the computer still couldn't access the hard drive. Any suggestions?

[w i l l]

I'm thinking of buying either an engraver or a router... can that deer scene be cut nicely with a router?

[Aksess]

Yes it can be cut nicely with a router.

[w i l l]

I've seen examples of routing using a 0.5mm cutter... is it possible to buy/use finer cutters for routing?

[ger21]

.01", or .254mm. You need a very good spindle with these, with little to no runout or they break easily.

http://www.thinktink.com/cgi-bin/car...ep=20&start=19

[w i l l]

so what type of cutters are used on engraving machines for very fine line work?

[ger21]

so what type of cutters are used on engraving machines for very fine line work?

http://www.antaresinc.net/FactCutterGeometry.html

[w i l l]

that doesn't tell me difference between a routing cutter and an engraving cutter... can you use an engraving cutter in a router?

[ger21]

An engraving cutter is designed to engrave. Just the tip cuts. You can use it in a router, but you can't cut parts with it. Router bits come in many different configurations, for different applications. If you're working with wood, and want to do engraving, just get a V bit like these. http://eagleamerica.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_132-1022 The engraving cutters I linked to before work best in metals and plastics.

[Tarkus]

Look on my site at http://www3.telus.net/tarkus

look near the bottom of the page, there's a program I wrote called Picmill.
It will take a jpeg/gif/bmp and turn it into heightmapped Gcode... in other words, it will make a psuedo-3d representation of the image... it only works with ballnose endmills currently, but it does work.

If you just want outlines, I can post the gcode for the toolpath, just tell me how deep you want the cutter to go and how high you want it to clear the top.

[hasanqo]

please can you post the program and how to resize the image to the work space.tanks