[Old Buck]

Hello All,

I am building my own cnc router. I want to start using it to cut out many of the plans and patterns I have accumulated over the years. I know this topic was talked about in 2007 but I haven't found any recent topics on the subject. I want to know how I can get my plans into a program and keep them to scale. For example: my rc plans for boats and planes. I read that I need to trace them for best results. What is the most economical way to do this? I checked out digitizers on the internet and most of them are 2k or better. I have a lot of fretwork patterns also so I would need a minimum of a 24" by 36" table. Hasn't any one come up with a software yet that will import these things without tracing them? I have checked out some software that will take a bmp or jpeg and turn it into raster format. Will something like that work for my needs? I have checked out the Vectric software and I would like to buy the vcarve pro because I want to do wood carving down the road. I have downloaded all the trial versions of the Vectric software. For now I have only played around a little with the Vcarve and Photocarve programs. So far Vcarve isn't doing what I want it to. I plan to run the machine with Mach3. What do you people suggest? I have a very limited budget so I can't spend much. That is my biggest problem.

[ger21]

Imo, the best way to do it is scan the plans, import them into a CAD program and "trace", or redraw over the image. It's far more accurate that way, and much cleaner, which can result in much more efficient toolpaths.

It's going to take some effort on your part to get proficient with a CAD program, but it's the only way to get really good results.

I'm sure others may disagree, and some are very happy using a raster to vector converter, but it all depends on what your expectations are. Mine are rather high.

V Carve Pro has one of the better raster to vector converters, imo. You might also want to check out Inkscape, which is free.

[Old Buck]

Thanks for the help. I have already heard of inkscape and have downloaded it. I just haven't installed it yet to check it out. I have read other reviews on this site about Vcarve that is why I am looking at maybe getting that program. It sounds like it will do most of what I am looking for. As far as redrawing my plans there is no way I could do some of my fretwork plans by hand. When you say "trace" is this something I do with my mouse? I was hoping that I could take some of my plans to Kinco and have them save them to a dick for me. Then import them into a program to cut them out.

I have been bouncing back and forth on building the machine and trying software. More the building part. Maybe if I buy Vcarve I can get the manual the learn the program. Right now I am just flying by the seat of my pants in learning the program.

I have high expectations also and sometimes I think they may be to high. Or maybe I am just trying to move to fast.

[ger21]

As far as redrawing my plans there is no way I could do some of my fretwork plans by hand. When you say "trace" is this something I do with my mouse?

Yes. If you learn how to use a CAD (or drawing) program, you should be able to draw or trace anything. You don't drag the mouse like a pencil, you click points to draw lines, arcs and curves.

If you install the demo of V Carve Pro, you should have the online help file, which is the manual.

Until you have a god understanding of how to do what you want, as well as attain some decent CAD skills, what you want to do can be a very tedious and difficult task.

[Old Buck]

I figured no matter what program that I buy there will be a learning curve. I like the fact that many of them come with a demo so I can try them. My buddy offered to sell me his old version of autocad. I don't know if I will be able to license it and use it. It is good to know that the online help for v carve is the manual. I have checked it out a little. Now that all I have left to do on my machine is to hook up the electronics I will have more time to devote to the software part of this project.

[ger21]

Autodesk doesn't allow license transfers, so I wouldn't pay too much for it, although if he has the authorization code, it should work OK.

[Old Buck]

Thanks for all the help. This past week end I finally fires the machine up. Now that i have a machine it is time to start working on the software. I downloaded the manual for v carve pro. It has helped me a lot. The more I use the software the better I like it. Now that I am learning some of the short cuts. It did a pretty good job of tracing the fretwork I imported. It needed a lot of cleanup but in the preview screen it looked like I can use it.

I'm not totally happy with the Photo v carve results. I guess I can't blame the software though. I used a 1/2" 90 degree bit so the detail wasn't there. But that was the only vee bit I had and I wanted to see the machine do something. Once I get the correct bit I will have to give it a try again.

Maybe I will be able to get along without Autocad. I will see how well I do at designing things in Vcarve pro.

Great place to find my help. Thanks again for being there.